oregon coast vacation

Last week we drove down to the central Oregon coast and met up with Alden's Aunt Tanya, Uncle James, and cousins Emma, Lydia, and Eila, from Bozeman Montana. We rented a beach house together just north of Waldport, where we stayed for six days. We had a great time sightseeing, beach-combing, and relaxing. The weather on the beach was pretty windy and cold, but we expected that. The nice thing was that we had anticipated rain for the entire trip and we we're blessed with sunshine almost every day which treated us to some beautiful sunsets.

We all got to meet baby Eila for the first time, and she's adorable! Alden really loved to hold her and help with her pacifier. For those of you who haven't heard, Alden will be a big brother soon (August) so this was good practice for him.
The kids all had a ton of fun playing together and Alden hasn't stopped talking about Emma and Lydia since we left. We took them all to the beach one afternoon to hunt for starfish and seashells. They all conveniently found one of each in perfect condition burried in the sand. Hmm... doesn't sound staged at all, right? I wonder how old you have to be before you figure it out?! We're planning on going back next year and Emma will be 6-1/2, so we'll see.