For quite some time Cody has been itching to visit the Oregon coast area and go crabbing. He got the idea initially from one of our neighbors, who had been a driver for him in North Dakota for a little while. I also happen to have gone to nursing school with this guy's wife. So the two guys started hatching a plan for us to tag along on their annual trip to the Charleston Bay area. I still had to work a couple of days that week so I did some switching so I would be able to fly in and meet them just a day after they got there. Monday morning Cody loaded up all the kiddo's and with the help of Nana and Papa started their long drive.
Wednesday evening I made it there. I flew in with the other guy's wife, who also had to work before going. I was so very happy to be back with my little family! I didn't realize how much I would miss them and how very weird a quiet house would feel. I was so happy to hug and kiss their sweet little faces and the handsome scruffy one too.
I arrived just in time for the evening crab pot check. The girls were pro's by now and were very excited to show me how it all worked. They helped pull up the traps, told me about how we could only keep the boy crabs that were big enough and then showed me how they bravely kicked the rejected crabs off the dock back into the water.
One of the 5 or 6 crab pots that we tended to over the next few days. I was always amazed each time as they hoisted them up and saw how many were in there.
The next day was Cody's 34th birthday. And I'm pretty sure this is the happiest he's been on a birthday in quite some time. For Dad's birthday breakfast the girls celebrated with cinnamon roll pancakes. Then we drove out to Sunset Bay State Park to check out the tide pools.
There was a short little hike down to the beach where Mya made sure to write a love note to her dad for his birthday. Then we trekked our way across the slippery rocks to look for starfish, anemones and any other sea creatures we could find.
We managed to see a couple starfish that were huge and purple! I had no idea they could be pink and purple but they can! The girls were less than enthusiastic about touching one but they did think it was cool to look at.
Mama and Miss Mya.
The birthday boy and three of his biggest fans.
Once we got back to the little house we rented we put Mr. Hayze down for a nap and the girls wanted to wander down to the bay and play in the sand. They would have been content to play there all afternoon. Cody and I were definitely reminded of those simple things in childhood that bring so much joy.
After dinner that night we decided, well the kids reminded us enough times that the people we rented the house from had left us S'more supplies. So Cody made a fire in the fire pit on the back porch and we enjoyed the view along with our S'mores.
The next morning was fishing day. Cody and Dave had found a charter to take them out fishing. The girls love to fish with their dad and papa so they got up early to join them and did so great. Nana, was also a good sport and went as well. After much deliberation we decided that it would probably be best for all involved if Hayze and I stayed back on dry land. Little man wouldn't love being cooped up on a boat all day and chasing after him worrying about him going overboard would have been less than ideal for my nerves. That and the fact that I was pretty sure to be spending a lot of the time nauseated or chumming the water for the fisherman were strong reasons that we stayed behind.
The two little ladies of course won over the crew with their charming ways which got dad an extra limit of fish at no charge.
Thanks Nana, for going along for the adventure. You are the best!
While the others were out to sea, little man and I wandered the gorgeous property behind the house. There was a pond to watch ducks, this great tepee area and so many little groves to discover. I was in awe of the amazing layers and shades of green that was everywhere. It was so gorgeous.
This little man is so much fun! He definitely has that special part of my heart that I think is reserved for mommy's and their little guys. It was kind of fun to have some one on one time with him.
The night before we were heading home it was time to cook up our crustaceans. We emptied our freezer and headed over to our friends place to start the cooking process.
The final count for the trip was 34! Enough for us to eat our fill and still have plenty for us to split between our families and take home.
Our proud crabbing men. It was pretty interesting to learn about this entire process and to try something new together.
Since we were already on this coast we decided to detour a bit, drive the gorgeous Oregon coast and make our way to the upper part of the Redwood forest. Adding a few extra hours to our drive home was totally worth it! The view along the coast was breathtaking, even with the mist and fog that limited the visibility a bit.
Again I was in awe by the intense green that was all around us! We made our way to Jeremiah Johnson State Park and found a place to pull off and wander among these incredible giants. I am sure that these are probably babies compared to the big daddy redwoods that are in the main forest, you know the one you can drive a car through! But still they were amazing to see and I feel like I failed to capture on film how big they truly were.
I'm so glad for the fun adventures we had together as we ventured totally out of our vacation 'box' and found new places to explore and new things to do. Thanks Cody for such a fun time!
