Trip to Oregon Part 3: The Beach House

We had a wonderful on Saturday June 13th witnessing my nephews baptism. Katie is blessed to have a lot of family close by. Her in-laws are very friendly and easy to talk to and get along with. Parker was great getting baptized, he was fearless. As soon as the prayer was over he threw his head back and went under without even plugging his nose. It was so great to be there to witness this event in his life.
So after a couple days at my sisters house we headed off to a beach house she had rented for the whole family to stay in. We arrived in the evening on the Sunday, June 14th and the view from our room was GORGEOUS!! I so love the beach. My parents were very excited they had a bunch of thing planned for the grandkids to do while at the beach, starting Sunday night. After we settled in, the first of the activities got underway. Grandpa disappeared for a second and when he returned he had turned into a Pirate. He then introduced to us the name of our new Pirate Crew. "Pirates of the UnBeTaFo" This is the first two letter of all our last names put together, not necessarily in order: Unsworth, Bethel, Tatton, and Fox. Oh, we can't forget to mention that Grandma had made all the grandkids matching shorts. Audrey and the only other girl cousin there, Jolie also got a matching shirt. Audrey was very excited to be twins with Jolie you can tell from her picture below.
Our first activity was to decorate the flag. On one side of the flag were pictures of all the grandkids and on the other side everyone got to decorate on a piece of paper with special iron on crayons, then we transferred it onto the flag so everyone got to have their own decorations on the flag. After that we painted and decorated our own personal sailboat and mast. My kids love to paint and they really enjoyed this doing this. Later we put the kids to bed and all the adults got into the hot tub. It was fun talking to my parents and siblings without the kids interrupting us. It was a good way to end the day.
The next morning we headed down to the beach and after a little while of just casually playing, we later realized that Grandpa was setting things up, we started the next activity. Grandma and Grandpa had planned for us a Treasure Hunt. Grandpa started off with the clue, and at each different clue stop there was an activity for the kids to do. The first one was "Pin the Eyepatch on the Pirate", then we moved on the "Walking the Plank," and "Knock Down the Sailboat." I think there might have been one more but I don't remember. Anyway, we did all this before finally finding the"X" that marked where the treasure was buried. And believe me, it was buried, buried good. We actually couldn't find it for a minute and I could see my Dad getting confused and a little worried. But eventually we found it, it was so much fun seeing the kids digging with their hands and finally seeing the tip of red that was the lid and the kids frantically trying to get it out. The treasure was a plastic box, filled with toys and treats. All the grandkids just tore into it. Kind of like when someone finally cracks open a pinata. It was a fantastic way to start the morning. A little later we grabbed the boats we painted the night before and sailed them in a small tide pool. Jack had a really good time with that. Chris went a little overboard, as he always does, and decided he needed to sail his boat in the ocean. So even though, it was freezing water, Chris got in up to his waist and sailed the ocean blue. He had a lot of fun, and brought Jack into the cold, cold water with him as well.
We went back to the house for lunch and naps for the babies. Jack would not stop bugging me to let him into the hot tub. So it was the grandkids turn to get in. They of course had a good time. Then after a good rest we headed back down to the beach again. We planned to roast hot dogs on the beach. It was really cold when we went back the second time, and Audrey was miserable. I put her in sweats and after holding her for awhile she was OK to play in the warm sand right by me. But there was no way she was going near the water. Right near where we were sitting was a big hole, that somebody had dug to create a fire pit. So there were already logs and stuff in there. It was quite handy, so we used it ourselves for the fire for dinner. The kids got a little careless around the fire, so they all got banished. Everyone eventually ate dinner, but we gave the majority of our bread to the seagulls flying right above us. You could throw some bread in the air and they would catch it. It was quite fun, and kept everyone entertained.
We spent the rest of the evening talking and made it back to the beach house. We had to leave the next morning so we started getting everything ready to go, packing and such.
We got on the road the next morning and planned to go all the way home. 14 hrs, without stops. Chris drove for about 4 hours, then got tired and I took us another 7 hours. At about 10:00 PM, I started to get really tired, we swapped and Chris took a turn, but only made it to Tremonton. We were so tired, that we decided to pull off and get a hotel. Alright, so it is a Wednesday, the middle of the week, with no holiday in the previous, or next few days. ALL of the hotels (about 4 of them) were booked. No Rooms Available. We felt absolutely spent! But, I wanted to get home. So I said, let me get some munchies to keep me awake at the gas station, and we will get home. So I drove home from Tremonton arriving at 3:00 AM. Boy, was I tired.
It was a fantastic trip, everyday was a good one. I enjoyed being with my family I enjoyed getting away and travelling. Chris and I decided that because we enjoy the beach so much, we need to make an annual trip to the ocean every year. Just to play and lounge on the beach .
And that was it! Thanks for reading, I have to put in a lot of details, because it is fun to read 10 years from now.


