oregon trip: seaside

Our main reason for the trip was to check out the Oregon Coast. We decided to stay in Seaside, which is one of the main stops on the coast.

We were excited for Brooklyn to visit the beach for the first time. When we got there it was early evening so we checked into our hotel, checked out the beach, and then went to go get dinner (where we caught the end of Utah's loss to Utah State -- nice).

The next day it was a little bit cloudier and probably made for more of a typical Northwest beach day.

Austin was on baby pouch duty...

...and Brooklyn was excited to see the water up close.

We made a conscious effort to keep digital distractions to a minimum... but Austin got permission to check the BYU score until we got home for Brooklyn's nap and could watch it.

We were surprised at how soft and flat the sand was on the beach close to the water.

We let Brooklyn put her feet down in the wet sand...

...and play a little in the super shallow water.

Except it got a little less shallow...

...when a wave snuck up...

...and got us all wet!

Brooklyn was a good sport even though it was a little chilly.

The sun peeked out long enough to let her play in some soft, warm sand further away from the water. She wasn't quite sure what to expect at first...

...but she loved it.

She even thought it was so soft that she tried to lay down and cuddle with her face pressed into the sand.

Usually she gets messy from the inside out. The beach is apparently an exception to the rule.

What started out as a slightly chilly and cloudy morning ended up being a great time at the beach.

We didn't know when we booked our stay that there was a classic car show in Seaside that weekend. It explained why lots of the places we tried to get reservations for were either booked or only had the most expensive rooms left. That said, it took Austin right back to his Hot Wheels days seeing all the fun cars. His favorite was the mid-50s Corvette.

Even though there weren't lots of places available to stay, we lucked out and got a nice apartment-style place just a block or two away from the boardwalk. It was perfect for our little family.

We traveled to the next town down the coast a couple times for lunch or dinner. Cannon Beach is famous for Haystack Rock and we totally lucked out with where they seated us at this restaurant!

Somebody was obviously excited...

...but calmed down a little for some cute book time with Mommy.

Finally, on our way back we were able to stop and see the original Washington Taylors -- Austin's uncle and aunt Mitch and Jen, as well as Megan and Rusty and Jessica and Cody. Megan and Rusty's girl Olive loved playing with Brooklyn and we enjoyed seeing their new baby girl Rosemary. Having a tasty dinner with family on a Sunday was a perfect way to cap off our trip.

We had a great time and would put Portland and the Oregon Coast both on our "Reasons Why We Are Falling In Love With the Northwest" list. Maybe sometime we'll think out that list and post it.