Family Trip to Cannon Beach

Last week we took a family vacation to Cannon Beach, Oregon. The Hansen family has been vacationing in Cannon Beach for generations, so I was very excited for my first official Hansen family Cannon Beach trip. Cannon Beach is home to the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center, which hosts conferences almost year-round. Summer is when the family camps happen, which is what we were participating in. The conference center does a wonderful job putting together an exceptional week, including great food, abundant (and free!!!!) childcare, great preaching, and endless family time.

Packed the Jeep to the BRIM! But, we did end up using everything we brought,
except for the beach chairs. I'd say that's a packing success!

We did a caravan to CB from Seattle with Kyle's parents and his sister's family.
We stopped for lunch along the way...

And once more before crossing the Colombia River.

First morning breakfast in Cannon Beach. That's Drew wandering off in the background!
He just darts off now, without a care in the world...sigh... 

On our way to the beach! The beach is one block away from camp.

Drew, with Haystack Rock in the background.

Gorgeous!

Some of the nights we'd meet up at the Coach House after the evening service.
Papa Peter sharing his rootbeer float with the boys.

One of the nights we signed up for the free in-room babysitting service!
Heather, Adam, Kyle, and I enjoyed some late night drinks and snacks,
and then had the town to ourselves walking home!

Midweek the weather turned crummy, so we piled the kids in the car and headed to the
Tillamook Cheese Factory. Now that we've been, I can't say that we'll go
again - but the free cheese samples were enough to make it worth the drive.

Drew didn't quite understand the concept...

Some of the afternoons additional childcare is offered (did I mention it's FREE?!),
so we would check Drew in and then enjoy an afternoon date in town
("town" is one block over from the conference center grounds).
The picture above is Kyle picking out his haul from Bruce's Candy Kitchen!

Then we just sat and people watched for a while...

Kyle got to ring the bell for dinner one night; he was pretty amped about that.
Breakfast and dinners are provided for all family campers, and the food was
always yummy. At dinner, the food is brought out to you at your table, and they
clean up everything after you. Pretty great!

More fun at the beach!

This wagon saved us from having to carry Drew everywhere (or chase
him as he runs away).

Drew loved having a whole week to spend with his dad!

And it was really fun for all the cousins to get to play together!

But mostly, Drew just followed Kyle around everywhere. 

On our last morning, Kyle and I checked Drew into the nursery,
but then we skipped morning service and went on a morning
date walk down to Haystack Rock.

At the rock!

The cousins got in lots of play time together - such cuties!

Lots of wagon rides...

Drew's first visit to Pizza a Fetta!

One of the days the conference center hosted a big carnival for the kids.
Drew loved (LOVED!) the obstacle course. They tried to tell me he was too small
for it, but once they agree to let me go with him they saw that he was indeed
NOT too small for it. He may be small, but he's strong - and FULL of energy!

Playing in the ball pit.

Our room situation was a little funky because we booked late in the year.
We weren't able to get a family room (which has a bunk bed room inside the main
room for kids to sleep), so we had to put Drew in our bathroom to sleep. It actually
worked great for him (he slept perfectly the entire trip - thank you Baby Wise method!!!),
but it meant long trips down the hall to the community bathroom for us. (Oh - and he
hates it when you put him in the pack n play for play time. This kid hates being confined!)

Family pic at the beach. That's the best shot we could get; Drew refused to stop playing in the sand!
We can't really blame him though :-)

Cannon Beach is a really neat town, and the Conference Center does such a wonderful job making families feel relaxed and taken care of. The preaching at the morning and evening services was wonderful; it's so nice to get to hear from other great pastors from time to time. We had a wonderful week, and I already can't wait to go back next year! 

Summer Fun with Drew: Part 2

{ fun at warm beach }

Drew opening his very own Quiet Book, handmade by his GG Pat

This is basically a right of passage on your 1st birthday in the Watson family!

Then we hit the mudflats

Drew loved the wide open space to wander around

Oh boy!

Kyle has only been out on the flats a few times, so he likes to do his own exploring

He tried to put some things in his mouth...

including mud...

Not very graceful yet!

Back up in the yard, my grandma brought out two buckets of water to play in.
Drew took one look at the buckets, and immediately climbed INTO them!
I think he thought they were like his bathtub. It was a tight fit, but he played for
almost an hour by climbing in and out of the buckets.