Had to put this picture in. This is Jonas, who was so content playing in the dirt all day. He loved it.
We had this little visitor that kept coming back for more food. Everyone was throwing leftovers out to it. Soon another one showed up and they started fighting over the food. That is when we called it a night, and eventually he went away.
The kids were getting to close to the fire so we had to banish all of them. Just the adults roasted our hot dogs for the night, and here is Chris taking control.
As soon as we pulled out our dinner to roast over the fire, the seagulls came. Of course we encourage them, by actually throwing food up to them. We would throw it up in the air and they would catch it.
Jack just playing.
Look at her sitting there with her legs and arms crossed. She can be so dainty when she chooses.
That is Chris in the water up to his waist, sailing his ship "The Flying British Dragon"
Jack showing off his ship.
Audrey was very cranky a lot of the time, she was just tired. So she spent most of the day curled up with her blanket and bear, yes, in the sand.
The older kids in the hot tub. Jack absolutely insisted on going in.
Discovering the Treasure.
The treasure chest.
Arrrgh Matey! Time to walk the plank!!
The kids climbing up to where the clue led us next. That is Jack behind the blue and white towel. Audrey is up front.
Audrey's turn "Pin the eyepatch on the pirate"
Jack's turn on "Pin the eyepatch on the pirate"
We were all stood in a group on our treasure hunt, I had my back to these guys, but my sisters saw them and pointed them out to me. I already had my camera on, and when I saw what they were pointing at I zoomed right up and took this picture. We thought we were being so silly, and just laughed our guts out.
Jonas is so stinking cute. I think he ate his body weight in sand.
Jolie and Jack diggin' in the sand.
Audrey teams up with Sam a lot. They play real well together. Here they are in a small tide pool near the place we hung out for the day.
Audrey requested this picture. She had to have the bandanna in her hair to look exactly like Jolie. Then as soon as the picture was done, she ripped it out. Twin Cousins!!

Grandpa as he called the crew together to introduce "The Pirates of UnBeTaFo"

