June: Oregon Coast

 Several months ago, Sam and I discussed going to the Oregon Coast for a reunion. She lives about an hour and a half from the Ocean. She found a great beach house for us and came up with some super fun activities. We flew in to Portland on Thursday morning. The kids did great in the airport and it really helped that we got a wheel chair for me and my mom and we checked two of our bags. Sean and I even got to sit next to each other on the plane and watch The Chosen together. When we landed we went to get the rental car. We rented a van with my parents. We drove to Sam's house in Hilsboro which took about an hour. We met her new puppy Milo who was very scared of us, but warmed up to my Dad pretty quickly. Jared and Sam made us some grilled cheese sandwiches and a really yummy salad. The kids played some Mario Kart and then we went to the school that Sam teaches at. It was so cool to walk through such an old building and see all the character and tradition of a Catholic school. I was jealous of how huge the classrooms were! The kids played on the playground then we headed to Sam's to pack up the cars and headed to the beach. The kids were super super silly on the drive and I felt bad for my parents who were trying to rest. I didn't want to tell the kids to stop all together though, they were very tired and excited and having a fun time. We had one stop while Sam and Jared cleaned up a mess from Milo. We arrived at the beach house and got situated in our rooms. The plan was to get Papa Murphy's pizza and cook it at the house. But it was already late and the Papa Murphy's was 20 min away. So we went 10 min to a little pizza place called Crab Rock Pizza. The woodfired pizzas were delicious. Then we went 10 more minutes away to the Fred Meyer. Sean, Jared, and Dad dropped the rest of us at McDonalds where we got ice cream and the kids played. They got all the groceries and then came back to get us.  All these pictures uploaded in reverse order.

The water from the road as we drove up to the coast. 

Crab Rock Pizza:

I ordered a cheese pizza for each kid and they each ate their whole pizza! They were so hungry! 

This is the playground at the school:

My sisters classroom:

Milo meeting everyone:

Mario Kart

Sam's house:

Airplane:

This tree was right outside the chapel at Sam's school and the trunk was so so huge!!!

The next morning we all woke up at the beach house. Sean went for a run along the ocean and scoped out where would be good for us to go down. We had eggs and all got ready and then we went to the Tilamook air museum. It was a huge structure built during WWII to house the giant blimps. It was constructed mostly of wood because there wasn't metal to spare. It was huge and they had some awesome planes and also little models of different battles and such. It was a lot of walking, but I was able to hobble around pretty well! 

This was a 1970's commercial plane. We were thinking this must have been first class because the seats seemed so big!

Kaity and Lizzie let me do braids in their hair. 

Milo got more used to Grandma:

Sean tried to keep up on Clinic things by answering phone notes and such. Dad was playing solitaire. 

I loved how hands on this museum was:

We were all amazed at how many dials there were:

Next we went to lunch. Sean and me took all the kids to Tilamook creamery and Sam, Jared, Mom, and Dad went to a seafood restaurant across the street. At the creamery we ordered a cheese pizza, hamburgers, macaroni, and tomato soup. And I got a little tilamook ice cream sandwich. It was super busy there! We ate yummy food then walked through the tour of how they make the cheese. There were cheese samples and then we visited the gift shop and headed back to the beach house. 

This picture made us all a little anxious!

We liked this giant cow at the entrance:

The cheese pizza didn't have much sauce, it was more like a cheese bread. Brett and Alana liked it ok, but Lizzie was not a fan. So I bought her another ice cream sandwich, lol! I thought it was yummy. 

I liked the big windows that allowed you to see them making the cheese. 

selfie time with Lily the dog at the beach house:

Milo got brave and wanted to sit by Brett:

The girls made bracelets while some of us played a game of Quacks of Quidlingburg. 

We had chicken and roasted potatoes, green beans, and angel food cake with strawberries for dinner. It was yummy. Then everyone except Mom and Dad went down to the beach. The kids were so excited! This was by far their favorite part! Sam let Lizzie feed Lily some whipped cream. 

At the seafood restaurant this was the bathroom sign. The others were wondering which room I should use because I have my peg leg. 

Sam got us all matching t-shirts! 

Kaity was reading a good book, she didn't want to put down. 

Sunset at the beach was incredible! It was so beautiful! I somehow made it down the steep incline and across the sand with my peg leg. Sean helped me a lot. I had a chair and sat and watched everyone play. I did walk around a little and look for shells. The kids jumped right in that freezing water! And Sean was a saint and played right along with them. I was mostly sad that I couldn't make a sand castle. Thats what I really wanted to do =) And then of course talk long walks up and down the water. But I reminded myself that even if I hadn't just had surgery I wouldn't have been able to walk without pain. Lily loves the beach and Milo seemed to like it too! 

burying Jared's feet:

Burying each other:

I really like this picture of Sean and I

Alana was so so dirty!  The shower had a lot of sand in the bottom! Both she and Lizzie decided to maybe not get sand all in their hair the next day. Lizzie was brave and had her first shower at the beach house=)

We weren't sure what these little bugs were, but they were everywhere that first night. 

Alana found all her shells. 

