Oregon!

  I remember a few months ago dad Peck called and told us the family was planning a trip to Oregon in July. I remember feeling ecstatic as I've always wanted to go there. We both couldn't wait for the trip to come. Finally July was upon us and we headed out to the ocean!

  We left on July 6th and traveled around 10 hours to Lakeview, Oregon to stay the night at the Executive Inn and Suites. Let's just say the "Suites" part was controversial. It was kind of fun though being all squished together watching "Chopped" that night. We finally went to sleep and awoke the next morning excited to get back on the road. We drove a few hours then stopped at Crater Lake. It was so beautiful! We first stopped at the visitors center and watched a video on how the lake came to be. Lydia was asleep so Loren and I missed it, but the lake started out as a volcano. Over time, the pressure built up and shot out the sides instead of the top. The top collapsed and it formed a crater. The lake filled up with only rain water and has no inlet or outlet. I was amazed at how blue the water was. It was truly beautiful. 

Groupie!

It was so windy! We were getting ready for a picture when a big gust of wind blew sand in our eyes. 

Ok everyone, pretend like you don't have sand in your eyes!

This was taken on the trail down to the lake. 

After a mile hike, we made it down to the water. 

  After we had seen all there was to see of the lake, we headed to our beach house in Brookings. It was amazing! We were just a five minute walk away from the ocean. The beach house had a hot tub, nice landscaped yard and plenty of room for everyone inside. 

 The next day we went to see the Redwoods. These pictures just don't do them justice! They were the most massive things I've ever seen in my life. This was our first look at them and we had to stop to snap some pics.

Inside the tree! We all fit!

This is a banana slug. They eat everything in their path but the Redwoods. They gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Lydia's favorite part was throwing rocks in the river.

Tree pose :)

We dubbed this tree the Tree of Love!

The next day we went to Gold Beach to go rock climbing and play in the water.  After many strenuous minutes, Maddy finally covered all of Rachel's legs with sand. Whew!

Loren and Sarah tried out the climbing. It was a tough one but they both made it to the top!

Later that night we went to the beach by our beach house. Loren's lifelong dream of playing the ukulele on the beach was fulfilled. 

Sarah and her guitar.

Duet time!

Watch out for that tide!

 Our next stop was Yachats, Oregon. Oh how I love that place! It was so beautiful. This is Cape Perpetua and was one of our favorite places to be and explore. 

  The tide pools were so cool! I had never seen anything like them. We found starfish, crabs, jelly fish and all sorts of other marine life. 

 We loved watching the waves crash against the shore. It was almost like watching fireworks, they were so mesmerizing. 

  One morning we went on a hike up to the top of a mountain that overlooked Cape Perpetua. 

Our friend, Hermie the Crab.

The Aquarium in Newport is in the top 10 best Aquariums in the United States and we were lucky enough to get to see it! Lydia was enchanted with all the cool marine life. She especially loved these jelly fish that glowed. 

  Touching the Anemones! As soon as you touch them they curl up and Lydia couldn't get enough of watching them.

What cute siblings!

This fish was quite taken with Sarah.

Hairy Otter- this one is for Em and Nate!

The boys got to go fishing. Even Aaron caught one! We cooked them up for dinner that night and they were delicious! 

Playing at the beach!

Maddy got really good at flying this kite. Its not as easy as it looks, it has two handles and you have to steer it just right or it crashes into the ground. It was fun to watch her.

Lindsay signed up for a glass blowing class in Newport. She got to make something and it was so interesting to watch the process of heating, cooling, blowing and shaping the glass.

Rachel and Maddy had a rousing game of Twister! These girls have moves!

We spent a morning at Cape Perpetua digging for razor clams. It was so cool! You'd find a mound, dig a few feet and there they'd be. Dad cooked them up and put them in a yummy clam chowder.

Baby starfish!

One afternoon we came down to the beach at Cape Perpetua to swim. It was SO windy and cold that we ended up hiding behind this rock for most of the time. 

Fire on the beach!

Loren and I experienced our first tandem bike ride. It was fun as long as you didn't have to turn around!

Happy birthday, Chris!

Eating dinner at the beach house.

Our ocean view!

These were the razor clams Dad cooked. 

A family get-together is never complete without a Chopped competition! It turned out AMAZING. Seriously, I was so impressed with everyone's creativity.

Lydia, Atticus and Chris

Our kitchen, it was really nice.

Last day in Yachats. We were so sad to leave! Goodbye Oregon, you were so good to us!

We stopped by Dairy Queen for some ice cream on the way home much to our joy. It was a refreshing treat after so much driving. Lydia thoroughly enjoyed it.

We had the best time! I'm so grateful for the fun memories we made, they will last a lifetime. We're already planning our trip back. Can't wait!