 {fun with watermelon}

This kid loves watermelon!

So I just let him go nuts on the deck with it.

It got everywhere!

{ fun without Drew }

To celebrate on Drew's birthday, Kyle and I had a night out on the town!

 { family trip to visiting the Boone's in Coeur d'Alene } 

Gas station stop. We attempted to travel at night (after 7pm) so that Drew would
sleep in the car. We made the mistake of stopping for gas in Ellensburg.
Drew woke up, and thought it was party time. He was not pleased to then spend 3
 more hours in the car. On the way home, we got smart and gassed up before leaving town.
Then, Kyle pulled into a rest stop half way home and just drove slow enough for me to
hop in and out of the car without him actually having to stop. I'm sure looked like crazy
 people, but IT WORKED! Drew stayed asleep the entire drive home.

Not digging the life jacket. Friday we got to go boating during Nick's "lunch break".
If this is what all lunch breaks are like in CDA, we need to move to Idaho!

My handsome hubs :-)

We all got to go wake surfing. Kyle did great (pictured above)! I hadn't actually been in
the water behind a boat since Nick and Kaleigh's wedding in 2011 (on this same river!).
I didn't have my proper eye gear, but I did give it one run and it felt awesome...just like
riding a bike!

Sweet sleeping boat babies <3

CDA has the most amazing splash park in the heart of down town!

Drew had a blast getting some energy out

On Saturday afternoon, we spent some time on the riverfront at
Kaleigh's dad's house

This place is always just as gorgeous as I remember it

Drew and Neva got in some good play time

Drew is still learning "gentle"; Neva is a tough girl! This pic was right after
Drew pushed her over. Armature flirting move, Drew!

Drew was really fascinated with Nick playing the piano.

Drew crashing in Neva's bed, completely tuckered out. I went in to get him up from his nap and found him like this. I realized that because we've sleep trained him, I hardly ever spend time in his bedroom while he's sleeping. So I had to snap this pic of Drew doing the classic kid-sleeping-pose.

The drive stretch of highway from somewhere in between the Gorge and
Spokane is just my favorite. The sunset, the rolling hills, the farm houses.
I just spend the whole drive day dreaming about what it would
be like to live outside the city...

{ park fun }

Hanging with cousin Abe at Greenlake

Swinging at Pine Street Park

More fun at the Daleway splash park

{ forest park petting zoo }

After months of learning about animals in his books, we finally visited a petting zoo!

Drew loved the baby goats!

He was tentative at first, but then really got into petting them

And following them around!

{ hanging out at home }

Drew likes to read the paper with grandpa Steve in the morning

Tuesdays and Thursdays we have smoothies for breakfast.
Drew recently learned how to drink out of a normal straw and lovesssss drinking
from our adult size smoothie cups. He will drink the entire thing, it's insane!
Where does it go in that tiny tummy?

Now that Drew is more active than ever (I don't think he ever stops moving!), it's imperative that I have things planned during the day to keep him busy. The more physical the activity, the better. I had to do some asking around to my mom friends with boys about how to handle a very mobile toddler, and they all said: get that energy out of him! So I did some research and made two google calendars (one indoor, one outdoor) of local and cheap activities/outings. On Sundays when I'm planning out my upcoming week, I use those two calendars to plan a variety of midday outings for Drew. The most common outing we do is the park because they are close to home and free! I try to limit the paid activities to 1-2 a week (and even those I try to keep in the $5 range). Mornings we spend doing room time, and afternoons Drew often spends relaxing in the stroller while I go jogging (ok, it's mostly walking right now but I'm working back up to jogging!) or at the gym while I do a workout class. In the late afternoons my dad usually watches Drew while I get dinner going so that we can eat right when Kyle gets home, and then Kyle can have play time with Drew until it's his bedtime. Drew is generally less fussy when I make sure to get him out of the house daily, and especially when he is able to get a lot of energy out. I've been having a lot of fun, too! Being a stay-at-home mom is truly special. I recognize it's not for everyone, but I'm really enjoying it. Should we find ourselves in a situation where I need to go back to work outside of the home, I will certainly cherish all this time I've gotten to spend with Drew!