Beach 2009

Our Annual Andros Family Beach Trip

The Beach

The House

The Family!!!

Back Row: Marcus (empty shirt), Dad, KC, Ben, Nick
Next: Mom, Megan, Evelyn, Carrie, Cris, Meredith
Bottom: Bethany, Stella, Chloe, Mitchell, William, Sam, David, John, Henry

We had a great time and spent lots of time just playing as a family.
We even tie-dyed our own shirts this year.

Packing is exhausting!

On our way there...Bonneville fish hatchery, where we saw the sharks (sturgeon)

William headed straight for the water-I swear the kids don't feel the cold!

Monday night, Nana had family home evening. We talked about all of the missionaries in our family and where they served. They loved the flags, and all raised their hands when she asked who was going to go on a mission.

This is where Henry spent most of his time.

John too!

What a cute boy, I wrote his name, but he did write lots of unintelligible things in the sand during the week.

Running in the pools to his heart's delight.

These three boys were a riot down at the beach, they played so well together, the ran and ran, dug in the sand, splashed in the water and just had fun. The next few are all of them.

I don't know what William said, but Mitch was tickled.

Pulling their boards.

Running in the water.

First day down in the sand.

One cool drizzly day, the kids played bocce on the front lawn and Papa gave out candy for prizes.

Favorite toys of the trip on our only sunny day.

This year the kiddos got in on the crabbing, they loved the boat. William came home and said, "mom! I saw the crabs-big ones!" They also saw a starfish and a bald eagle too.

This is how William rode the waves-with his favorite playmate doing all the work:)

Dave dug great big piles of sand to entertain children with. John doesn't seem to mind either!

Nana and Henry watching the fire.

We tried out Jiffy Pop this year, which come to find out when you read the package-silly thing to do I know, is actually meant for a stovetop. We had some successes and some not so much successes, but it was fun to watch!

We had our cookout over the fire our last night there.

Inside the Devil's Punchbowl.

Great tide pools!

John did a lot of this...

Henry too, he likes to let his head fall back at a perilous angle.

Feeling the beachy breeze blow through his hair one last time.

John just can't seem to stay awake-I think the ocean puts him to sleep!

Dave catching a wave.

Papa's admirers

One last time down to the beach.

On the way home we saw Multnomah Falls with Nana and Papa (and smashed a penny, of course)

What a trip-we were so exhausted afterward that it has taken two weeks for me to unpack, settle, and post pictures! We can't wait for next year, we miss the beach already! In the car on our way home, just a few miles from the beach, William asked, "we go to the beach today? pretty please?"