Seaside has proven to be a great vacation destination for our family. First and foremost, the fact that we're in a condo makes vacationing with little kids so much easier than it would be if we were in a hotel room. We have a 3-bedroom condo, so the kids have their own space and don't risk waking each other up. The fact that we have a kitchen is beyond priceless! It makes meals so much easier; we couldn't imagine having the kids in restaurants 3 meals per day ... talk about stressful nightmares! We did venture out for lunch today and the kids did very well, but we wouldn't want to tempt fate by having all of our meals out.
Since arriving, we have spent a lot of time down on the beach. The weather hasn't been what many would call perfect (it has been windy and overcast most of the time we've been here), but we actually enjoy the fact we aren't roasting in the heat and getting burned by the sun.
Yesterday, we visited the Seaside Aquarium. It was very small when compared to the Seattle Aquarium, but still very worthwhile. The kids got to feed harbor seals chunks of fish, which they (the kids and the seals) thought was wonderful. One of the seals would slap the water to signal "more fish please" and if we didn't feed it fast enough, the splashing got more vigorous; we were a bit damp by the time our cups of fish were empty. We also saw two octopus that were beyond cool and more wolf eels than we could shake a stick at. The aquarium had three different touch tanks, which the kids really enjoyed ... until a little crab grabbed onto Annika's finger ... she wasn't quite so impressed then. We also spent a good chunk of yesterday building sand castles and digging holes along the beach. The kids thought crashing the sand castles was just about as good as life could offer. As soon as a castle was up, a foot or hand was there to bring it back down. After some quiet time for Annika and a nap for Conor, we geared up and headed down to the pool. Fortunately, it is heated, so even though the wind was blowing and it was a bit chilly out, we were able to have fun splashing and swimming. Annika is working really hard on mastering "side breathing" (aka breathing while doing the crawl stroke) and Conor is proving to be a kicking champ (he hasn't gotten to incorporating moving his arms yet).
Today, we walked downtown (term used very loosely) and poked around a few store. The main purpose of the excursion was to give the kids a chance to ride the old fashioned carousel. Yes, it is a tourist thing to do, but we are tourists. I was shocked at how fast the carousel went; taking pictures of the kids riding it was a much more difficult task than I had expected! The kids had a blast and I'm fairly certain we'll return for another ride before our vacation comes to an end.
We finished up our time downtown with lunch and a walk back to our condo. Conor was in meltdown mode, so it was high time to get a little R&R. Currently, heis taking a MUCH-needed nap and Annika is having her quiet time so we can charge up for the rest of the day. Once the troops are up and about, we'll pack up and head down to Cannon Beach to explore the tidal pools at low tide.
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| Eric made Annika into a mermaid |
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| Annika flying her kite |
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| More kite flying |
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| What's the point of sand if you don't stop to bury your feet from time to time? |
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| Annika and me flying our kite |
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| Conor and Annika discovered a huge hole and turned it into their bathtub |
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| Conor taking a sand bath |
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| Crash, crash, crash! |
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| Godzilla has nothing on our kids! |
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| Sunset |
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| Sunset |
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| Annika riding the carousel |
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| Conor on the carousel |
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