Jane, Chelsea and Esther Visit

June 26-29, 2014

Jane flew home with Gary on a Sunday and drove back up with Ben's little sister Chelsea and great-aunt Esther just a few days later. Why? Because she's awesome and she loves us... of course.

The day they arrived we drove to the coast and stayed in an adorable beachhouse that Ben had reserved.

Isn't it cute? We stayed in Gearhart which was just above Seaside and Cannon Beach.

At the beachhouse. Jane had bought Teddy a dinosaur shirt on her first visit and Nayeli became jealous. So of course she was given a matching dinosaur shirt :)

Esther and Nayeli bonded immediately

On Thursday we woke up with plans to see the beach. Unfortunately it was rainy and really, really cold, but that has never stopped the Petersen clan from having fun. Our first stop was the iconic Cannon Beach. We didn't stay too long because of the weather but still got to enjoy the beautiful views.

Poor Teddy. The wind and cold was a little much for him.

Esther rocking Teddy

And where was Nayeli? Just happy to be at the beach. This girl LOVES sand and the ocean. And she never complained about being cold, not once. She's an adventurer like her dad.

Haystack rock

Chelsea and Jane. I love these two

Probably my favorite picture from the trip. We had so much fun together.

On Thursday the weather was even worse. We tried to walk the boardwalk in Seaside but it was POURING so that wasn't as enjoyable of an experience as I had hoped.

Chelsea carried Nayeli under her poncho to keep her dry (see the little foot poking out?). She is the best.

Luckily the weather cleared up and we were able to go to Ecola State Park. It's got a beautiful overlook of Cannon Beach.

You know it's cold when you use your beach towel as a blanket.

 

Another favorite. Esther is holding onto her hair because it was so windy. Note we are all wearing our swimsuits. We were really hoping to get in the water. Yeah right :)

We then drove down to Indian Beach, somewhere we'd never been. It's famous for surfing and AMAZING tide pools. We were lucky enough to hit it right at low tide.

Indian Beach

Ben and Chelsea

Me and my love

Family shot. Teddy is bundled under Ben's jacket.

At the tide pools

There were purple starfish, crabs and sea anemones everywhere.

Then, while the weather was nice we also got to take out the raft that Jane had brought. Nayeli loved it.

Friday we decided to head home by way of Tillamook. We took the Tillamook cheese factory tour and ate lunch there (no pics, sorry), then drove out to the first Oregon beach we ever went to- Oceanside. Jane and Chelsea were so disappointed because it was so cold and rainy and they had really wanted to get into the water. Then just as we were about to leave the sun miraculously appeared and so Jane, Ben and Chelsea all jumped into the freezing cold water. Of course Nayeli also wanted to join in on the fun and trying to follow, face planting right into the surf. As I juggled Teddy and a screaming and soaked Nayeli, I watched the clouds return as suddenly as they had left. All the swimmers ran out of the water (after maybe five minutes) laughing. Ben grabbed Nayeli and we all ran to the cars as the rain fell in sheets. My thought the whole time I watched them was, "What a family of adventurers!" To be honest, about 90% of the time I think they are crazy but 100% of the time I feel lucky to be one of them.

My sweet girl at Oceanside

We spent Friday night at home then Saturday went into Portland to go the Saturday Market. By this point in the trip Nayeli was beat.

 

We picked up some Voodoo Doughnuts (great doughnuts, disgusting marketing scheme) and drove home to play Settler's of Cataan. Because what would a trip with Jane be without Settler's, right?

The next day Teddy was blessed but that has to be the next post. Because you can only put so much fun into a single post, right?