Moffat Beach Camping

Our Moffat family beach camping trip was memorable. I foresee other camping trips in our future but, hopefully, not wet ones...and likely not at the Oregon coast. We tent-camped at a 1000 Trails campground called Whaler's Rest near Newport. It was us, Eric and Leah's family, Ryan and Michelle's, Mom and Dad, and Grandpa and Grandma--21 of us all together. We had a great time because of who we were with and in spite of the weather. I admit to being fairly miserable a large portion of the time due to being cold and wet, but I tried my best to have a good attitude. I had convinced myself that three nights of tent camping were going to be ok because it wasn't supposed to rain. HA! The weather people were wrong. It's bad when the only place you can escape the elements and dry your towels is your minivan. For the most part, it just drizzled and misted, an almost constant dampness. The day it rained hard, we all went out to lunch at Mo's and then to see a movie in the theater, (How to Train Your Dragon 2).  When we returned to our camp site later that afternoon, there were puddles everywhere, evidence that we made a good decision by leaving for a few hours.

The kids hardly noticed the weather and had a blast running along the trails with their cousins and playing on the beach and in the cold ocean. The beach photo with the kids digging in the sand in their swimsuits and the adults bundled up in coats and blankets says it all. My favorite times were around the campfire--warmth, a hot beverage in hand, and lots of laughter. I also very much enjoyed holding little niece Bailey, helping to keep her entertained and out of the dirt and mud. Mom and Dad made it easy on us all by providing and preparing almost all the food. We ate very well. They put a lot of hard work into this camping trip, for which we were truly grateful. Camping is a lot of work! It was fun to have Grandpa and Grandma with us, too. They came in their camper van, living in luxury. ;-)

Kari added some drama (or should I say trauma?) to our trip by cutting her index finger with Joel's pocketknife the first evening. We debated about whether to take her somewhere for stitches but eventually decided to try to patch her up ourselves and see how she did. It probably could have used a couple stitches, but we made do with butterfly bandages, polysporin, and medical tape. Once we got her bandaged up and some ibuprofen in her, she put on a brave face and didn't complain about it the rest of the weekend. She was a trooper. We duct-taped her finger when we went to the beach and then redid it all after each water venture. It's been a week and a half now, and her finger is healing well, so I guess we did a good job.

I took my camera to the beach and got it out a couple times at our campsite but didn't use it much around camp after the first day, so I didn't get photos of the kids playing in the grassy area, going for "trail runs," or any photos of our tent sites. The Taj-Moffat (our tent) served us well and kept us as dry as a tent possibly can at the coast--no major leaks. We had a pretty good set-up, with each of us having our own tent site and then an additional site just for cooking and eating. That was where we all gathered for meals and where we kept the fire going.

Our first beach stroll Friday night



Monday morning we packed up all our wet stuff, jammed it into our van, and headed home. It was a shock to our eyes when we drove over the coastal range and into the bright sun, not a cloud in the sky. Our drive home was nice and uneventful, and then began the unpacking and drying of all our stuff. The mountains of laundry in our garage, where I relegated them, were impressive. Equally impressive was the short time it took the sun to dry our things. Our scorching backyard made for an excellent dryer. It looked like we were having a garage sale in our front yard for a while, but by evening, we had it all put away, except for the laundry. That took two solid days. I felt so accomplished when I put the last of it away Wednesday afternoon.

Lots of memories. What an adventure!

Neighborhood Fun

Our kids are rarely left wanting for playmates. Besides each other, they have a bunch of neighborhood kids who are always ready to play. Our street alone is full of kids. A few weeks ago, our next door neighbor put together a game of street wiffle ball, which was pretty fun.

 

 

Yesterday I decided to abandon my housework and laundry and play with the kids for the afternoon. It was a good decision. It was me and 10 kids out there for a couple hours. :) We cut up sponges and rubberbanded them together to make "water bombs." The kids played a few different games with the "bombs" before it became an all-out water fight. They mindfully took a time-out to go put on their swimsuits, then resumed the war. I became a spectator on the porch at that point, content to read my book while keeping an eye on things.  It was a warm, sunny day, but not too hot in the shade--perfect. Loving summer!

Grandparents Recital

Kari didn't have a piano recital this spring because her teacher was out of the country during the time she normally holds one for the students, so we decided to have Kari give her own private recital at our house for the grandparents. It gave her a reason to practice, as she is taking a break from her weekly lessons for the summer, and it just sounded like a fun idea. :) She butchered one song she normally plays very well, but other than that, she did great! She enjoyed sharing her music with her grandparents. She also very much enjoyed the dessert we prepared for afterwards--strawberry shortcake. :)

Thanks for the video, Dad!

