We have reached the end of our series of mini vacations. For our last stop, we ventured into unknown territory and spent a couple days in Ocean Shores, on the Washington Coast. I was eager to escape the relentless heat, and we certainly found cooler weather!
We arrived around lunchtime and were surprisingly able to check into our hotel room four hours early. We we pleased to discover that our hotel room was quite large - probably bigger than our Wymount apartment - with a separate bedroom, full kitchen, and living room area. We were on the ground floor with a huge "back yard." The boys kept asking, "do we really get to stay the night here?" They were even more impressed when the deer kept wandering by.
We were meeting up with some really good friends, the Rushtons (who had the adjoining hotel room). Once they arrived, we put on swim suits and jackets and made the long trek to the beach.
We arrived at the beach around 2:30 pm, but it was still super chilly and very windy. Most of the kids were undaunted. Mark, Aubree, Bethelle, Bryce, and Curie immediately went to the waves and got nice and soaked. Brrrr!
Elke got started making a sand sculpture of a dragon, and soon she had a gaggle of children helping her.
The dragon turned out to be pretty impressive.
Bryce set about his typical engineering-style escapades, and worked to build a trench around the dragon. Graham was his designated helper.
We became pretty terrified of the very idea of "the tide," despite our best efforts to explain what tides were and why they're not scary.
Eventually, the cold and wind became too much for everyone, and the kids decided they were done at the beach for the day.
After a hike back, and a quick change, we all went out for dinner, where we learned that we have a long way to go on teaching our children manners and etiquette (I speak for my children only, their friends did just fine).
The day's adventures were far from over. Next came my kids' favorite part of vacations - swimming in the hotel pool. This pool was quite warm and had a variety of life jackets available for use. Everyone loved being in the water.
Graham discovered the joys of jumping in from the edge, and kept begging, "Yump uh-din!" [jump again!]
I relished being in the water and feeling free for a short time from the effects of gravity. I paid for it when I got out, though - all of a sudden I felt three times heavier than ever!
Getting the kids to go to sleep was surprisingly easy. Both Thane and Graham were out the moment their heads hit their pillows! Aubree got to sleep in the front room with Bethelle, so that was a little trickier, but even those girls succumbed fairly quickly to the effects of a long day of fun in the water. The next morning, we were slow to get started. Our kids were happy to be allowed the rare opportunity to watch stupid cartoons, but soon Mark balked, "We're at the beach and all we're doing is watching TV!" Within a few minutes, he'd shepherded them back to the hotel pool. They all happily agreed that swimming was much better than watching television.
After checking out of the hotel, we headed back to the beach. This time around, there was no wind, which made the overcast, cool temperatures quite pleasant. Aubree, Bethelle, and Curie spent almost all their time "teaching the waves teamwork." I'm not exactly sure what that entailed, but they spent hours at their task. Bryce and Thane dug another pool, while Thane (who was still worried about the tides, "do the tides come every day?") stuck to his commitment not to get wet.
It was a fun trip. I can't say I'm overly impressed with the Washington coast (it's tough to compete with Florida beaches and California beaches) or anxious to return, but it was nice to not be hot, and to play in the sand, and spend time with friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment