Our Long Overdue Trip to Seaside, Part 1

Our family hadn't visited the beach in nearly three years. This sad truth was made more tragic by the fact that we live less than 2 hours from the coast. About 6 months ago, I snagged a deal for a hotel in Seaside, figuring we'd surely be able to fit it into our schedule during spring break, if not earlier. As it turns out, we didn't manage to use it literally until the day it expired, but we did get to use it! Jeremy was able to get home from an upriver trip and come with us without any trouble, and we had a wonderful time as a family. (As an aside, if your goal, like ours, is to enjoy Seaside without any crowds, a Wednesday-Friday stay in May will accomplish it.) We decided to go south through Portland and out to Tillamook before heading north to Seaside. I am so glad we did, because it afforded us an opportunity to revisit the very fun Tillamook Forestry Center. 

 It was a beautiful day for a picnic. 

I love this footbridge. The boys really wanted to hike some of the nature trails, but we're "saving that for next time," because Ascha isn't a big fan of walking for the sake of walking just yet.

 It was fun to see all three kids in this display, being fish. The last time we were here, Aric was younger than Ascha is now and Ascha wasn't around yet.

The high point, of course, is the fire tower. Taylor and Aric are waving at me from the top.

After we'd worked up an appetite, we made our way to the Tillamook Cheese Factory for some ice cream and cheese samples. We then meandered up the coast, stopping at a few shops along the way, before settling into our hotel and catching a bite of seafood.

The next morning, we found that we were the only ones out and about on a rainy Thursday morning. Jeremy showed the boys how it's done in the arcade. 

Ascha took a joyous ride on the "Sea Horse." The carousel operator said all the kids want to ride this horse, so it was nice for her to be the sole rider. No waiting in line or jostling for position.

To round out our morning, we headed to the aquarium. 

The kids loved it all, but the highlights were the seals and the touch tanks.

We walked around the promenade and enjoyed this little display about sharks. Don't the kids look frightened? (They think so, anyway.)

Our explorers hanging out with THE explorers. I think the boys enjoyed picking up some Lewis and Clark history after having a good year-long break from it. Taylor had asked the previous year if we could ever visit any cool historical site that was NOT associated with Lewis and Clark, because he was tired of learning about them. :-) Since the answer, here in the Pacific Northwest, is pretty much "no," I really eased off the local history last year and we looked at world history and specific facets of local history not having to do with L&C. I'm glad the boys are up for more Lewis and Clark again since Taylor will be focusing on them as he studies Washington state history this year.