The Reunion: More Beach

As I mentioned in my first post about the reunion, I only hauled my big camera down to the beach on the first day. Nevertheless, I managed to capture some pictures with my phone that I absolutely love. I used my phone to take pictures of what went on at the houses, too. It really does come in so handy.

Just look how comfortable Edith was with the beach by Saturday afternoon! We had a blast.

We went on a lovely hike as a group on Sunday. It was a perfect little short trail that even the youngest could hike on their own. It was so shaded and beautiful-- exactly the kind of hiking I've been missing. I only took one shot on the hike because I was too busy trying to enjoy the scenery. I miss really big trees like this:

I also took a selfie of me with my niece after the hike while the kids played on the cool playground. I'm almost exactly twice as old as she is (her birthday is one day after mine). I just thought we both looked so glamorous that we should have our picture taken. Almost 21 and almost 42!

Rophone and I thought it would be nice to go for a walk on the beach as a family after dinner on Sunday night, but Pen and Bud declined the invitation. We headed out with the other 3 kids anyway, and I'm so glad we did. It was a beautiful evening. I loved relaxing as the sun moved progressively lower in the sky. 

These next photos from that evening are actually some of my favorite shots from the trip. And I took them with my phone!

I think that evening was one of the most relaxing parts of the trip for me. So nice.

I was really glad that our last day on the beach was misty and cooler. The really great, warm weather seemed so un-Oregon-coast to me. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but I really adore how it typically is, too.

A lot of fun was to be had at the beach houses, too. 

A lot of games were played, but I think my favorite was the giant game of Scum. 

I'm not so sure that being King and getting to wear the crown was really such a prize...

And of course the family competitiveness bled over into a little ping pong action. 

While we were at the beach I was really hoping there was some way to sign on to spend the rest of my life there. It wasn't much of a hardship. There are much worse places to sit while you eat than that deck, that's for sure.

On to phase two of the reunion!

The Reunion: The Tide Pools

The morning of our first full day at the coast (Saturday) we all went to see the tide pools. It's something that none of my kids have experienced and I haven't done since I was a kid. I could hardly wait. 

It just took us a few minutes to figure out how to get down to them. While we waited for Google to do its trick, I took a few photos of everyone.

I figured out why Edith looks so concerned and uncertain in all of the photos I've been taking-- her eyes are super sensitive to the light. That's why she's always furrowing her brow and looking down, poor kid. I meant to buy her some sunglasses before we left on the trip, but couldn't find any that would stay up on her little nose. Just our luck that we discovered a pair that fit her sitting on the ground. They still don't stay up perfectly, but luckily she can just press her fingers directly on the lenses and push them back up.

The climb down to the tide pools was pretty steep and treacherous (especially since I was carrying Edith), but so worth it when we got down to the bottom.

The tide pool creatures were really neat and the surroundings were beautiful. Not such a bad way to spend a morning.

I had such a great time and I know my kids did, too. I'm glad the family reunion gave us the chance to see it all. It was great to be there with my brainy siblings who know what everything is called, too. Tide pooling is definitely something that I plan on doing again.