Just one week until we head back to our regular school year schedule! We enjoyed the slower pace of summer school in June and July. We really enjoyed taking the month off in August. But alas, the school year is quickly approaching! It’s crazy how fast summer goes. I remember feeling that way as a kid and now as a parent it seems magnified. I’m trying my best to make the most of those 18 childhood summers!
We had one final “hurrah” of summer last week. We took off to the Washington coast for a few days. Grandpa and Grandma now have a beach place. A new spot to make family memories together. We enjoyed our time there for the 4th of July and we were eagerly anticipating more time in August. Our days at the beach were a good mix of activity and rest. Our crew was getting over the summer camp sniffles, so stamina wasn’t quite 100%, but that didn’t keep us down. We were at the beach every evening. The boys playing the waves, getting all sandy and wet. Jeremy and the boys took morning walks each day while I got ready at a slower pace.
On Monday, we went mini-golfing in Long Beach. This was one of Graham’s summer bucket list items. We got there right when it opened and had the whole place to ourselves! We grabbed some lunch in town and then explored the kite festival happenings down at the beach. The kites were super cool to watch and Graham was thrilled to see a vendor selling churros as we walked down to the beach. Monday was really his day. After the kite festival, Jeremy surprised us all by suggesting we go to the arcade. The kids had a blast! I even played a couple of games. We got home mid-afternoon and crashed at the beach house for some rest. We enjoyed an evening trip to the beach and then a Scoopers run for ice cream. It was a great day in Long Beach.
Monday was our town day and Tuesday was our nature day! We hiked a couple trails at the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. Visiting the refuge was on Owen’s bucket list. While he didn’t see as many birds as he hoped, we did enjoy time on the trails. The only downside of the morning was Graham got stung by a wasp. The best way to recover from a bee sting was cookies as the local bakery! After our time at the wildlife refuge, we went to Cape Disappointment State Park. We have visited the North Head Lighthouse before and this time the trail to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was open (it’s been closed in the past). We decided to explore a new trail and lighthouse. The view from the lighthouse was fantastic and the boys enjoyed our stop at Dead Man’s Cove. Not a pretty name, but a very pretty beach! Once our legs were done with hiking, we did a repeat of Monday – back to the house to rest for part of the afternoon, dinner, and then a trip to the beach. We wrapped up Tuesday with backyard smores and a beautiful sunset!
Wednesday was our final day at the beach. We spent the morning tidying up the house and packing. We had lunch at Chico’s, the local pizza place. Our kids love pizza so it was a must to find good pizza on the peninsula. Thankfully, Chico’s was kid-approved! I’m sure we’ll be back. We made one last stop at the kite festival on the way out of town. The event had filled in more since our Monday visit. After we left Long Beach, we took off for Fort Stevens on the Oregon Coast. The kids hadn’t visited Shipwreck Beach in years and they wanted to see it again. We also explored the ruins of Fort Stevens. I have such good childhood memories running around the batteries at Fort Stevens. It made my heart so happy to see my boys enjoying it just as much as I did. We’ve taken them before, but it had been years, so it was all fresh and new to them. We learned a bit of WWI and WWII history, but the coolest part was visiting the Earthworks which was built during the Civil War. I’ve always assumed the west coast doesn’t have much civil war history, so it was fascinating to discover a piece of it so close by. I love when adventures can also be educational. Yes, I’m such a homeschool mom!
The kiddos weren’t ready to come home. They could have stayed at the beach house for the rest of the summer and very happily lived off smores and ice cream! Like I mentioned earlier, we are now home and in the last week of summer vacation. It’s been so good. We’ll take many fun memories into the school year with us. One last beach getaway was the perfect way to wrap up our summer break!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 