Oregon Coast trip - part 5.

Thursday morning, the boys and Angie went out clamming for the 2nd day in a row.  Clara, Janet and I decided to zip down to the beach to check out tide pools (since I missed it earlier in the week due to sickness).  Clara just had to bring her Teddy Grahams.  I meant to write earlier in the week, that when we first arrived and walked down to the beach for the first time, Clara said, "This sand is so soft like snow".  She said that every time she walked on the beaches, that the sand felt like snow.  I don't want to forget that little Clara-ism.

When the tide went out, the rocks fell into place like this.  I thought it was so beautiful.  This beach was so quiet, that you could walk down the beach any time of day and find perfect, gorgeous shells just waiting to be picked up.  I loved that about Bandon.

There were some huge rocks just a little way down the beach from Steve and Mary's.  It was easy to find all sorts of life among the rocks there!

This rock is called face rock.

I love the purple color!

I spotted this cute little guy among the mussels!

Clara loved to walk backwards in the wet sand and dragging her toes to make a road.

Baby legs are just irresistible, right?

Clara is sometimes a little pokey on walks, and she was especially slow this morning!  Little stinker had to gather all sorts of flowers on the way home!  Didn't she know Janet and I had to pee?

This was the view from the top of the hill on our way down to the beach.  It was so private and quaint.

Later that morning, we packed a picnic lunch and headed to a little inlet called Sunset Beach.  It was so calm and quiet, you'd never know it was on the Oregon coast.  It was H-O-T there, which was so different for us since we'd been bundling up everyday since arriving at the coast.

I think Clara's idea of a perfect day would be to dig in sand all day long.  She just loves it!

 Little cutie!

We had a great time too.  Angie brought some gin and lemonade for us, and we all enjoyed a good dose of vitamin D.  I even got a little burned!

At the beach, a few funny things happened!  First, Clara peed right on the beach.  She told me she had to go, but I put it off and all of a sudden, there was a wet spot on the sand.  She is so ready to be potty trained!!!  I need to get my act together!

But toward the end of our afternoon at the beach, a few little kids came and befriended Clara.  They were older, I think 6 and 8.  But they were so kind to her and played so well with her!  Clara was not intimidated by them at all!  I've loved watching her personality develop.  It has been entertaining, and it's given me so much insight regarding the students I teach.  I just marvel that kids are who they are at 2!  Maybe even earlier!!!  Anyway, Clara was playing with these kids and said two of the funniest things!  Angie and I were working hard to eavesdrop!  But we didn't hear everything!  At one point, Clara said, "Is that your favorite green bucket?  You share with me?"  Her favorite color seems to be green right now!  She wants everything green!  Then later, we didn't hear anything preceding this statement, but Angie heard Clara say to this little 6-year-old boy, "Say you're sorry!".  Oh boy, bossing the older kids around already!  It was pretty funny though!  And like I said, those older kids were absolute gems and were so nice to little Clara!

After the beach, we headed to town, picked up a few provisions, and headed to Steve and Mary's to fix some clam chowder.  The crew had caught quite a few nice sized clams that morning, so it was chowder night!

After dinner, we had the nightly dance party.  And then before bed, of course, we flipped on the outside lights to see what creatures were awaiting us!  But there was nothing outside on Thursday.  Kurtis and I got ready for bed, and then went back out to check again.  We couldn't believe that there weren't any creatures paying a visit that night.  But it was the only night where we didn't see a thing!

Stay tuned for part 6 of our trip to the coast!

Oregon Coast trip - part 4.

Wednesday, we woke up bright and early and headed to Charleston to give clamming a try!  We had high hopes, very little experience, and shovels.  So we knew it could go one of two ways.

The morning started off with Tica, Brad and Angie's shorthair, bolting out of the vehicle and chasing a bird way out into the bay.  The current looked crazy and all of us feared the worst.  But she made it back to shore after maybe 10 agonizing minutes (it could have been less), and spent the rest of the day locked in the back of the truck.  Naughty dog!

After that drama, we headed out to the sand to start digging.  All we knew was to look for little holes in the sand and start digging.  We were digging for empire clams, but we didn't know any better and thought once we started digging, we better dig fast or else they'd get away.  Amateurs.  We made friends with a nice older couple, and they gave us all sorts of tips.  Tip number one: the clams don't move fast at all, so don't freak.  Just keep digging.  By the end of the morning, we learned to look for a little greenery growing on the sand.  Then, lop off that greenery with a shallow dig and look for water squirting out of a hole.  If water shoots out, dig 18 inches or so down, and then reach in that creepy looking hole and feel for the clam's neck.  Gross.  We all took on roles...some us us dug (me) and others of us felt in the holes for the clam necks.  We ended up with a few clams, and a few big ones.  But not enough for chowder.  So the boys and Angie decided that they'd go out the next morning too and dig for more clams so we could have chowder on Thursday night.

Here are some pics of clamming.  It was pretty cold.

Kurtis found a nice sized clam, and Brad and Angie had to come take a peek.

So this tool may not have been ideal for clamming.   Kurtis returned it to Clara just after I took this picture and found a more appropriate shovel, but I had to snap this pic!

Our little clammer!

Jeff and Janet

 Angie and I were twins with our rain jackets, so we had to get a shot!  Nice photo bomb Jeff!

 Later we headed to lunch at a little fish fry joint.  After that, we went down to some docks in Charleston to try our hand out crabbing.  Clara just loved the loaner life jacket...and the red vines!  In fact, when it was time to take the life jacket off, she pitched a royal fit!  Do you remember just a month or two ago when she refused to keep her life jacket on when we went fishing on the boat!  Geez!

 On the side of the docks you could see all sorts of cool sea life...coral, sea anemones, and other stuff!

 I snapped these pics of the Garnet for my mom...she loved her aunt Garnet!

 After we had no luck crabbing from the docks, we decided to drive to a little spot past Sunset beach to check out the sea lions and seals.

 They're out on the beach in front of that big rock.  They were fun to watch, and playful as ever!

 Of course, for the evening, we returned to Steve and Mary's for happy hour (margaritas) and dinner served by Brad and Angie.  We had delish fish tacos.  It was a great meal!  I even got a little time in the hammock to read my book.  I read Gone Girl on our vacation.  Whoa!  Good read!

After dinner, we had the nightly dance party.  And at the end of the evening, we weren't sure if our luck would continue in regards to critter watching.  But we flashed on the outside lights in the back and spotted two raccoons!  We couldn't believe it!  This was three night in a row!  It added an extra amount of fun to the trip!