Long Beach 2012

This was our third summer vacation in Long Beach. We have treasured the memories that have been made in this lovely coastal town that has become like a home away from home. We stayed in an awesome ocean front house this year that was perfect and had the most gorgeous view in every direction. We brought a huge trailer with us this year so we could pack all of the kids bikes and other fun things. There were lots of bike rides packed in for the kids which they loved and the Discovery Trail ran right in front of our house to ride/walk/ and run on. Instead of making lots of plans and scheduling every day like we usually do, this year we decided to just totally take it easy, slow down, relax and pretty much do whatever the kids wanted to do. There was lots of playing and swimming at the beach, walking to Scoopers for ice cream (of course), swimming at an indoor aquatic center, exploring Astoria and visiting some museums, visiting the Saturday market at the port of Ilwaco, and Riley  took the older kids fishing. My parents came and stayed one night with us and the kids loved having grandma and grandpa there. We had gorgeous weather for the beach that day and it was perfect. And of course we had to do our big bonfire on the beach one of our last nights there and have a major smores session. I love having this tradition with my family and I hope as our lives get busier and busier and our children get older that we can keep it a must do family trip. We always come home with lots of tired smiles, extra sea shells and souvenirs, and of course a car full of sand!