Back to Hood River

I know it looked like I was done posting vacation pictures, but I have more!  This is the penultimate post, so I'm almost done.

After our beach stay and before heading back to Hood River to spend our last few days with Ian, the girls, and Jon and Roberta, we drove up to Astoria to have lunch with Jason's Uncle Lee.

He lives on a lake and had some water lilies blooming by his dock.

We visited the Astoria beach.  You can park your car right on it!  Clara is running after Grace and Grandpa, who are way ahead.

I didn't get any pictures of Uncle Lee, but we had a nice visit.

Back at Ian's house, Remy the dog demonstrates patience!

Goofy girls enjoying some dinner.

Cousin bonding.

Grandpa bonding!

More cousin bonding!

Ice cream!

All the Rest

Random beach pictures!

Clara's first steps in the ocean.

Jason baked some tasty bagels.

Open spaces.

Helping Grammy stitch.

Grandudes enjoying the movie Frozen.

Bubbles on the deck.

Waiting for blankets to be washed.

Grammy poses with a beach wood lean to on a foggy morning.

Grace excited to open her presents!

Blowing bubbles on the doorstep.

Bubble holder is a very important job.

Hugs :)

Sandcastles.

Grandudes tries to freak us out with a crab.

Simply amazing.

Running with a stick.

Handling the starfish.

Reading books.

And reading more books!

That is what the beach is all about!  Relaxing and beauty with millions of small moments!

Low Tide

On the last day of our beach visit, we went to the beach first thing in the morning to check out low tide.

Poking sea anemones for the first time! 

 Clara had no fear and got right in there.  

The limited appearance of the tide pools gives them a magical quality.

I love this one!

Well, and this one.

We found a three armed starfish!

We tried to rescue him by putting him back by a rock.  I hope he made it!

You can see that the tide is coming back in in this picture.

Run away!

We found a little shelter made from beach wood.

Having a blast!

a great shot!

This was definitely my favorite part of vacation!

Huckleberry Picking

Grandudes took Grace berry picking.

Grandudes took us in the trees around the house looking for huckleberries.

They are small and tasty.

He taught us how to tell the difference between huckleberries and Oregon grape.  The two bushes often grow right next to each other, so it is easy to make a mistake!  

Grace was a pro at identifying the right berry.

Grace shows off the loot!  (that wasn't dropped on the ground in the collection process!)  Grace really enjoyed picking huckleberries with Grandudes, and has mentioned it since as one of her favorite parts of vacation!

First Day of School 2015

Today was Grace's first day of school!

She is sporting a headband that stayed on for exactly 30 seconds.  Her backpack is filled with art that she made at home to give to her classmates.

Patience for mom taking pictures was very thin.  Little sis wanted to wear her backpack and pose too!  She also was excited to go to school.  She loves to try and get as much paint and art supplies all over herself when we pick up Grace after class.  There are usually some wet projects lying about for Clara to inspect.  She will be thrilled to go when it is her turn!

My favorite, a tongue shot!

Break on Through

I'm still not done with the vacation photos!

Beach time, every day.

This is my favorite photo.  I think I am going to get a canvas print of it for our house.

We're going through the tunnel!

The tunnel is dark, but that makes it fun!

We made it to the other beach!

This beach is even prettier than the main Oceanside Beach, I think.  The tunnel access certainly adds to the charm!

Spectacular.