We have returned to our home in Pasco and were welcomed by the sweltering heat that has been threatening to kill mankind while we were away. I guess we picked the best week to go to the coast and miss out on the killer weather last week, although this week isn't looking too promising either. Here is a rundown of our trip, we really tried to pack in every possible thing we could do (reason this post is so long) because we knew this could be our last real family vacation for a while. Riley and I are thinking our next vacation will be a mom and dad only trip. :)
*Monday-Left Pasco a little later than planned, but no biggie.
-Stopped in the Dalles for lunch/bathroom break.
-Made it outside of Vernonia before we had to stop again.
-I think Kendle asked about 44 times if we could go swimming when we got there.
-Went over 4 bridges, including the 4 mile bridge leaving Astoria. (I am not a fan of bridges)
-Made it to Long Beach and felt the warm sea air when we stepped out of the car.
-Checked in at the Worldmark. (Our rooms were condo style with full kitchen, etc - super nice.)
-Riley took the kids swimming in the heated outdoor pool while I unpacked.
-Went to dinner at a way over priced and not very good restaurant where Morgan lay on the ground and made a huge spectacle.
-Came back to our room and crashed for the night. The Dodson's were exhausted.
*Tuesday-Got up and made breakfast (One of the perks of having a kitchen for the week was we saved quite a bit of money not eating out as much. We brought tons of food and snacks which made everything so much easier and convenient, and quite frankly my stomach can't handle eating out for a full week.)
-It was a GORGEOUS day (80+ degrees) so after breakfast we set out for the beach. It was the loveliest day and we were all in just shorts and t-shirts. We had a blast enjoying the sun and digging in the sand. The kids even went out in the ocean and jumped waves. It was awesome and everyone couldn't have been happier.
-Came back to our room, showered off the children, ate lunch and rested a bit.
-Went down to the pool for some swimming. The water was warm and felt great. I dried off and relaxed on a lounge chair for a bit while Riley and the kids swam some more and I got quite the sunburn. We all looked like little lobsters after that afternoon. Who knew? Hanging out by the pool was great though since it was right off the beach and you could hear the waves. They also had a kiddie pool, so Morgan kept going back and forth between the two.
-Went back to our room and changed. Everyone was so tired. We ordered in some food for dinner.
-Took the kids down to the arcade/game room for a bit. Morgan threw a huge tantrum when we had to leave. Yep, we were that "loud family" on this trip.
*Wednesday-Ate breakfast and then headed out to walk around town.
-Explored Long Beach and all of the little shops along the main strip.
-Went to Marsh's Museum of Wacky and Wild things were Kendle got her fortune told by one of those fake fortune teller's in a glass box, Madame Zorina or something like that. Saw "Jake the Alligator Man".
-Went in a few candy shops to get the kids some treats, aka bribery.
-Went to the "Funland" arcade and played a ton of games. They had some really cool ones I have never seen before. Our favorite was the "shoot 'em up" old west game. I took some pictures of everyone in on the action of that one.
-Morgan threw another huge tantrum when we had to leave, that boy would have sat in there and pretended to play arcade games for the rest of his life.
-We stopped to get some lunch on the way back. There was this really yummy smelling little place that had "summer food" as I like to call it. We got hand dipped corn dogs, battered fries, and elephant ears. It was so yummy, but I sure regretted all of that fat when I got a big stomach ache a few hours later.
-Riley took the kids swimming while I rested a bit and relaxed.
-On the way back from the pool, Morgan tripped on his towel and landed face down on the concrete. He had the biggest fat lip and it just looked horrible. I felt so bad for him. Kendle being the little fish that she is would have stayed in the pool the whole trip.
-For dinner Riley went and got us some fresh crab and yummy chowder. He stood and cracked all of the crab for the both of us and it was so good. That is one of our favorite things about the coast.
-After dinner we walked the famous boardwalk by the beach and got some good exercise. It started in front of our resort and ended a mile or so away. It was really neat.
-Stopped in the lobby after we got back and picked out some post cards and some movies to watch.
*Thursday-Made breakfast and got dressed to head to Seaside for the day. (About 45 minutes from where we were.)
-It was another fabulous and sunny day. It was a beautiful drive.
-Shopped at the outlet stores for some school clothes and baby things. Found too much cute stuff. Could have spent way more time there if Morgan hadn't been hanging out of his stroller or climbing around on things in the stores.
-Grabbed some lunch and then drove to the beach and the main strip to walk around all of the shops and enjoy the sun.
