Ocean Shores

From Cannon Beach we made what we thought was going to be a hop, skip and a jump to Ocean Shores, but it had snowed...alot...so the roads were slow and a bit nerve racking, but gratefully we made it safe and sound.

My mom, her boyfriend, David, my sister and her son, Nicholas met us at the Ocean and we stayed for 3 days there.

It was CHILLY! But we had a fun time anyways!

This was on our hike back to the hotel after we fed the seagulls some cat food.

This was the view from our hotel.

My nephew, Nicholas.

As you can tell, Ben had a pleasant time.

My mom and David.

We did a little gift shopping and survived this shark attack.

My mom with her grand kiddos. Stories, stories, stories!

A fun random pic actually taken a few days prior in Seaside, Oregon. Who knew Ben would look so good with a fro?!
William the viking.

Pizza Hannah and hamburger Evelyn.
Hannah and seagull having a standoff.

I LOVE this picture! That seagull is sure Will has some more cat food for him!
Nicholas said the whole time "come and get it birdies, come and get it!."

I had fun throwing the food for the seagulls to catch. My mom and sister hid behind me, they were not so comfortable with the close proximity of the gulls, I think my mom watched "Birds" a few too many times in her youth and felt a bit nervous around the creatures.

We were ALL ready for some hot chocolate from the lobby when we got back. Nick and Will made themselves cozy on the moose. I like Hannah's ferocious face.

Hannah looks like a natural moose rider.

We had such a fun time, thanks for the fun few days fam!!!

Cannon Beach

When we arrived at Cannon Beach, we were all so hungry! My Dad recommended a restaurant called Mo's so that's where we went. We had a beautiful view of the ocean and the famous Haystack rock. We even got to watch a couple of surfers, BRR!!!

Afterwards, we went outside and played at the beach as long as we could stand the cold. We had a great time! It was so beautiful and we were blessed with a very nice day.

Will in front of Haystack rock.

Happy Hannah May

Evelyn LOVES sand and dirt! She was in heaven!

One of my favorite games to play at the beach when I was little was to "chase the waves." You follow the wave back to the sea as far as you dare and then run and try not to get caught as it comes back to shore. The kids had fun playing with me. Hannah kept her distance from the water but still enjoyed herself.

Evelyn was a little more risky than Hannah! Fun times in a BEAUTIFUL place! I'm so glad we got to take a little stop here.

On the Way to Washington....

It has been 2 years since we went all together as a family to visit my family in Seattle, so we decided to spend thanksgiving there this year. It is a LONG drive! We detoured a tiny bit and spent a night at Cannon Beach, Oregon since Ben and the kids have never seen the Oregon coast.
We loaded up the car at 5:30 pm. I drove until 2am and Ben took the hard shift from 2am until we arrived which was at 11am, which was much earlier than we anticipated!
Around 9am we were driving through some of the most beautiful parts of Oregon State and the kids had woken up. Inspired by Ben's brother, Bradley, and his wife, Jessi, who are always exploring their surroundings, we decided to take a scenic highway. We're so glad we did! We found Multanomah Falls and a few other beautiful falls in the lush Oregon Forests.

It was fun to pass a city with our last name!

Evelyn at Multanomah Falls. We climbed up to that bridge and got the view from there.

At the side of Horseshoe Falls.

Horseshoe falls

Giant leaves by the road

I miss all the green and the trees!
I thought of you Oregonians from the Dalles and Astoria!!!

A Six to Never Forget

Evelyn recently turned 6! Our present to her was a trip to Arizona to celebrate with family. Her birthday conviently fell on fall break and Ben's 10 year High School reunion. So off we went!

Ben's mom threw Evelyn the party of all parties. Cousins Carter, Addilyn, and Preslee were present along with Hannah and Will.
It was a Princess and Knight party.

The HIGHLIGHT was when the "Queen of All Queens" (their Great-Grandmother who has over 120 great-grandchildren and a large armfull of great-great-grandchildren) came out wearing a crown. She made a beautiful treasure box for Evelyn out of a box and decorated it with paper and stickers. It was priceless. Can't you tell what a dream she is?!!? We are so fortunate to get to know her and learn from her!

Preslee sporting her tutu and William's knight tunic that he was too scared to put on.


The castle!! This is a playtoy that Ben's dad made for all of the grandkids (10 and counting), they made it fancy with balloons.

Carter ready to defend the castle against the dragons who were Ben and his brother, Bryan (Carter's dad). The girls stayed up in the castle and screamed and ate the marshmallows they were supposed to be throwing at the dragons while Carter valiantly defended the kingdom.

The Knight and Princess wearing the crowns, wands and sword they got to decorate with stick-on jewels and stickers.

Ben adding to the festive spirit of decorating time.

What a dream cake!!! Thank you Grammie and Grandad!

As if that wasn't enough, Grammie didn't want Hannah to feel left out since she has never celebrated a bday in AZ so she had an un-birthday celebration the next day with a cake and a few presents! She still is talking about it.

William got spoiled spending time with Grandad. He sees his picture and says "Grandad, catch you?" Grandad played catch a ton with Will and put air in his football. That made him an instant hero in Will's eye. He is bonded forever.

Thanks to all for a WONDERFUL weekend in AZ!

Ronnie

Hannah begs us to go to the Wonald McDonald Walmart. We don't even eat at this Mickey D's, but for some reason our kids L O V E this creepy statue! Even William says "Dono! Dono!" (Donald, Donald) The girls pretend they are mother/daughter and take turns posing on his knee and they talk to him like he is a long lost friend. It really makes me laugh! Crazy kids.

Today I Feel Like...

my life is out of control!!!

Today, taking pictures of the chaotic state of my house and posting it for the world to see is more therapeutic to me than spending the time it takes to do all of the above to clean it up.

Above: William thought it was good fun to dump out all of our ice cream rock salt and mow over it with a very loud toy mower, start the dishwasher, open the oven, and ask loudly for candy all at the same time.

Snack time?

laundry, laundry, laundry

Not too bad actually!

I have all of the glorious mess because I have one of these not-feeling-well-little-people

...and two of these little puppy people.
And I love it!

The good news; the bathroom is clean!!!