Beverly Beach State Park

Our annual trip with our "summer friends" was to Oregon this year.  We're glad we had that planned since so much of Washington was forcibly shut down.  It was chilly, so of course we had to dress warmer than I like to in the summer. Fortunately we only had to get a new wetsuit for Dillon so the kids could enjoy the ocean.

We went to look for critters at devil's punchbowl again.  I appreciate so much that my kids have such a sense of adventure and curiosity.  They didn't hesitate to clamber all over the rocks and look in every nook and cranny.  Then of course they would pick up any crabs and touch the anemones.  We had to work a little to get Ryan and Ethan interested.

Ozzi loved exploring the rocks and followed us anywhere we went.

The beach is too far to walk with any swim stuff so the kids usually rode in the back of their truck. They loved it.

Daddy and Rene have their bromance joke.  They always have to do something like they're gay dad's raising kids alone. I didn't catch their shenanigans this year though.

We went into town and took a whale watching tour.  It was not what I expected.  Did we see a whale? Yes. One whale, the same whale, all we did was follow it down the coast for 45 minutes.  We saw it frequently, it never did anything exciting and we ended up seasick.  I actually talked to a crew member that used to captain the ship (he's retired now and was just helping out that day). I learned more from him than the tour guide that just kept saying "there she blows".  Apparently they can tell the whales apart based on scarring.  They have whales there that don't migrate, they live there year round.  I believe it was around 7 of them.  He described the rock shelves that push the food up along the bluffs so that's where the whales like to hang out.  

Can't go to the Oregon coast without going on quad rides!  We had such a good time when we went with Grandma and Papa H that we HAD to go again.  It was neat to see the kids' confidence levels change since they've been riding at home.

We actually went out to the beach this time.  It was Kayda's favorite place to ride.  We thoroughly enjoyed racing and doing donuts in the sand. It's definitely an easier ride since you can get stuck in the soft dunes fairly easily.

Dad crashed.

Went up to Thor's well again. It didn't disappoint.  Unfortunately, since you're there at high tide, there aren't any tide pools.  However, we saw whales.  They were hanging out just off the coast.  Didn't need to go on that whale tour after all.

We had a couple fires on the beach as we really enjoy them. 

We were hoping to see the tide come in and put out our fire. It took too long so we had to deal with it before we left the beach.

It's impossible for my boys to be near a hill or rocks and NOT climb around.

Boat day!

We don't do it often, but every now and again we go up and borrow Grandma and Papa H's boat.  We're grateful to have access to one, especially with the kiddos being such water babies... And not having a pool this year.  I think the pictures are pretty self explanatory.

 

We brought Ozzi with us since he has such bad separation anxiety.  He did really well.  Wouldn't say he liked it, I'm pretty sure he ended up a little sick... But he was a champ and the kids loved having him with us.

Sheep lake with Alan

The kids and I had been wanting to go on a hike.  I brought it up to Alan and it turned out he was supposed to meet some friends on the trail end of their backpacking trip up at Sheep's Lake.  We drove separately since his plan was to stay the night and then give his friends a ride home.  

Awesome neighbor Alan!  If you look at his feet.... He brought all his backpacking stuff and forgot shoes!  He did the whole thing in sandals!  When we got up there the kids happily helped him set up his tent. I love that they're helpful.

 It was cool enough that the kids didn't want to go in the water. Until Kayda offered Carson $30 if he went in and under.  He did it, and yes, I made her give him the money.

When the kids were ready to head back

Alan decided that he didn't want to stay the night. So we helped him pack his stuff and headed down the trail together.  He planned to drive up to the trailhead and pick his friends up the next day instead of staying.
 

Dillon's Invisalign

We finally got a consult for Dillon for braces. The deal was, cosmetic was his choice, function was required.  He ended up with multiple things for his bite the orthodontist was concerned about.  Some of which was an overbite and a cross bite. Combine it with the fact that he's a grinder we opted to have him get braces.  Invisalign was about $400 more, which isn't fun BUT Daddy and I kind of forced him that route.  He's responsible and there are so many restrictions and pain that come from braces that don't exist with Invisalign.  The only pitfall is having to brush your teeth after you eat and put it back in.  Which can be really annoying at school for lunch. 

The assistants there are much better with their scanner now.  It took about 10 minutes. When they first got the machine Kayda was one of the first patients, it took 20+ minutes.  Sad that we've been dealing with braces for so long.  He got scanned June 15th.

Time to get the trays!  July 7th.