Oregon Vacation Day 5

Friday we woke up to much clearer weather. I was reminded that it was my birthday and how old I was getting. I turned the big 30 this year :) Even though the sun was shining the wind was blowing at it was a cold wind! Lydia started out with her coat on, but quickly shed it to enjoy the activities on the beach. Wes and I kept our coats on the whole time and had to guard the camp chairs from blowing away!

The girls attempted to make sand castles, but quickly abandoned the idea.

Wes tried using our snazzy kite from Costco. Although the wind was blowing really hard it wasn't consistent enough to keep the kite up for too long.

The girls had fun chasing after the kite anyway though.

Adelle decided to get wet even though she still had her clothes on.

Before long even the clothes were shed in favor of swimming suits.

Adelle came back to the chairs at one point just shivering so we tried to bundle her up and keep her warm. Lydia said that the water felt great, but I still had my doubts. I couldn't even take my coat off and be comfortable. Sand was blowing sideways at us in the cold, frigid wind. I think we learned a valuable lesson: Go the the Oregon Coast later in the summer.

After our brave, attempt in the morning to play on the beach we headed back to the property to change.

We decided to drive to Munson Creek Falls which is located about seven miles south of Tillamook. It is the highest waterfall in the coast range. It drops 266 feet over rugged cliffs. I enjoyed the small hike to the falls and all of the greenery.

We were surprised that the trail ends pretty abruptly, blocked by a wooden fence which won't allow you to get any closer to the falls due to fallen trees. It still was beautiful to look at, even if we were further way.

We decided to head back to our car with Adelle straggling behind the whole time. Every time I turned around she was holding some sort of stick, rock, or leaf. We were constantly reminding her not to throw things during the trip.

What a nature girl.

Lydia is always drawn to the water.

We decided to head back into Tillamook to check out the small shops on main street. After our wanderings we headed back to Oceanside and ate at Roseanna's Cafe. I hate to say this but honestly it was my least favorite place to eat the whole trip, which was a shame since it was my birthday dinner. Adelle made a pretty good choice though with her simple pasta.

Wes really wanted to do something more for my birthday so we decided to head back into Tillamook for ice cream. We found out that the local grocery stores don't carry Tillamook ice cream so we went straight back to the source; the Tillamook Cheese Factory! Everyone ordered Marionberry ice cream and Wes even added a cookie dough scoop to his waffle bowl! Delicious.

Wes and the girls surprised me with a cute, frog magnet from the gift shop and I took some time to buy an ornament and other trinkets, including some Christmas gifts for some extended family members. When I came out from the gift shop I found my little family being silly again. Milk anyone?

I decided a good way to end our day would be to walk on the beach. The wind had picked up considerably more. We almost felt like we were in a sand storm.

The wind was actually creating little sand dunes and you could actually see the dry sand blowing across the wet sand.

We headed back to our little place to settle in. All in all it was a great day and a great birthday.