The Oregon Coast

Two weeks ago, we got to go on our first family vacation. Drew's folks took us the Oregon Coast for an all-expenses paid trip for eight days. Drew had never been to the Oregon coast, even though I had spent countless summer and spring vacations traveling up and down the coastline. And it was Keegan's first official vacation that was more than four hours away in the car. He traveled soooo well, thanks to a personal dvd player and a Dora the Explorer movie that we played over and over and over and over again. I was so proud of him.

There were 18 people total on our little family vacation and we stayed in a beautiful house RIGHT ON THE BEACH about 20 miles south of Newport. It was literally a stairwell away from the crashing waves and shell-filled sand. As you can see from this initial pictures, Keegan was NOT a fan of the cold, wet sand. I can't really blame the kid, he had been in the car for several hours, without a decent nap and hadn't really had a snack before I went and dropped him off long enough to get this picture. I felt bad, as I tried to contain my giggles.

 I love his little footprints in the sand. He couldn't wait to get picked up! He was never really excited to be in the sand, but did better as the week went on, as long as he had jeans and shoes on and was holding onto someone's hand. He even helped to build two different sand castles- sadly, the second one never reached completion as we learned that we had not read the tides chart correctly. 

 Since Drew had never been to the Oregon coast before, I wanted to make sure I got lots of pictures of him playing in the water- I think he had as much fun (actually, probably more) than Keegan. Glad I got a pedicure the week before we left!

 We took Keegan to the Newport Aquarium on our second day and he had a blast. They had a children's area where the kids could play in the sandbox, touch stingrays, climb in a beaver dam, pretend to fish and watch Nemo and Dori swimming around the tanks. He was so intrigued by all the fish and kept pointing to them even as they continued to swim around. There was even a petting pool where we could touch starfish and clams and this Mama was even brave enough to touch them (after SEVERAL moments of psyching myself up!). As we were walking through the tunnel, Keegan caught sight of a very interesting fish- it had a mask and goggles and even an air tank- it wasn't a fish, it was a scuba diver cleaning the tank. Keegan got right up to the glass and started waving and evern gave her a high five through the glass. It was awesome. He certainly didn't understand what she was doing, but it was fun to watch him.

 I loved getting to spend time with Keegan during our vacation. It was the most time I had spent with him since my maternity leave. While it was exhausting to keep him entertained all week long, it was so amazing to see him experience all these new things all at once. I can only imagine what was going through his cute little head as he saw the water, and the fish, and the boats, and even the whales we saw as we stood on the beach. I only hope that I can take him back so that he can have wonderful memories of the beach, just like me!

 After plugging my earphones into the music of nature and taking a few runs on the beach- best workout ever- I got to hang with Keegan on the deck a bit. He was telling me all about his day and the adventures he had had. I love that Drew tried so hard to get some pictures of me with Keegan-I often feel that I don't get a chance in front of the camera, because I'm always the one behind it. Thanks babe, and thanks Keegan for the chat!



We did and saw and ate so much more than I've listed here; we went to Rogue Brewery, ate chowder everyday, went to Tillamook Cheese Factory and the Air Museum, saw the barge that floated over from Japan, walked the beach, and got to see my grandparents old house on our first night when we stopped in Portland. But by far, my favorite part of the week was getting to spend so much time with my boys. our lives seem so busy and we get so caught up in everything that we want to do that we forget that simply spending time together is as important as anything else. This vacation couldn't have happened without the generousity of Drew's family and I am so grateful, but I certainly plan on many more family vacations to come!