Trip to Oregon Part 2

We woke up the next morning, and thankfully had no further incidents through the night. Our final destination this evening was to be my sisters house in Oregon City, Oregon. We had a quick breakfast and continued our journey on the PCH. We have traveled quite a ways on the PCH but had yet to see the ocean. After only about 30 minutes the ocean surprised us, and popped out. It was the most beautiful sight. So Chris pulled over at the next stop and we played for a few hours at Clam Beach. Jack and I were so excited we just took off running and left Chris and Audrey to catch up later. We started running on the soft sand and it was too hard with our shoes, so we ripped off our socks and shoes and started running barefoot. We finally reached the ocean and started playing. Now remember we are in Northern California, and the water was COLD!! Doesn't matter to me though, it was still great to be on the beach. Chris and Audrey eventually caught up to us. Audrey was a little concerned about the water, she didn't trust it. We all paddled just our toes in the ocean and strolled up the bank. But the best part was when we found this little tide pool. It was actually warm, so Jack really started playing in the water. We had rolled his pants up, but soon noticed that he was wet up to his knees anyway. He kept asking us to go get his swim suit, but we were just like, "Why do you need your suit, just swim in what you are wearing." So he ripped off his shirt and dove in. Chris soon noticed that this tide pool was filled with Ghost Shrimp. They are little baby shrimp that are clear, you can actually see through them, they are as thin as a piece of pencil lead, and as along as a bottle cap. And boy, are they hard to catch. The boys had so much fun, catching them. Audrey, became more interested when she noticed the water was warm, and got wet up to her knees and elbows. She soon became transfixed with the wet sand, she was digging in it, watching it fall through her fingers, and had fun burying my feet. It was a great way to start the morning. We eventually made it back to the car changed the kids and headed on our way.
Before we left Chris spoke to some local people about places further up the highway, and someone mentioned Trinidad was a cute little town. We traveled there and pulled off. It had the most beautiful rocky beach. Perfect for some more tide pooling. We headed down to the beach. Turns out we were at the top of a big mountain and had to hike down a bunch of stairs to get to the beach. 208 stairs to be exact. And yes, we had to come back up the stairs later. But what a gorgeous beach it was. Going to the beach with Chris has so many advantages. He was raised near the ocean and is familiar with all its animal life. Little things that a normal 'inlander' like myself would just pass by, Chris points out and shows us what it is. We saw hundreds, yes hundreds of starfish, anemones, barnacles, sea slugs, and off in the near distance we saw sea lions, lounging about on a rock, as fat and happy as a sea lion can be. And their was a baby sea lion as well, baby starfish too. Audrey was finding the baby starfish left and right. Don't forget all the moss, and seaweed, and kelp. It was amazing! Such a time of discovery for all of us, but especially the kids. We hike along driftwood and over all the rocks. It was fun to step on the sand in between rocks thinking it was solid, just to have it disintegrate beneath your feet.
There was this big, massive rock that was actually growing grass, trees, and wild strawberries on top. Chris, of course, had to climb to the top. Jack, of course, had to follow along. Audrey, of course, could not be left out. And myself, of course, just wanted to have fun with the family. So we all climbed to the top of this big rock and sat and overlooked the ocean for awhile. I was proud of Audrey. She wanted to climb up this big rock, so Chris made her do it, all by herself. He right there beside her, but he made her do the work. So she actually climbed the whole thing by herself. It was funny, because sometimes she would lose her footing and curse. No, she didn't swear, but she did say "Crap" over and over again. We just laughed when we heard her say that.
When we climbed down from there. Chris wanted to climb over the rocks to get to the boardwalk on the other side of this cliff (don't worry, we are at the bottom) It was not something Audrey could do, or someone holding her. So the boys went off on their own adventure and Audrey and I had an adventure of our own climbing back up those steps. She made it by herself for about 50 steps, but then I had to carry her the rest of the way. Thank goodness there were benches to rest on. Going down, I was under the impression they were there to look at the scenery, not to save the people dying on the way back up.
We picked up Jack and Chris and as I was driving to pick them up I noticed a fresh fish market. Of course we had passed a ton of these, but this one had easy access. We stopped in there excited to buy something. It was a small shop, with just standing room in front of a counter. We went in together as a family, and the shop owner had the biggest problem with our children being there. He was saying all kinds of rude things, finally, like after 30 seconds, I just walked out with them and let Chris get whatever he wanted. My children did not need to get yelled for being just being alive. They weren't even doing anything, they stood by us and didn't speak the whole time we were in there. The guy was a jerk. But the salmon we bought was great!!
Up to this point Chris had been driving the whole time. Well, we finally got tired and I took a turn. We drove through the city of Eureka, we didn't stop, but we fell in love with the city. Chris loved it so much, he pulled out the computer and started to look for jobs in the area. Although, we would take a major pay cut to live out there, we would love to someday live by the ocean. Finally, the driving route called us away from the PCH and we headed through Jedediah Smith State Park. It was a beautiful drive, but the whole family fell asleep, and I was the only one able to enjoy the scenery. We easily made the rest of our way into Oregon, and finally made it to my sisters house at about 8:00 PM that night. The whole family was there, except my brother. And it was good see them all. It was quite a memorable day, probably my favorite of our whole trip. Stay tuned for the final installment of "Oregon Trip Part 3: The Beach House"

Family picture on top of the big rock we all had to climb.

