Betsy on the Coast

Mostly, I just fell in love with the Oregon Coast. WOW! It was beautiful and it had everything I love about the beach, with nothing I hate. It was very soothing to my soul and I could not get enough time sitting on the beach breathing the air and rubbing my feet in the sand.









And visiting. Here I'm visiting with Mary.















Visiting with Samatha at the park while Cannon swings with his cousin, Claire (born on the same day).














A beautiful sunset with Abe on the beach.















I really enjoyed the big hike day.

Abe on the Coast

Here is Abe proving his manliness! He did indeed go in the water everyday.














Some of the men before they all went in together.
















The boys pay homage to the youngest brother who skunked them in a game of Risk.















Abe's cousin Nathan and his beautiful family joined the reunion this year and they were a delightful addition.














Bury Uncle Abe!! He was like the Pied Piper with children following him all over the beach. What a great dad and uncle!















Abe, Jesse and Baden and lots of little ones. Abe was key in organizing activities for the reunion-- he has earned the title of "The Wedding Planner" because he is so good at organizing us.

Clark on the Coast

Was Clark on the coast? I'm not so sure. We didn't see him very much. He spent most of his time with Ford (12) and Adam (11) at a beach house further up the coast. He says he had a great time, so we'll just have to take his word for it.











Clark got in the on the game of Risk one night.















Swimming in the lake with the boys. A highlight of the trip for Clark was doing "Adventures" with a group of cousins. I've talked a bit about "Adventures" before, but Clark has spent hours and hours writing made-up role playing adventures to go on with these cousins. I was happy for him that it worked out so well.

Bethany on the Coast

Bethany helped Abe and bunch of cousins build a magnificent sand castle. Only to watch the water come and destroy it. But I think they had as much fun trying to protect it from the water as they did building it.











Bethany and Julia on the hike. They collected buckets and buckets and buckets of sea treasures each day on the beach.













Before heading back from the coast we stopped in a town called Depoe Bay-- the Whale Watching Capital of the World! And we did indeed see two different whales several times. It was pretty cool and nobody got seasick, like you might on a boat.










On the drive up to Portland I asked Bethany how the trip was so far. She said, "Well, no one's barfed yet!"
Sadly, Bethany did get a short stomach bug driving back from the coast. It only lasted a few hours, but it wiped her out for the car ride.

Elinor on the Coast

Elinor loved playing with her closest cousins- Gentri and Annie. We don't do sleepovers so it was a special treat to have Gentri to sleep over at our beach house for a couple of nights. These girls played hard all day and then we had children dropping off like flies all over the house when they were too tired to go on.









Our first night on the beach got quite chilly. We had roasted hotdogs and sand for dinner. We found a great park by a lake for our next two big family meals. My sister-in-law, Amy (married to Jesse, brother just under Abe) and her little Jessica are also in the picture.









It was a personal goal of Abe's to take a dip in the Pacific at least once a day during the trip. He did it and Elinor was the only child brave enough to go with him--once. I think she regretted it.
The water was REALLY cold. Mary is ahead of Abe. She was the only brave sister.
I was glad the water was so cold because I didn't have to worry about any child drowning. Nobody wanted to go near the water!

Faith on the Coast

Faith's vacation can be summed up with one name. Eliza Fox. She is the oldest daughter of Mary and Baden (Abe's youngest brother).
These two could not get enough of each other. They were absolutely silly and giddy together. Fortunately, they were pretty easy to keep track of since they were always together.












Together at the beach.
















Together playing at the park.
















Together on the hike. Very slow moving on the hike. We had to separate them because they would not go faster while holding hands.

Faith did great on the long car rides and she had a grand time on the whole trip.

Cannon at the Coast

What kind of idiot mother dresses her quick crawling baby the color of sand on the beach?
He was hard to keep track of. But he did love to eat the sand. Mmm. That must be so good for the digestion.











Yes, he just shoveled it right in. Handful after handful. My loving family would draw my attention to it and I would just tell them I was aware of it and I was okay with it. Seriously-- there was a lot of sand. It was a losing battle. So I gave up.










Cannon's first 4-wheeler ride. Actually, it was his first illegal act, too. Apparently it was illegal to ride 4-wheelers on this beach and the beach police tracked down Dad Fox with the threat of a hefty fine. Pooh!-- no more 4-wheelers.










We went on a huge group hike one of the days. Cannon enjoyed his ride with Abe. We felt a little bit sorry for anyone else who went on this hike at the same time as the Fox Fifty! They were probably hoping for a peaceful quiet time to commune with nature and instead they got. . . US!!!









Cannon reached delirium driving back from the beach. Hysterical laughter interspersed with bouts of frantic crying. He was ready to be home!

Tillamook Cheese Factory

The next leg of the trip was out to the coast for the Fox Family Renuion. As there are now 20 adults and 45 grandchildren-- it is always eventful!













But first, a stop at the Tillamook Cheese factory. It is their 100th anniversary so it was really crowded, but the ice-cream was yummy.