-Kendle and Morgan rode the carousel and loved it.
-Riley and Kendle rode the tilt a whirl and the bumper cars, Kendle's face was priceless.
-We strolled down to the beach and marvelled at the hundreds of people milling about.
-Grabbed some cotton candy and then stopped in to get some ice cream on our way back to the car. (We got Morgan a little ice cream cone and he didn't want it, so Kendle ended up with a cone in each hand, trying to eat them both before they melted.)
-Riley and I both agreed that Seaside is fun to visit for the day, but there were so many people we were glad to get back to Long Beach and a slower pace.
-We stopped at Fred Meyer on the way back to get some burgers to grill and some corn on the cob. Felt good to eat "real food".
-Went swimming after dinner.
-We were so tired from this fun filled day.
*
Friday-While eating breakfast we noticed that our nice weather had turned into overcast skies and a bit of a breeze.
-On the street leading to the beach and our hotel, there were horse and pony rides set up, so we decided to take Morgan down there for a little pony ride. He loved it and thought it was pretty cool. His face was so cute the whole time.
-After that we signed Kendle and Riley up for an hour long horse ride on the beach. I thought it was a great opportunity for Kendle to do something we wouldn't normally ever get to do and that it would be so neat for her to ride along the ocean. So after lunch they met up with their group to get saddled up and ready to go. I thought they would let Kendle and Riley ride side by side with their horses, but Riley said they set it up by horse size and Kendle was up way farther than him on a smaller horse while he got stuck towards the back on a huge black Clydesdale that wouldn't leave the side of the other Clydesdale in the group. Are you laughing yet? Because I totally was when Riley was telling me about it. Riley was a good sport to go with her even though he didn't have the best time (and I told him without a picture of him on that horse no one would ever believe he did it), but Kendle had the best time. She was so excited to tell me all about it and Riley said she rode really well and didn't have any problems.
-After they got back we packed up what we needed to head to the beach to make a fire and roast hot dogs and make smores. The awesome thing is that you can drive on the beaches there, so we just headed down the beach aways until we found a good spot and then started a fire and hung out a while. It was really fun and the kids thought it was really neat. Needless to say, sand + smores = some very dirty kids. There were some heavy duty baths in store that night.
-I was thankful the whole week we had a washer and dryer in our room because we definitely got our use out of it.
*Saturday-The cooler weather rolling in wasn't making it ideal beach weather anymore, so after breakfast we decided to take one last stroll through town and let the kids pick out some souvenirs from the trip.
-We found each of the kids a cute zip up Long Beach jacket, Kendle wanted to wear hers right away.
-We made one last stop in the big candy store and got some fudge, swizzle sticks, and caramel corn. I am definitely caught up on my sugar intake for the next five years, but fudge is pretty hard to resist.
-Got some yummy chowder for lunch.
-Headed back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. Aka, everyone else rested while I started some loads of laundry and packing. Ha.
-Decided we were sick of seafood and went out for Chinese food for dinner. Everything was going great until Morgan knocked over his whole glass of water (on purpose, the little rascal) right on me and I had to finish dinner with soaking wet pants and tried to salvage what dignity I had left. That was the last straw for Riley and I. We agreed we definitely need a parents only vacation next time.
-We got back to the hotel, got everyone bathed and in jammies and finished packing up to go home the next day. It was sure nice to be able to wash clothes and not have to come home with eight loads of laundry. I went to bed early and let the kids stay up late with dad.
*
Sunday-Got up, checked out, and loaded up everything to take to the car. Came home with way more than we started with so we couldn't even see out the back window but that's how we roll.
-I think we were all feeling like we were a little bit ready to come home and get back to the daily routine of things.
-Said goodbye to Long Beach and the fun times that we had there. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Worlmark and really loved the town and it's laid back atmosphere.
-Stopped in for some yummy breakfast before heading out of town.
-Made our way back over the bridges and in and out of Oregon and Washington.
-We always start to get antsy once we hit the Dalles because we know we're getting close to home.
-Stopped in Irrigon at my parents house for some dinner and to stretch our legs a bit.
-Pulled into the driveway of our cozy little home and began the unpacking process. It was good to be home even though it was hot, hot, hot. I tried to put as many things away as possible and then called it a night.
We honestly had the best time on this trip and it felt so good to get away for a week. We loved Long Beach and would love to make that our new favorite beach destination. I will post pictures from the trip tomorrow!