When it was time to come back up from the beach I was having a really hard time getting up the sandy hill. It was steep and the sand was deep and slippery. A very sweet woman came and had me put my arm around her neck, my other arm was around Sean's neck. They basically carried me up the hill and I was again humbled by other peoples service. I felt that she was a angel sent to help me =) 

On Saturday morning we all got up and went to the little beach shops. There were lots of little antiques and cute things. Alana found a glass sea star, Lizzie found a music box, and Brett found a Harry Potter deck of cards. Sam bought me a Saturday's Warrior screen play, lol! I used to make her watch that movie at least once a week with me when we were little. I liked the nightgown things they wore in heaven. We all started getting hungry and decided to try a little restaurant called Grumpy's diner. We went in and they had us sit in the corner at two tables, but the air conditioner was right above us and it was really cold. Especially for Jared who was facing it dead on. They brought us our drinks and some uno and monopoly cards. The guy said, "its going to be a really long wait" Jared asked how long and they were kinda funny about it and said maybe 45 min. We decided that was ok, but Jared decided to head back to the beach house. A few minutes later the waitress came over and said "Good news, there were three tickets in front of you and now you just got bumped up to first!" It was because all the others got too tired of waiting. Sam, Sean, and all four kids played uno and then they tried another game and then an hour later most the food came out. Then 5-10 min later the rest of the food came out. The food was actually really good, but oh my goodness. As the guy was bringing out the food he told us "sorry the cook threw a fit and walked out and thats why it took so long" It was a very small town diner. I wish we would have just gone back to the beach house or just gotten ice cream =) Although it does make a funny memory. Also as we were just finishing our food they started playing "closing time" on the stereo and they turned the lights off.  After lunch, we went to the candy shop and then back to the house to hang out for awhile. Sean, me and our three kids went to the beach to play. It was kinda cold and drippy outside, but Brett and Sean spent a long time making a sand castle that kept getting washed away by the rising tide. I put my camp chair as close as I dared and then I would watch the tide for when I needed to move back. I had just decided it was time to move and was looking around me to gather my things when Sean came running up and grabbed my leg and lifted it up. I grabbed the bag that had his phone in it while the water gushed up around us. He was very quick thinking and I was grateful because if my boot would have gotten all wet, that would have been miserable! 

me in my camp chair =) 

That night after the beach my mom made some yummy chili burritos with the tilamook cheese curds in them. They were really good. Then we ate ice cream from Tilamook and Sam, Jared, Brett, Lizzie, and Sean played Quacks of Quidlingburg. While she was playing, Sam also taught me to crochet hot pad holders. It was really fun to have her help me and she gave me some good pointers and corrected some mistakes in my crochet. She told me how Grandma had taught her to make them and we laughed as we thought of Grandma and how we miss her. 

My boot was kinda sandy, so I left it off to sleep that night and I slept so so good! It was amazing how much more comfortable I was without it! 

Sam is turning 40 this year =) 

Sunday morning we were planning to head to a ward in Tilamook which is 20 minutes away. Sean was double checking the address and found a branch that met kitty corner to our beach house. I was even able to walk over with my peg leg! I've never attended a branch before and it was really cool to be among such a small group of Saints. Although they had tons of people and passing the sacrament took a long time. They even had to bless the bread twice because they needed an extra piece. Brett helped pass and I was so proud of how quickly he went and volunteered when he noticed they needed more priesthood. Sean helped bless. After church we had some yummy pork chops that Jared made and then we went back to the beach. Peter and his wife Hiroe were meeting us there with their kiddos JT and Miori. It was nice and hot on the beach and we ended up staying there for 4 hours. It was good to visit and play with the baby. 

Peter and Hiroe:

Our beach house:

Playing in the water:

Playing with baby Miori:

Brett and JT dug a hole so deep they found water:

Lizzie made sand angels:

We thought this was so clever! 

Hiroe brought us some Japanese snacks and these chocolate chip breads were really good! 

The girls were trying to make friends with Milo on Sunday morning:

For dinner Sean and I helped Mom make her chicken enchiladas which were really yummy. Sunday night we were planning to head back to the beach for sunset. Sean, Brett, Sam and Jared started a game called Wyrmspan. When the time came to head to the beach, Mom and Dad weren't up for it, but the kids still wanted to go. So Sam and Jared took the kids to the beach and Sean and I rested. Then  when they got back they finished their game around 11. We got to bed knowing we needed to pack up and clean up the house the next morning. 

Monday morning we all got up and ate breakfast and worked on packing and cleaning up the house. On the way out of town we stopped at the beach to get a family picture. 

I think they call these the twin rocks. 

We drove back to Hillsboro and decided to go to Top Golf for lunch and fun. We ate yummy food and visited and then said goodbye to the Browns. It's always so sad to say goodbye. We drove back into Portland and to the airport. It was a bit of a bumpy ride back home. Sean and I got to watch the final episode of season 4 of the Chosen and Brian picked us up from the airport. We had to wait til Sean got off work the next day to get Oreo since I can't drive and can't really hold onto him with my peg leg. It was a really wonderful trip and we were all very tired! 

Sean was teasing the girls when he sat in the back with them:

This bridge is pretty cool as you drive into Portland:

The sunset was really pretty in the airplane!