First Family Visit to the Ocean!

On Day Two of our whirlwind Oregon side-trip, we drove several hours south to Grant's Pass, Oregon, to meet Jake's new boss at his new job. The scenery was lovely, it was just hot and cramped with all the kids in the car for that long...okay, very! Sophia doesn't nap well in car seats, and Fanny roars as she goes. But I was glad that Jake was able to have a face-to-face meeting even though we live so far away.

Then that evening, Rudi Booher suggested that we do a quick half-day trip to the ocean the following morning! We readily agreed. Visiting the ocean while in the US ranked pretty high on the boys' priority list, right alongside visiting the zoo (which we did in Memphis)!

 The Beaty Family on the Oregon coast

 

 

First thing Monday morning, we piled into their 14 passenger van. First, we visited their lovely coffee shop (see yesterday's post) and then continued down country roads to the shore.

 

  Rudi at the wheel in beautiful Oregon

 

 We pulled over to watch a herd of elk alongside the road

 

 

 Arriving after the pleasant hour drive

Our kids made a beeline for the water! Pretty excited!

 

 

It was SO perfect for our kids to experience the ocean for the first time both with other kids they already know and love AND in Spanish! Rudi and Carla said they were glad their kids had the chance to speak Spanish again.

 



Sophia got right to work playing in the sand

 

She LOVES playing in water, in dirt, grass, sand... She's a nature lover, like her daddy!

 

 

 

It was chilly and windy, so Jake created this shawl out of her blanket. I tried dipping her feet in the water, since she so enjoyed the creek we played in two days prior, but she hollered! It was just too icy cold - for me and her! It made my feet go numb after only seconds. Only the kids ventured in!

 

 

 Joel with a special find

 

It was fun to watch the seal floating near the coastline, checking us out above the waves.

 

After being in the water a bit, we played on the sand dunes. I was holding Sophia and trying to keep blowing sand out of her face so there are no pictures, but it was lots of fun! Taking 10 kids to the beach, 4 of whom have never been, is quite the experience.

 

We are so grateful to the Boohers for hosting us for the weekend, even as they are busy serving other people (as usual) AND getting ready to move back to Bolivia and adopt siblings. We had a wonderful time and look forward to getting back together again in landlocked Bolivia come October! :)