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| Marcus took a picture of me packing. |
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| Kjell drove almost the whole way but I took a turn around 3am. |
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| Crabbing |
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| Holden's favorite activity was hiking in the mountains. Here are the boys on the trail from Ecola State Park to Indian Beach. |
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| Photo by Marcus. |
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| Standing in a tree. |
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| Another photo by Marcus. |
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| Boogie boarding at Indian Beach |
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| Wetherill |
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| Holden. "I'm making concrete." |
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| Port. |
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| By the end of the trip Marcus was boogie boarding on his own. He said his favorite part of the trip was riding the waves. |
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| Kjell boogie boarding |
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| Marcus and Kjell catching some waves. |
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| Joshua and his girlfriend Alena after hiking Tillamook Head. |
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| Hanging out at the beach. |
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| On our way home we stopped at Multnomah Falls. Port is hiding behind Kjell's head. |
We’re back from our much-anticipated roadtrip to Seaside, Oregon. A few weeks ago we went to Mt. Pleasant for our ward campout and it proved to be a trial run for our 13 hour drive/5 day campout to Oregon. I won’t go into details about the campout except to say it took me all day to pack and unpack to be there for 12 hours including driving home with Wetherill at 5am! After the campout our expectations were low but our trip to Oregon was definitely a success! Only Kjell and Marcus ended up sleeping in our tent and it was clear skies all but one night (great odds for Seaside). My only regret was that I did not take nearly enough pictures. I only got my camera out a few times and Grandma and Grandpa didn’t even make the cut! I’ll do better next year. I expect to add quite a few more pictures once I receive copies from Ruby and Julie, who hopefully did better than me. Here’s a quick synopsis of our trip:
Thursday, August 11: We departed at 6 pm and drove through the night. Kjell did the bulk of the driving and the children behaved very well.
Friday, August 12: We arrived in Seaside around 6:15 in the morning. It was cold! We unpacked the car and played with the kids until around 10 am when we all took naps. Uncle Tryg watched Port for me so I could sleep. In the afternoon the boys went for a ride on the tractor and we headed to the cove with the kids for some boogie boarding.
Saturday, August 13: We went crabbing in the morning, which was great fun! Marcus was very excited to ride in Grandpa Larry's triuck. The kids ran around the beach while Kjell, Joshua, Tryg and I searched for large male crabs. We caught 3. I went to a few garage sales with the kids afterward while Kjell, Tryg, and Joshua crabbed some more. Per and Julie arrived on Saturday with the kids. After lunch we headed to Ecola State Park where the cousins ran around and we walked out to the viewpoint and then we headed down to the beach. Since it was a short walk, I grabbed the wetsuits and boogie boards only to discover that the path was so steep that a rope was needed to descend to the beach. Julie, Kjell, and I had kids on our back making the descent even more treacherous. We made it and swam in the ocean for a while before beginning the equally difficult ascent. Live and learn. That evening Ruby prepared a huge meal for everyone including Aunt Emma-Kate, Uncle Keith, cousin Desmond and Uncle Carl. It was a full house!
Sunday, August 14: Our family was ready for church at 8 am giving us 2 hours for family photos by Julie. After church we ate lunch and rested followed by a hike on a logging trail near the house. Julie took more photos of us at the top of the mountain. Once again, Ruby prepared a feast for dinner. Marcus really wanted to sleep in the tent with his cousins but we finally compromised and invited Ansel to sleep in Marcus’ tent. When Kjell checked on them they were trying to sleep on the same cot. Earlier, Julie overheard their conversation about how they were going to visit each other and Ansel was going to show Marcus his room. These 2 really bonded on the trip.
Monday, August 15: Crabbing was so fun the first time, we went again. This time we brought sand toys and the boys had their cousins to play with (although Holden was teasing Lars). Ruby joined us as well and took pictures. Our family went into Seaside after crabbing where we shared an Elephant Ear and went on a mini-train ride. We bid adieu to the Washington McCords that afternoon. Tryg and I went on a hike from Ecola State Park to Indian Beach with Marcus, Holden, and Port. Wether stayed with Daddy and they went to the store together and made crab cakes. That evening we played "Battle of the Sexes". Ruby, Alena and I beat Kjell, Joshua, Uncle Lance, and Larry...barely.
Tuesday, August 16: Kjell was regretting not going on the gorgeous hike with us the day before, so he went on the hike with the same kids while Wether and I went to the beach. They joined us at the beach where we spent a few hours playing in the sand and in the ocean. It was a gorgeous day. After returning home, Kjell made crab cakes while I bathed the kids and began packing all of our stuff. Ruby rocked Port to sleep. We departed around 4pm with Joshua catching a ride back to Utah with us. We stopped briefly at Multnomah Falls before our long drive home.
Many thanks to Larry and Ruby for hosting us and for all of the cousins, uncles, aunts, brothers, etc. who helped us with the kiddos! Ruby prepared almost every meal for us and was there for our every need. Thanks to Julie for not 1 but 2 photo shoots. We can't wait to see the results.
