Spring Break on the Coast - Day Four

"Beyond the fog lies clarity."

Another week of ignoring my blog. There is just not enough time. I will get through the rest of this trip eventually. This morning was my absolute favorite on the beach. The storm had moved out. It was WARM, there was no wind, and a beautiful fog hovered along the beach.

The only way I could keep Jonah from photobombing EVERY SINGLE PHOTO was to promise him he could get in the shot if we were allowed one photo without a blurry twelve year old flying into the background.

Perhaps my favorite photo of the day. Cute couple disappearing into the fog. There might be some kind of symbolism there, but I'm functioning on a half bowl of Cocoa Puffs rather than my regular bowl of oatmeal this morning so my writing skills are suffering.

Tidepooling. One of our very favorite things to do on the coast. This beach was particularly perfect for tide pooling. And low tide came at a very convenient time on this trip. 11:00 a.m. Which meant we didn't have to set our alarms to go find a starfish.

This beautiful girl seemed to be pondering a lot this morning. Just kind of in her own world as she wandered the beach and looked for agates.

The kids were a little disappointed when the aquarium in Newport was closed on the day we were heading down the coast. No matter, we ended up with an aquarium in our backyard for the remainder of the trip. We all got brave and touched a sea anemone. Nothing like having those little feelers suction cup to your finger.

Jessica began to shed some of her many jackets this warm morning. I looked over to realize that she and Taylor were wearing some of the most delicious colors. So I had to take a photo, or two, or five hundred.

I may be biased, and I may have mentioned this a time, or two, or five hundred, but this is one stinking cute couple!

This, my friends, is my free-spirited Sabrina, taking a break from her pondering to take a goofy jog across the beach. This girl is a hoot! And this fog was so luscious!

Here is Jonah striking a bigfoot pose as he ponders over the question of whether to drench himself in ocean water this fine morning.

Back to pondering. I would have liked to have been in her mind this morning. This mind that is always working, always thinking deep thoughts, always creating.

Just kidding, maybe this is my favorite photo.

This was our seventh time visiting the Oregon Coast, and why in the world have I never thought to supply my kids with galoshes on these trips? Thank heavens for the owner of our beach house who supplied them for us. It makes combing Oregon's cold beaches so much more pleasant, and it makes for such darling photos. First item on the list for our next beach trip, darling galoshes!

Thinking about it.

And there goes his last pair of dry jeans. But with that face, I wasn't going to stop him. Thank heavens for a dryer at the beach house!

Oh, or maybe this is my favorite photo. I am suddenly reminded of my little girl, looking for the perfect skipping rock to throw into the ocean. When did she grow up? And how was I unable to stop her?

Okay, this is my favorite photo. The fog starting to burn off, leaving a mystical haze. Though the surroundings were hazy, my thoughts were crystal clear as I did some pondering of my own. The ocean does that to you. I was glad that we had taken our little family and separated ourselves from the world. As we roamed God's creations, I was reminded once again that this little family of mine and that God who created this beach are all that really matter. It was a magical morning, our little family, with the entire beach to ourselves. We walked and walked and walked for hours.

Wet up to his waist. Happy up to his eyeballs.

Let's pause for some gorgeous selfies.

In the afternoon, we drove up to Shore Acres State Park to see the botanical gardens and the sea lions. I forgot that it was March. Very little foliage in the gardens and zero sea lions in the little cove. But we had the cove to ourselves which was lovely. I seem to either take a thousand pictures or zero pictures. I took zero pictures of this adventure. Good thing Jess had her camera.

This was my final shot of the day. Cape Arago Lighthouse. One of the few Oregon Coast lighthouses that I haven't seen. I can mark him off the list now. It was a delightful day!