The Little Home Coles: THIRTY-ONE

2024 week thirty-one

Family snow cones for Matt's brother Sam's birthday.

On Friday we flew to Portland, then drove to the Oregon coast.

The VERY first thing my kids wanted to do was to go to the beach. They were a little surprised by how cold the ocean actually was here.

My mom and John went to the beach with us. You can see them on the hill.

Seafood dinner on the water with grandparents. Theo tried his first clam chowder and he had a religious experience.

The next morning, after breakfast the first stop was the beach. This beach is named Exploding Whale Memorial Beach. You can learn more about why it is named that here.

Even though this beach was actually the banks of the Siuslaw River, the water was still way too cold for Theo.

He preferred to dig for creatures.

Veronica spent her time trying to convince us to let her swim. Unfortunately for her, we started to spot jellyfish so we made her get out.

Then they just decided to play in the mud.

Holding a jellyfish with a clam clamp.

Moss beard.

Wild carrot, or Queen Anne's Lace, was blooming everywhere. I bent down to sniff some on the beach and was startled by this little fellow.

We went to Oregon to attend a memorial service for my grandfather who passed earlier this summer. It was a very touching experience to be with family. After the morning service we went to the beach that was closest to his home.

After the beach, the collected cousins and aunts and uncles got together for Go-Kart racing and dune buggy rides.

This was the first karting experience my children had and V was more terrified than she thought she would be. I slowed down to stay behind her the whole time because she was gripping the steering wheel like her life depended on it.

Theo rode tandem with Matthew and was just screaming with delight the entire time.

Dune Buggy!

One last gathering at my Grandfather Gordon's house before saying goodbye. It was such a pleasure to see my great-aunts and extended family all at once. We really enjoyed chatting with everyone and reminiscing. We were about to do a tribute shot of Old Grouse in my Grandfather's honor in this photo. A friend of his had a specialty bottle made for him during his lifetime so the bottle read Old Gordy.

On our last morning, after saying goodbye to my mom after breakfast, we drove a little north to Hobbit Beach. The trail was glorious enough, but the beach was otherworldly.

Theo has always dreamed of finding sand dollars on the beach, and he never has. Within five minutes of walking on the beach he was crowing with pleasure with two hands full of sand dollars.