Kari">http://vimeo.com/100179104">Kari Piano Recital

Fourth of July

We went for a family bike ride on the Springwater Trail the morning of the 4th.  I chuckled a little as I wrote that because it was much more involved than I made it sound. We had to get all the bikes down, put the bike rack on the van, load the bikes onto the rack, pack some snacks, fill the water bottles...and in the midst of all this prep, Aubrey fell in the neighbor's prickly rose bush while riding her bike on the sidewalk. She was a scratched and bleeding mess, crying and tired from their late night of backyard camping and in no shape to get on her little bike and ride for miles. She ended up on the trail-a-bike behind me, and Grant rode in the bike trailer behind Greg. We finally got everyone and everything loaded up and drove to the Boring trailhead a few miles away, and it was so worth the effort. It was a beautiful morning and a beautiful ride. We rode three miles before turning around, and it was a good thing we turned back when we did, even though the kids didn't want to. It was an uphill ride back, and the kids were wiped out by the time we made it back to our car. Now that we've done it once, going again will be easier. I see more family bike rides in our future!

 

After our ride, we came home for a quick lunch and then went over to the pool for an afternoon swim before our barbeque that evening. The Wilson's, once again, put on a great Fourth of July party. Mom sponsored our fireworks again this year, and she and Dad and Aunt Brenda and Uncle Dennis, who were visiting at the time, came to watch the little fireworks show. :) (We have photos, thanks to Amy W. She's so good about bringing her camera to events and sharing the photos she takes!)

 



Grant was cracking us up with the sparklers. He really wasn't so sure about them. The dads are in charge of the fireworks stuff, and there was a team of them helping the kids with sparklers. One dad would hand Grant a sparkler, and another dad would come by and light it for him. Grant would hold it for a bit and then throw it on the ground before it was done. He didn't look like he was enjoying it at all, but he stood there anyway, and dads kept coming by with more. He accepted them but did the same thing, throwing it on the ground with a frown.  Then someone would come along, seeing him empty-handed and give him another one. It was so funny. It was as if he was thinking, "I don't really like this, but I guess I'll keep doing it because they think it's fun." Eventually, on his fourth or fifth sparkler, he decided it really was fun after all.

Our neighborhood was hopping when we came home later that night. We were ready for bed, but everyone else was just getting started. We watched the show of illegal fireworks all over the neighborhood from our upstairs windows before turning on some fans and heading to bed. 

July 3rd

July 3rd was a company holiday for Greg, along with the 4th, so we got to have an extra long weekend all together. We headed to the zoo in the morning, for the first time ever WITHOUT a stroller! Exciting stuff here! We took every stair opportunity that presented itself, just because we could. :) It was a perfect, cloud-covered zoo day.

 

When we got home we set up our big tent to spray some waterproofing stuff on it ("camp dry") in preparation for our upcoming beach camping venture. We decided to let the kids sleep in it, forgetting that it was July 3rd and that our neighborhood is fireworks-crazy. They had gotten all their beds set up in the tent and were all snugged in to listen to us read our current chapter book, Clementine, aloud.  I had just started reading when we heard a loud "BOOM!" The cracking, popping, and booming continued throughout the evening, much to the kids' delight. They watched the fireworks show through the screen windows in the tent and didn't fall asleep until 10:00pm. We could have thought through that plan a little better, but oh well! We can mark off "backyard camping" from our summer to-do list now.

This was earlier in the day. Kari wanted a picture with Tiger Lily, and they all jumped in the photo. I don't say no to willing photo subjects.

 

Horsetail Falls

A couple Sundays ago we went for a hike with some friends after church. We hiked the Horsetail Falls loop, which is one we've done before, but this time, Grant made it the whole way on his own two feet! Our big kids led the way almost the whole time, going faster than the little ones could go. We were constantly calling for them to stop and wait for the rest of us. So much energy in those little people!

We went home for a little rest time after our hike (Grant was asleep within two minutes of getting in the car), and then we went to TCBY for the promised frozen yogurt in celebration of well-played soccer and baseball seasons. On the way home we visited Grandpa and Grandma Arnold for a bit, and Grandpa took Grant for a ride in the jeep since Grant, apparently, hadn't ever done that.