Oceanside

On Memorial Day, we took off early, hit Krispy Kreme and then headed for the coast.  We took a "long cut" that took us right by a fish hatchery.  The kids were excited to hop out of the van and play.  First thing, a cute, tiny little dog ran up to play.  It was super cute and nice.  Noah started to run and the little dog chased him, thinking he was playing.  Noah was terrified!  He ran and ran and screamed and screamed.  I was laughing soooo hard and trying so hard to stop laughing long enough to tell him to stop running and then the dog would too.  Noah didn't listed and ran farther and farther away until Aaron had to sprint, while yelling at him to stop running, and finally catch up to Noah to carry him.  I was holding the camera and part of me really wanted to stop and record this whole thing, but the "mom" part of me wouldn't let me do it.  But I couldn't stop laughing for a long time.  

Here is a little waterfall we hiked to at the fish hatchery after feeding tons of little fishies.  (The dog came with us the whole time...probably because Noah was the best playmate he ever had!) 

Here's Joshua with the little dog.  

We stopped off at a beach that had tide pools.  The kids had fun looking for "sea treasures."  

Arwen found an anemone.  

Aaron, Noah, and Arwen climbed that big rock there in the background while Lulu and I hunted agates.  Josh just waited at the bottom for the kids and Aaron to get down.  

Josh practiced his climbing skills later on.

Cute girl!

At least Noah wasn't afraid of the sea creatures!  

We finally made it to the beach that the kids love!  It has a little stream leading down to the ocean that they build dams in.  

I guess Larkin needed a little run on the beach.  

What a natural!

The girls went on a little adventure, while the boys built dams.  

This was after Larkin took a fall in the big drink.  It was pretty chilly that day.

Cute little Larkin feet (I think).

Who even knew she could lay still long enough to be buried??

Let me tell you that her wet clothes and all this sand, made for a sandy baby when we were all done.  She had sand EVERYWHERE!!

Where's Noah??  

Arwen's pretty toes.  

The traumatic start of Noe's day was all fixed by the time we made it to Tillamook for some ice cream.