Audrey petting only some of the hundreds of starfish we found. These were the first ones she saw.Jack looking as good as ever.
Scenery shot. You can see a boarwalk off on the right. That is where Jack and Chris eventually hiked over to.
Audrey going up some of the 208 steps to the top.

This is the big rock. Its big right? And Audrey climb it all by herself. She is my tough little princess tomboy.
Jack showing off an upside down starfish.
The girls.
I love this picture - Oh, and the scenery is nice too.
Audrey showing off her baby starfish.
Fat, and happy sea lions.
Can you imagine how many sea urchens live in and around all these rocks? We had so much fun finding them all. Look at that grin, completely in his element.
Family pic on Clam Beach.

Where did her feet go?
My happy boy! Loves the water and loves the sand!

Chris and Jack on Clam Beach catching ghost shrimp

Audrey and Mom on Clam Beach (notice my fabulous tie dye shirt)

Trip to Oregon Part 1

We had the most fantastic time on our trip. The reason for the trip was to see my oldest nephew, my sister Katie's oldest son, Parker, get baptized. She called everyone in the family and invited us to his baptisms on Parkers 7th birthday. So this trip has been a year in planning. So by the time we left we were well ready to be on our way. I am very grateful for cameras, especially digital cameras. Documenting the trip this way, has been a lot of fun. We left the house about 8:00 AM on Wednesday, June 10th. We traveled to Sacramento that night. Our friends, Jeff and Alethea, made us so paranoid about traveling through Nevada, that we did not dare go anything over the limit. I was glad for the warning, because we saw so many people get pulled over. Apparantly, they have a Nevada State Trooper training school, and they practice along I-80. So even though, there was a ton of construction and we stayed at 55 MPH most of the way through Nevada, I am glad we did it. To add to that frustration the kids were AWFUL!! They would not stop fighting from the moment we left the house. "Don't touch me," "I want one," "Why?" Audrey who is done toilet training, had to use the restroom every hour. We eventually gave up on finding a gas station and just pulled off the side of the freeway and held her. Needless to say we were completely exhausted when we arrived at our destination. Our old friends hooked us up to stay with some friends of theirs who are now our friends as well. They had a nice dinner prepared for us and set us up with very comfortable accomodations. It was a good evening. The next morning we got on our way, stopped by a grocery store to get some lunch meat. We had all our lunches prepared and it was the best thing we could have done. Not only did it save us some money, but sometimes we were in a place where there was nothing to eat. Our destination that night was Arcata, California. But along the way, we were going to explore the Redwood Forest. And this is where the pictures begin. We stopped in Leggett, CA to see the "Chandelier Tree" or "Drive Thru Tree" That was really fun to do. Chris drove through it first. Then Chris, and Jack got out to take pictures of when I drove through. So all the pictures it is me driving. It was just a small, but beautiful park, but it had this tree that had fallen and naturally hollowed itself out. When that happens to a redwood, its called a "goose pen." The other pictures are of all of us playing in and around this tree. After we had our fill of the Chandelier Tree, we continued our journey up the Pacific Coast Highway, or HWY 101. The beauty of this trip was that we were not on anyones schedule but our own. As we were traveling we saw this road side attraction that looked fun. It had a big, "Shoe" to play in. Which we let the kids to for a while, then we went inside and did the train ride up the mountain. It was really fun, along the way the conductor would stop and give us tidbits of information about redwoods, how they grow, their root system, and other stuff. After the train ride, they had a simple park with swings and stuff to play on, which we did for a while. Next, item planned was to drive through the "Avenue of the Giants" We did not make it to the "Founders Tree" which is one of the main sights, but we explored and saw the redwood forest all on our own. Chris found this side, dirt row, and we drove down it, and stopped and explored. It