Manzanita, OR

We had the opportunity to go to the Oregon coast for a mini-vacation. One of the senior partners at Marc's work has a beach house in Manzanita. This is a small quiet town 14 miles south of Cannon Beach. The house was 2 blocks from the beach, 3 blocks from the main street, and designed perfectly for lots of friends and kids. The Phillips, Koethkes, and Lockbeams joined us for the weekend. We each had our own rooms and the great room was completely open to feel like you were a part of everything. Christian and Marcus made it golfing and many of us took advantage of some good nap time. One of my favorite things was taking Jacob on a walk in the morning down to the espresso shop. I grabbed a mocha and we sat "chatting" on the beach before starting the busy day. This was truly a relaxing trip, even with wee-little ones!

We spent many hours at the beach. The kids loved digging and building in the sand, but running from the waves a favorite. As the kids got braver about going into the water, the moms got a bit more nervous! Above, Jackson is doing his "happy dance".

Which way do we run?

Jackson said the sand tastes great!

Ella and Jase running for their lives. Jackson...wondering why his feet are sinking.

This is not a great family pic, but I thought it was cute with Ella's tush in the back!

Just in case they get married some day!

Even Jacob and Hudson enjoyed themselves!

A little down time in front of a movie never hurts.

The Oregon Zoo - Again!

Jackson had been asking to go to the zoo again for the last month. Since we were going through Portland on the way to Manzanita we, without question, had to stop. Finally the day came and he was excited, although mainly to ride the train! When we first boarded, we were on the same train that we rode in June. He really wanted to ride a different one, so we got off at the park stop and waited for this one. It was a great choice, as you can see we got the very back!

Watching the wheels on the rails

With no nap and a long day at the zoo, Jackson was out of gas. Poor Kara had to haul him out of the zoo. When I put him in his car seat, I turned around to get the diaper bag and he was out! Nothing like napping form 5-7pm! At least the drive to the coast was quiet.

Random Pictures

Hot summer days call for more nudy swimming. And buckets make it even more fun!

I was trying to get some cute shots of the boys. Trying to get a two year old and an infant to hold still at the same time can be very tricky! This is the best I got.

Jacob gave me tons of faces during one of our "photo sessions". Here are a few.

My sister Jen and her kids came over for a few days. We had fun swimming, playing in the yard, and going to the concert in the park.


When we returned from the park, Marcus and Jackson came out of the house wearing these hats. A friend of Marcus' sent these hats for everyone in our family. They resemble the name of his fantasy football team, but Jackson just thinks they are funny.