The Oregon Coast: A Story in Pictures

What a cool picture, huh? I love it!

Before I get started, let's just get one thing clear: when I say "A Story in Pictures," what I really mean is "A 900 Page Novel in Pictures." So prepared to get bombarded with pictures. And if you think I may have overdone it, then you clearly aren't aware of how hard it was for me to narrow my selection down to these pictures from the 326 PICTURES that Taren sent me from this trip. And those were just the ones that she deemed worthy of keeping. Let's just say the girl loves the camera! Anyway, now we will move on to the point of this post. About a month ago we got back from a marvelous vacation with the McKennas to the Oregon coast. I am finally getting around to blogging about it. Whoops. The McKennas have a tradition of renting a big house on the Oregon coast with their best friends, the Jacobs, and just having a laid back vacation full of games and family fun. They used to do this annually, but now that the kids are all grown and spreading across the nation they only get to do it every once in a while. The first time that I went with them I loved the games, the company, and the unlimited supply of ice cream (Yum!), but, frankly, I did not get the location choice. I am a hot beach gal, myself. I'm all about swimming in water that won't give me hypothermia and getting a sweet tan. I like to be warm. Call me crazy. That first Oregon trip the weather was gray, rainy, and generally quite dismal. Not my cup of tea as far as locations go. This time I got it. Totally got it. The weather was incredible!!! It was that perfect weather when you can wear a sweatshirt or a tanktop and be totally comfortable either way. The sun was out, the breeze was refreshing, and it was just amazingly beautiful. So, obviously, this time we got to spend tons of time outside, which I love. All day walking and playing on the beach and all night playing games and stuffing my face with ice cream. Now THAT is my kind of trip! There is too much to say, so I will just turn the narration over to the fabulous photos taken by Logan's little sister Taren, photog extraordinaire, and her fabulous new camera named "Dot." Seriously. Thank you for capturing our memories with so many beautiful and priceless pictures, Aunt Taren! We love you!

FUN AROUND THE HOUSE

Callum and Grandpa Reed were both quite pleased to be reunited.

At first Cal didn't know quite what to think of the obvious pleasure that Grandma Paulette got from plopping him into a sink full of water and soaping him up...

...but it didn't take long for him to get on board!

Callum made an excellent partner for Aunt Elise while playing the McKenna/Jacobs standby game, Rook. In fact, it looks like he's taking the cards much more seriously than she is!


Just the latest installment in Cal's collection of fabulous Grandma Paulette quilts! Gotta love The Hungry Caterpillar! This quilt is one of my very favorites so far! I wish I had one for my sisters and all of my friends!

Callum can't get enough of brightly colored pictures...especially when he gets to look at them under his new Hungry Caterpillar quilt while listening to Grandpa Reed read.

Unfortunately, since Aunt Taren was behind the camera the whole trip we don't have many pictures of her! In fact, this is the only one we have of her with Callum! Next time I'm stealing that camera for awhile so we can get some more!

TO THE BEACH...

Here's the view from immediately in front of the house we stayed in for the week. Wow.

BOCCE BALL

The McKennas love to play Bocce on the beach.

Callum and Aunt Elise have their game faces on! Bring it!

Logan makes a mighty throw. Good luck!

Let Callum be the judge. Cutest!

THE MONUMENT

Every year the "kids" gang up to build an impressive sand monument of some sort. This year they decided to go for a sort of pyramid. It took all day to build.

Here's most of the gang in front of the finished product. Pretty impressive, huh?

But, even after a full day's work, at the first sign of high tide the builders took great pleasure in playing "King of the Hill" on the monument to destroy it.

THE WATERFALL HIKE

One afternoon we all took a short hike to a gorgeous waterfall. Looks like Cal and his daddy are ready to go!

What a sight!

What an amazing picture! Beautiful!

FAMILY PHOTOS

For awhile now Paulette has been wanting a nice family photo of us all, and we finally took the time to get one. Taren and Reed searched out a picturesque spot for the photos, we got all dolled up....and Callum screamed bloody murder for every picture until he fell sound asleep. Oh well. Maybe we'll have better luck next time.

Logan thought it would be just hilarious if someone took a family picture that consisted of a limb from each member. Me posting this is my nod to his incredibly odd sense of humor.

The patriarch and matriarch of the family. We love them!

The siblings. L to R: Elise, Taren, Logan

Taren made Elise pose (which she did very reluctantly, I might add) for some killer wind-blowing-your-hair glamour shots. This one cracks me up! MEOW! She is going to kill me for posting this. Haha!

I love my sweet boy!

My men...aren't they the best?!?!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

A great big THANK YOU to Reed and Paulette, who made this trip possible. We had a wonderful time, and we love you very much! Thank you for the generosity that you have always shown our little family! Callum is lucky to have you as his grandparents!

There is nothing quite like snuggling your grandma!

Except for snuggling your grandpa. What a sweet picture!