epic july: week 4

i wasn't kidding when i said july has been the best month ever. last week, we took a little vacation down to the oregon coast.

we hadn't ever been to oregon and it's just a few hours away, so it seemed like a good place to test the waters on vacationing as a family of 4. we rented a cute little beach cottage via vrbo.com, which was perfect -- a zillion times better than a hotel, especially if you have kids.

our first stop was astoria, filming location of cult classic the goonies. the house still looks just like it did in the movie, except for an israel flag hanging outside. ;)

view from the house:

then we took a trolley ride along the waterfront, which was a huge hit with our little train lover. jack was so thrilled to board it (i told him a trolley was like a train, thinking he wouldn't know what a trolley was, and he immediately corrected me and reminded me of the trolley on daniel tiger's neighborhood. nothing gets past that kid.) and just sat there smiling & leaning out the window during the entire hour-long ride. it was a really fun, relaxing way to see the city -- b and i loved it too. 

on tuesday, we walked down to our little beach and played in the sand, even though it was cloudy and cold. here's us saying "THIS is the beach?!" :)

proof that huddy was there too:

that afternoon, we drove down to seaside to check out their little downtown area and get dinner...i was less than impressed, it kind of reminded me of coney island's ghetto tourist attractions. oh well :) 

wednesday we went to cannon beach! besides the goonies house, this was probably the most iconic part of oregon for me to look forward to since i had seen haystack rock so many times before in pictures (and in the goonies, ha). we made sure to go when the tide was low, and the area just around haystack rock was filled with the coolest tide pools ever. i had only been to tide pools in CA before this and they are totally lame -- this one was amazing, with tons of starfish and mussels and seagulls and puffins and crabs, and even a sea anenome eating a dead bird. jack's favorite part was finding a tiny hermit crab. there are a bunch of local volunteers at the tide pools to help you learn more about the ecosystem and animals, and told us all sorts of cool tidbits. also jack got to wear binoculars, which he loved. 

from there, we drove to tillamook oregon to tour the cheese factory! not going to lie, this was one activity that solidified our plans to go to oregon -- i LOVE that cheese (and ice cream). the factory was awesome -- cheese samples, lunch at the cafe, dessert at the ice cream counter, peeking in the factory windows to watch them make cheese, and a trip to their gift shop to bring stuff home. it was a delightful afternoon. 

that afternoon, we took a kite to the beach. in oregon you can drive right ON the beach! so fun (though i was worried our little accord would get stuck...b could totally handle it of course). it was sunny so we wore our bathing suits...but it was freezing. ha. i stayed in the car.

and thursday, we came home -- after a delicious brunch at mcdonalds. one thing i will say the oregon coast is lacking is good food...zero restaurants impressed me down there. then we drove back up to seattle, stopping only at an amish furniture store to diffuse a double meltdown (yeah...ask me about it sometime) and then we were home! such a fun trip for our little family.