During our trip to Lincoln City this past June, we had professional pictures taken on the beach. Unfortunately, it was windy and pretty chilly too. We had planned for the weather to be a little bit warmer and ended up feeling a little cold with the short-sleeve shirts on that we had planned.
Also, Gabey was NOT in a very good mood, which made it hard to get a good shot of our entire family. So we started with individual shots...
Karina was her usual cooperative self.
Xiao Yu also likes taking pictures.
Mommy and Daddy also cooperated with the photographer.
Now it was time for the family picture. Gabey's eyes are all red from crying.
Now he's feeling a little better. Everyone else is fine. It was a great day for pictures. It was a really pretty day and there was not a cloud in the sky.
By the end, Gabey perked and we got some shots of him.
And were able to get a great shot of the kids!
BLOOPERS:
Here are some pictures which we will NOT be printing and hanging up on the wall.
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...
In June, we made plans to go on a family camping trip with three other families from church. You'd think that in June, you could count on sunny weather. But not here in the Pacific Northwest!
The weather report said showers and we almost chickened out...but then went anyways! We set off on Saturday afternoon.
Then we stopped at a Mexican place for dinner since we didn't feel like doing camp cooking that night. The America's Cup happened to be on and the kids got front row seats. Actually it's a small restaurant and it was the only table large enough to accommodate our family.
After another hour of driving, we made it to the site and set up camp.
When it started getting dark, we started a fire and roasted marshmallows. No rain yet!
We're not sure how many marshmallows Gabey ate but it was a lot.
And they went to bed pretty late that night. It was going to be fairly chilly at night so we bundled them up.
As predicted, Xiao Yu was the earliest to rise. Although the sun came up at around 6:00am and he didn't get up till 7:00am, so it wasn't too bad. Nevertheless, everyone else was still asleep so Elvin whisked him off and they went out for a walk.
During the walk, Elvin ran into another camper who had heard Elvin say Xiao Yu's name. She turned to him out of the blue and asked, "Is his name 'Little Fish' in Chinese?" ("Xiao Yu", if pronounced a certain way with the tones, can sound just like the words for "little fish" in Chinese.) It turned out that this woman (who was Caucasian) had lived in China as a teacher at an international school for several years and also spoke Chinese.
We found a snail while walking around.
Then it was time for breakfast...what was on the menu? Eggs, bacon, and cinnamon rolls.
Our boys enjoyed playing with the other little boy we shared a site with. He is about the same age as Gabe. They enjoyed making dinosaur noises at each other.
There was a playground at the campsite, which I always thought was kind of weird. Until I had kids...
They were content to play and climb and play some more...
There was a little creek on one side of the campsite which was really pretty to look at.
Elvin took Xiao Yu and some of the other kids fishing there.
Elvin got a new backpacking fishing rod and reel, which means that it's really small--only about 36" long and telescopes to about the size of a fat pen. He used this to cast a lure across the creek and before he knew it, had a little fish on. Elvin passed the rod on Xiao Yu, who had to learn, real quick, how to reel in a fish. And he did it!
Here is his first fish ever! It was a VERY memorable experience for him as periodically he will retell how it all unfolded in his special way, which means that there is a lot of acting out how he was cranking the handle of the reel.
Later, the other kids joined in even though it started to pour rain. But unfortunately, we didn't catch anything else.
The rain stopped after a while and in the evening, we made another campfire.
And roasted hot dogs for dinner...
And when it got cooler, stayed by the fire to keep warm.
The kids congregated around the lantern to watch one of the older boys fold origami. The neat thing about this trip is that there were 12 kids total with ages ranging from 13 to 1, and they all played really well together. The older kids involved the younger kids in games and activities, and everyone had fun.
The next morning Xiao Yu was up early again!
So Elvin took him to the swings.
We brought bicycles, which the kids really enjoyed riding.
Here are some of Karina's little friends.
And then it was time to break camp...
But before leaving, we *tried* to have the kids take a group picture. Two boys, including Gabey, were trying to boycott this. You can see them on either side of the photo below.
Before leaving, we tried our luck at the creek one more time...
And then munched on some lunch before hitting the road.
And when we got back, Elvin had to unpack our tent to dry it out. The girls also got out to clean, wash, and shine their bicycles. It was pretty funny to see them wash their bikes so carefully.
And that was our trip! We hope to go camping a couple more times this summer!
