Our Trip to Lincoln City

In late June, we made our annual trek to Lincoln City, which is on the Oregon coast, about an hour and a half away.  We timed the drive with Xiao Yu's nap and Gabey ended up sleeping as well.

The hotel we always stay at is right on the beach and the hotel lobby's back wall is a set of windows that face the ocean.  Every year we arrive and check in, the kids immediately run to see the water and the waves.

And we went outside to feel the wind.  Karina has her trusty star floatie which she loves and uses when swimming.

First order of business--go into the pool!

Cousin Jace flew in all the way from Colorado (along with his mom, Emily's sister Jen, and dad and sister) to join us at the beach.

Here is the sunset without a cloud in the sky.

After baths it was time for a story.

...And then sleep.  Gabey wanted to sleep close to Karina.  He is still very attached to her.

The next morning, we met up with a local photographer that we had arranged with ahead of time.  It turned out to be much chillier than we expected it to be on the beach.  We will post our family pictures on another post.

Since it was so cold and windy on the beach...then back to the pool it was.  Cousin Anders (and Lena and their mom, Emily's sister Gretchen) also came in from Seattle.

They had towels at the pool and Karina liked using two of them to stay warm on the walk between the pool and our hotel room.

In the afternoon, the kids went down again to fly the kite but it was almost too windy for the kites.

Here is Julia just after having woken up from a nap.  It was convenient to have a hotel right on the beach and with a pool, since we had three little kids who still took daily naps.

Cousin Lena brought a board game called Forbidden Island.  The rules are more complicated than anything our girls have played before, but Lena was very patient and they all had fun.  Gabriel liked to poke his head in (literally) every once in a while, but it was way over his head.

For dinner, we grilled a whole Costco-sized pack of steaks.

And it was all eaten up except for one piece, by the end of the night!

Xiao Yu is a very friendly guy.  He is always out to make new friends and Aunt Gretchen was the lucky one this weekend.  He enjoyed holding her hand during breakfast.

The kids enjoyed playing together and only fought occasionally.

Almost every night, we went to Dairy Queen for dessert.  It has become our tradition of sorts.

The next morning, we headed out to the tide pools.

Karina enjoyed exploring and climbing on the rocks.

We found a shallow pool with anemones and small fish.

There was one area with lots of crab shells.  It was like a crab cemetery.

Gabriel challenged Elvin to catch one of the small fish.  So while Elvin was wading into the water, bent over trying to grab a fish, Gabey saw one and swatted it out of the water!  And he got it!  Elvin picked it up for Gabey to examine it.  Who knew he had such quick hands.

The rocks were very slick with slimy seaweed but none of the kids slipped and fell.

Eliana and her cousin are two peas in a pod.  They both love the ocean and the water and would spend all day romping on the beach if allowed to.

Cousins!

And then it was back to the pool!

We spent four days and three nights at Lincoln City.  By the end, we were happy and...

...tired!