Adventure is out there!

Most Saturdays we get out for an adventure. This is usually because Ben, who needs to be an explorer in another life, sits in front of a computer all week at work and goes stir-crazy. And then he comes home on Friday night and says, with a wiry look in his eyes, "What should we do tomorrow?".

I typically don't protest because I have noted how his sanity increases in direct correlation with the amount of time he spends outside, but this Friday night was different. We had wanted to go to the coast for weeks, but then I looked at the weather. It was going to be a high of 50, 100% chance of precipitation with 35 mph winds. Not really ideal beach weather, so we decided to do hang out at home instead. But then Ben said, "Let's go anyway!" and before I knew it we were inviting friends, packing gear, and readying for a wet, wet day at the coast.

We had to stop at our favorite pitstop in Elsie, Oregon- Camp 18. Our friends the Scharmanns, who we had invited, had never been. It's a big lodge that sells cinnamon rolls the size of your face. Outside they have all sorts of old train cars and logging equipment. We love it and the kids love it. Win-win.

Big as yo' face

Nayeli with the Scharmann boys- Devon & Elijah

Touring the outdoor museum. That's the lodge in the background.

It was raining quite a bit (note our hoods and umbrellas in the above picture) but we decided to continue our trek west to the coast. Our first stop was Ecola State Park, another one of our favorite destinations. There is a beautiful area that looks out over Cannon Beach. It's a must see.

Can't you just see the motion of the wind in this picture? It was pretty intense and I almost lost my hat.

Group photo! I love this picture. It was cold, windy and wet but we were just having a great time.

We then drove down to Cannon Beach- it's the one with the iconic Haystack Rock. We have a secret parking spot there and everything, but of course we didn't have to compete with anyone for parking on this day. In fact, we were the only ones crazy enough to be out on the beach.

The wind was really intense and if you wanted to get a picture with the iconic rock in the background you had to face right into it. It practically blew water right up your nostrils it was so strong. The poor kids. Luckily they calmed down when we put our backs against it.

We'd brought all kinds of toys for the kids to play with, but all Nayeli would say is "I want to go home!".

We could not stop laughing. I kept thinking, "We are nuts!" Our poor friends probably thought we were too but they were really good sports and laughed along with us.

Post-drench. Teddy is so happy all the time- unless he has rain and 35 mph winds blowing into face of course.

Please note the raindrop dripping from my nose in this photo. We were soaked!

After about 10 minutes on the beach we decided to call it a day (although Ben went back to look for cool pieces of driftwood while I got the kids settled). We got into dry clothes, ate our packed lunches, and headed out. It may have been crazy to go, but it was probably one of our most fun memories we've ever made. Besides, sometimes you just have to go because... adventure is out there, you know? :)