was FANTASTIC!!!! There was this tree that had fallen over and we climbed on top of it and played. The part where the tree had snapped was about 20 feet off the ground. I got curious as to how tall this tree was and counted my paces from the part it broke to the very tip. I counted 109 paces, that is not including the base that was still standing. So adding the base and a two foot pace to make up for some baby steps that I had to take that tree was 238 feet tall. Isn't that amazing. The ground we were walking on, was so thick with duff, that is was squishy and bouncy to step on. I kept thinking, "Wow, we should camp here, you wouldn't need a bed mat." We found this tree that had naturally develped two of the goose pens I mentioned earlier. They actually opened up to each other, so it was like having a front door and a back door. Audrey had a bit of a rough time with it all. She scratched her leg on a branch and wasn't too forgiving after that. But Jack could have explored all day long. Him and Chris are such a good match. There were a couple of times I think Chris reverted back to being 10 years old, playing with his brother and not his son. Further on in our journey we passed through a small town I don't remember the name of, and I noticed a tie dye shop off the side of the road. I got so excited and Chris pulled off for me. I fell in love with everything I saw. Jack picked out a shirt that isn't tie dye at all, but a black shirt with a silver lion with green eyes on it. Audrey picked out a purple shirt with a pink heart, tie dye. I had a hard decision to make. I finally chose a shirt that made me feel like I was 17 again. Orange, Yellow, and Green tie dye Grateful Dead shirt. I swear that shirt lifted me back to high school. Chris never was one for tie dye, so he didn't get anything. After that we continued our trip into Arcata for the night, we were absolutely starving when we arrived and just went to a local family style restaurant for dinner. But of course we couldn't end the day so serenely could we? A while ago, my dad told me a story about how he stayed in a motel that had bed bugs, and woke up with bites all over his body. I have been absolutely horrified of staying in a motel since I heard that story. This night, was the first night I have done so. I could not get this story out of my head. I was paranoid going to sleep that night. Every little tickle I felt on my skin I swatted at. But then, there was this tickle that kept crawling down my arm. I swatted at it, then I caught it between my fingers. The whole room had settled for the night, so I did try to be quiet. I kept whatever it was between my fingers and headed for the bathroom, so I didn't disturb everyone else. I turned on the bathroom light, and looked at what it was. It was a TICK. Can you believe it? I totally freaked out. The funny part was, is I thought it was a bed bug at first, not a tick. I brought it out to Chris and showed him. He was like, "Sheila, thats a tick, you wouldn't be able to see, let along capture a bed bug." Whatever!! It doesn't make it any better. So, I stripped down and jumped in the shower. Chris came in and checked me further to see if I had any other stray ticks on me. Thankfully I was clear, but it sure freaked me out. After that we finally settled down and had a good night sleep. All in all it was a fabulous day!!

Audrey sitting on the 109 paces long tree.
Mom and Audrey in the "Goose Pen" of a redwood tree
(Sideways) Jack in the Goose pen
Photo Op, this is the place we went on the train ride. Left-Audrey; Center Left-Chris; Center Right - empty; Right - Jack
At the Confusion Hill playground, Audrey on her swing
Jack monkeyin' around. This was pretty good, I thought, no hands!
Me at Confusion Hill
Audrey on the train ride
Jack on the train ride
The family on the train ride
The wooden shoe. Jack as high as he could climb, and Audrey our little supermodel. She actually posed like this, I didn't tell her to do it.
A fallen tree at the "Chandelier Tree" park

The family at the opening of the chandelier tree or drive thru tree

That's our car, we haven't entered the tree quite yet.
Half way through, Jack tried to climb back in, but it was too tight and he wasn't able to do so.
Just pulling out the other side.
As you can tell we had plenty of clearance on top, but on the side we only had inches on either side of the wing mirrors.