Day 4- BEACH DAY

Actually, "Beach Day" was planned before Tosha even knew I was coming into town.  Tosha and her friend Brittney had made the arrangements to go to Ocean Shores, Washington, on July 3rd since both of their husbands would be off work.  Austen said he couldn't think of a good excuse to not go along with the plan and hoped I was open to share a day with their friends.  I was thrilled (see Beach Day Prologue).  I had never been to Ocean Shores, but in May, one of my high school friends had posted that they had spent the day there with their grandchildren so I had seen pictures and I was happy to add another beach on my list.

We packed up the kids and all of the stuff that you take on beach trips and headed out for the 2 1/2 drive to Ocean Shores.  The trip actually crossed paths with the trip that Gary, Jena and I took in 2018 with the RV as we traveled through Aberdeen, Washington, on some cool bridges.  Ocean Shores is located on an jetty of land that divides the Grey Harbor from the Pacific Ocean.  (And, yes, Brittney and Stephen went with us, but I didn't get any pictures of them somehow.  We kept fairly social distanced from them during the day.)

We made a quick bathroom break and visit to the local "Shark Shack" to get beach supplies-aka kites and sand toys.

Around the store there were some fun photo places, especially if you are a five year old boy.

The entrance to the store---

A sign of the time---

Niki showing his shark side---

The beach was overcast and misted when we first arrived.  The fun thing about this beach is you can drive right onto the beach and park.  Eventually there were about three or four rows of cars.  We were lucky to be on the front row.

Niki and Austen tried to get the kite up, but the winds right at the beach were hard to work with as well as the growing mist.

Despite the weather, I had to get the "toes in the ocean" photo for Gary.

When the rain began, we packed up and headed for a lunch break at McDonald's, because our first choice didn't have dining outside options.

We then headed back to the beach and spend a long, fun afternoon and the sun actually began to appear from time to time.

Tosha got a bit cold but enjoyed watching the kids
from the back of her car.

Niki and I took the two kites and headed up the coast and a bit away from the ocean to see if we could get the kites in the air.  It took a bit of work but we managed to do it and let the kites out to the end of their strings.

We then carefully "walked" our kites back to the family who were "amazed" at our skills.  Tosha's friend, Brittney, sent us this picture when Tosha had taken over Niki's kite.

I introduced Cooper to the idea of getting water from the ocean to pour on his sand creations--this led to many, many trips with him from his sand castle to the ocean and back again---I was the one getting wet retrieving the water.  Cooper would stand just out of reach of the waves and cheer me on.

Then, with his parents' permission, Niki rolled up his pants and joined me in playing with the waves.  I seriously felt like I was five, too, jumping from or jumping over the waves and laughing when we "got caught by the waves."   It was one of those times when you don't care who sees you act like a child or be messy and wet, all that mattered was the waves and laughing with Niki.

See that joy!!!!   This shot was before the time he was running too fast and totally biff it on to the sand.  His whole left side was wet and covered with sand.  (Don't you hate it when playing ends up this way!)  After being brushed off by his parents (who were both laughing behind their hands because they had seen the dramatic fall that happens when you are running and not watching!), Niki was willing to head back and have more fun.

We took the important "toes in the ocean" photo.....

and the wet hair selfie---have you ever playing in the ocean with a sweatshirt on?

Tosha and Austen stayed mostly dry and sand free----

You can see a bit of blue sky now and then as the sun peaked out in holes in the clouds. 

Tosha took this photo of the kids playing and me taking a photo of the water---

It is always hard to know when enough is enough when you have three small kids.  You want to stay long enough that everyone had a good time, but not too long that they become over tired and cranky on the 2 1/2 hour drive home.  I think we left around 4:30 and made a couple of other brief stops for bathroom visits, a view area, and a historical spot.  Ava slept the entire way home while the boys were happy to rest and play with tablets for most of the journey.

Aberdeen is the hometown of a rock star, Kurt Cobain that Austen liked.  This is the house he grew up in an older area of Aberdeen.

There is also a small park named in his honor a few blocks away.  The neighboring house had this clever sign in their yard next to the park itself.

It reads:  No, this is not a gift shop.
No, Kurt didn't live here
He lived 1210 E. 1st.
No, we didn't know him.
Phil next door did
Needles and stuff watch out
Yes, we have a lot of traffic
Yes, we get tired of it
If you think there is trouble
You call 911
Please don't take our stuff
(Can't read the bottom one)

It would not be fun to live by a park or home of some famous person.

And that is a wrap of the BEACH DAY.  Can't wait until the next time I can put my toes in the ocean water.

PS.

Tosha had plans for Niki and Cooper to make pizza with Grandma.  So Friday night pizza making was next.

Fun end to a great day together.