Spring Break at the Oregon Coast!!

 Spring break 2012 was AWESOME!  Todd and Natalie's family joined us to visit our current favorite place on earth... the Oregon Coast!!!  If you haven't been there you just don't understand. ;0

The week started with LDS General Conference and in between sessions they showed a tender movie.  I came downstairs to find all the girls bawling with hands full of tissues. 

 The next day we were off on our adventure.  We wanted to see some waterfalls on the way and my dad told us about one of his favorites, "Panther Creek Falls".  It turned out to be a challenge to find and we almost gave up when we hit snow and still hadn't found it...

 But then we heard the rushing waters and we could see it deep in the trees.

 And so we kept searching for a path until we finally found it and boy was it worth the search!!!  Absolutely BeAuTiFul!!

 After Panther Creek we headed to Multnomah Falls in Oregon. 

 These falls fall 620ft. and are breathtaking.

 We arrived at our beach house for the week later that night and woke the next morning to a swarm of seagulls who enjoyed some of our bread and a beautiful ocean view.

 

 It was a stormy morning so the kids went straight for the hot tub while we made a plan for the day.

 One of the cool sites to see on the coast is "Devils Churn".  The water beats on the rocks until it is so bubbly and white that it looks like creamy milk.

The world's largest Sea Lion Caves was our next stop. 

 We rode an elevator down into the cave to see (and smell!) hundreds of sea lions!

 Of coarse we spent some time on the beautiful beaches...

We also had a great time in the beach house playing games, having an Easter egg hunt, watching movies, putting on ukulele concerts :), hot tubbing, and just being silly...

(Carson sneezed when I was feeding him baby food- peas, he's cute even covered in green baby food!) Ha Ha

 We spent one day in Newport touring the light house, window shopping, and checking out the Hatfield Marine Science Center.

That night Trev and I enjoyed a beautiful walk along the ocean... so romantic. ;)

 Probably the most memorable part of the trip was our whale-watching adventure!  We were there during the whale migration so we didn't want to miss out on our opportunity to see whales in the wild.  Unfortunately it had been stormy all week so the waters were rough and the boats weren't going out.  Towards the end of our stay the weather was clearer and we signed up for our tour.
It started out smooth and lovely and then we got out of the harbor and things went downhill fast!

 

The waves were HUGE!!!!!  I have never seen anything like it... it was terrifying but I kept smiling and pretending like it was normal and fun and so great but really I was just praying we would survive!  We weren't riding those enormous waves very long before most of us were sick, some more than others...  Trevor spent the whole 2 hours at the back of the boat throwing up over the side and I was inside holding Carson and Davis (he had fallen asleep) and telling myself it was not an option for me to throw up because I couldn't leave my boys.

Megan and Ashlee were miserable and somehow Abriana and Hallie were having the time of their lives!

We were so happy when we finally docked the boat!  Trevor said at one point he was ready to offer the captain $1000 to turn the boat around but he couldn't stop puking long enough to get up to him.

BTW Yes, we saw some whales but I can't say it was worth it.;0

It is a memory we will never forget and can laugh about for the rest of our lives so maybe it was worth it.  :)

 

More beach time.

 

We were having such a great time that we decided to extend our stay and we were so glad we did!  The last day we went to Seal Beach and it was incredible!  We went at low tide because we had heard about the tide pools there from my brother and SIL and sure enough we saw all kinds of cool sea life!

When we couldn't put it off any longer we packed up our stuff and headed home.  :(

I think my favorite part of the whole trip was being with family (thanks for coming Todd and Natalie!) and enjoying the view from our place in Yachats, Oregon...

Can't wait to go back!!!!!



 

(had to get a picture of our traveling gnome... he was there too)