Camping at the coast

This last weekend we packed up our van to the brim and drove down to Nehalem Bay State Park for some camping fun! It was a family affair. Both sets of grandparents were there along with my sister and Chris's brother, his wife, and their son. We stayed for 4 nights!!! That is a record for us! We all survived, although we did come home a little sunburned. The last 2 nights, Claire started asking us if she could go to bed around 6pm. I'd say, "We still need to eat dinner." She would reply, "...and then we can go to bed?" Suffice it to say, between all the trips down to the beach, riding bikes, roasting smores, coloring, climbing trees, and making crafts we wore the kids out!

This is the view from Hwy 101 on our way south towards Nehalem. Our campground is in the distance along the spit of sand. Claire was a little upset that we weren't going to be camping here along the road.

This is the first day...after we got our camp all set up and ate some yummy pasties for dinner we took a quick stroll down to the beach for some fun. It was a little cool outside, but the kids loved it!

We did a lot of relaxing while we were camping. Chris read a couple of books, and we took Claire to a kids presentation about bats. It was put on by the ranger and at the end we got to make our own bat. Claire thought that was pretty cool. She also entertained herself by climbing all the trees that we around us!

The sun did come out, and although it was still a little windy, we had a great time playing on the beach in our swimsuits. We even went in the ocean! It was freezing! Although, once you are in for 5 min. your legs go numb, and then it almost feels warm. Grace LOVED the water. She kept pulling on us to go out further. She would jump each wave and laugh. It was really funny to watch. We had to drag her out of the water kicking and screaming when we decided that she was getting really cold. She would have stayed in the water for a long time.

We also had a chance to go out on Nehalem Bay in the boat and do a little crabbing and salmon fishing. It was a gorgeous day, and we caught 4 keeper Dungenous crabs! That's pretty good for only dropping the pots twice.

Last, but certainly not least, was our trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory on our way home. What trip to the coast is complete without a stop here? It is mandatory. You can see how tired and red Claire looks. She's ready for her bed! We all got ice cream and cheese curds and were on our way back to Hillsboro. We all had a great time, and can't wait to go back next year!