Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Alyssa. How old are you now? 26? Well then that makes me only 20! Yea! I like that! I hope you had a good one? When are you and Dan having your annual Birthday bash?

Barview Jetty: Our favorite campground near the coast

Saturday Dan and I packed up the suburban, gathered the kids and drove for 2 hours to our favorite campground, just outside of Garibaldi. (We've been going here for 12+ years). My sister Toni had made reservations and all of my siblings (except my brother who was working) and their families were going to be there as well.

Saturday was a beautiful day on the beach...the kids played in the sand and in the surf and Dan got to test out his inflatable kayak in the waves. Here are lots and lots of photos from our trip. (My family gives me a hard time about taking so many photos, but they are so fun to look back on and share with all those who read my blog.)

Natalie was excited to play at the beach with her cousins Becca and Alexis.

Cowboy Zander loved climbing on the trees and digging holes in the sand.

Hayden liked pushing around the truck.

Pulling the truck all the way to the beach.

Digging a moat in the sand with Aunt Tami.

Brandon putting his toes in the ocean for the first time!

Zander and Hayden digging in the sand.

Natalie's reflection as she looks for treasures in the sand.

The cousins jumping over the waves together.
Not long after, Hayden got washed over by a big wave.

Natalie and Becca playing in the surf.

Getting super sandy.

Zander looking out onto the big Pacific Ocean.

How cute are these kids!!!

Eating dinner by the campfire.

Chucky, Dan, Toni and John (holding Brandon) eating fresh corn on the cob and grilled burgers...yumm!

Me and Andrea enjoying dinner while the husbands take care of the kids!

Good night, sleep tight!

Camping Trip Part 2

What a night! It's a good thing we put the rain tarp on the tent before we got in bed because what started as a nice coastal drizzle ended up as rain that lasted all night long. The kids slept right through it, but all the adults were woken by the wind blowing against the tents.

Waking up daddy.

All the girls had fun arranging sea shells in the sand.
Here Becca and Alexis put all the crab shells in a circle pattern.

Natalie used muscles and oyster shells for her designs.

Breakfast

The boys enjoyed watching me cook pancakes for breakfast because they were first in line for food hot off the grill!

Tami whipped up eggs and hash browns at the other end of the table.

Tami, Me and Toni.

The kids all dishing up breakfast.


Dan feeding Hayden.


The girls hanging out for breakfast.


Uncle Chucky holding Brandon.

Alexis washing up.
Me and Dan.

Chucky going after the Frisbee that got caught in the tree.

The Frisbee finally came down.

Me and Hayden...this was his first camping trip...and my first camping trip in about 3 years.

Lunch

After we packed up our camping gear, Tami, Becca and Alexis headed out and the rest of us went out for lunch at the Pirate's Cove. While they were getting our table ready, Natalie and Zander had fun watching the crabs walk all over themselves.

Party of 9... We enjoyed our lunch with a great view of Tillamook Bay.
I had the Halibut of course!

Uncle Chucky kept the boys busy while the rest of us finished our lunch.

Kayaking

Dan went back to Bar View Jetty to go out in his kayak before we headed home. While I love to kayak, I'd rather go down the river and leave the pounding surf to Dan.

He had fun surfing the waves. It was too windy to play out on the beach, so we all watched him from the jetty (in the car).

Next Dan and Chucky both go out together.
They have a great time...until they get knocked over by a big wave!

After awhile they get back in the kayak and paddle to shore. Here they are dragging the water-logged kayak on to dry land.

Tillamook: Cheese Country!

On our way home we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory for Tillamook ice cream...and cheese of course!

Zander and I chose French Silk.

Hayden shared Uncle Chucky's bubble gum cone.


Good to the last drop. Aunt Toni and Natalie loved their white licorice ice cream. Grandpa Roush would have liked this flavor for sure, but he and Grandma stayed home.

Hayden kept saying "Moooo." Pretty much every animal says "mooo," but he puts a little extra excitement behind his "mooo" when he sees cows.

Waiting in line for cheese samples!

Mmmmm "squeaky" cheese.
This cheese curd is a favorite purchase when visiting
the cheese factory because you can't get it in the stores.

Am I dreaming?... a whole case filled with my favorite food group!

Next we walked upstairs to see where all the cheese is made, packaged and shipped.

On the weekend, only half of the factory remains in operation. Here we saw them package up the cheese and heat seal it and load it up onto the conveyor belt.

After we left the cheese factory, we drove down the road for a few miles to the Blue Heron Cheese factory where we stopped and let the kids see the animals at the petting zoo.

Zander and Hayden enjoyed chasing these poor chicken all over the place.

Here's a shot of Hayden on an old truck...
his favorite things these days are trucks, tractors and trains.
From here we drove home and 2 hours later we were pulling into the driveway...it was a great trip and I can't wait until we go camping again!