4 Country Sisters: 4th of July and Seaside!

We have a family tradition of going to Seaside, Oregon for the week of 4th of July. The weather is perfect, the stay is right on the beach and we get to do nothing but read on the beach, swim in the ocean, build sandcastles, and relax! Its wonderful.

The last two years we have stayed in the little tiny town of Gearheart. It's just north of Seaside and they have a really nice condo resort that's actually affordable!

Here is the info about the condos

http://www.gearhartresort.com

This year we went on the 4th, early that morning we drove the almost 3 hours so we could watch the Seaside Parade (it's that good!) We all dress up and find a good spot to watch.

This year Nana went with us, Last year Grandma Young came, it's fun to have the grandmas come and get to know the kids.

This kid was worn out from the early wake up call and the long drive!

There were more cars, wagons, and floats but these were favorite!

Right after the parade we went straight to the beach! I'm pretty sure there is some mermaid in the blood because we all seemed happier the moment our feet hit the water!

It was not planned but the kids and The Hubs all matched and were very patriotic in their red, white and blue!

We don't plan much for the duration of the trip, beach, church, horseback riding, and did I mention the beach! They are working on the sand castle of the day!

Note our very happy, relaxed, on vacation smiles...

Miss J and I working on our cartwheels...

Miss E is now wearing down...

The condo we stayed at was beautifully decorated and the beach and ocean views were priceless! Funny story though, we checked in just after 4pm, unloaded the Expedition, put all the food in the fridge and started to make dinner and the power went out! I thought maybe we blew a breaker, nope worse...Some one hit THE main power line for all of Gearheart and Seaside! Luckily our meal was going to be chicken salads with rice, and the rice was already mostly cooked when you power went out, we did have water so kids got cool showers and the owner of the condo even came by to check on us and pulled out a bbq so we could cook if needed, and got out flashlights. We ate, enjoyed a quite evening, kids read some of the many books we brought and we watched the fireworks. The power came back on at 9:57pm. almost six hours later, but it didn't matter we were safe, fed, and relaxed.

For my sister Amy, my selfie moment...Enjoying the evening before the fireworks start. And no I didn't take a single pic of the fireworks show this year. It was a amazing though!!

But this is one from last year! We were right on the beach last year and that was awesome! This year we stayed at the condo and watched.

This is the view from our balcony. The sun is setting and that's the pacific ocean just past the roof line of the condos across the lawn!

The nights cooled off. It wasn't hot to begin with only in the mid 70's. There was a playground that the kids wanted to live on!

We walked down the beach and I had fun with my camera, the lighting was perfect and the kids don't look bad either!

Good night Pacific Ocean!

This was one of our neighbors.

Sunday was cold, and windy! No fun beach pics... We actually just went to church, went back and changed and watched Shark Week on the Discovery Channel

Monday we went horseback riding! Yeah!!! We go up to Long Beach, Washington. There they have the best horse back riding setup. It's called Skippers Equestrian Center right in downtown.

Lil Man and I are riding Tally, a 34 yr old trick pony. She used to perform in rodeos.

Off we go!

Miss E on Buttercup. They too are the same age!

Miss J and Lucy, and sweet Tennessee Walking horse. We asked if they would sell her, but they said no....and she wouldn't fit in the Expedition so we had to leave her ;(

Since taking the girls with me to the Ranch we work at, they were really comfortable riding and handled their horses like pros!

Nana and Monty

Tally wanted to be in the front the whole time and I let her have her head and she broke into a nice trot, but the wranglers told me to keep her at a walk because they didn't want her to run herself to death! Darn it, I don't think she would have died, she was mad to be held back but was great with Lil Man.

After the ride all the horses get carrots.

Goodbye Long Beach!

Tuesday morning we hit the beach! It was supposed to be in the upper 70's and a breeze of only 5 miles an hour (we learned real fast the the wind speeds matter when your by the ocean!) Lil Man starting the Castle of The Day! I don't know why he won't cooperate and take a good picture!

After a few years of doing this, we have a great little setup. We bring our pop-up canopy, camp chairs, a yoga mat, big beach blanket, cooler and pretty much day camp the whole day in the beach. Sand is everywhere by the time we get home, but it's all part of the adventure right?!

Jos and I are right at home, knowing this was our last day, we wanted to relax. I brought a stack of books and a few magazines, and made myself comfortable on my yoga mat.

So I'm married to this guy who overall is a great, mostly mature man.... Until he is in vacation mode, on the beach, and then he turns into a model...? All I said was hey say cheese, and this is what he does...

I'm not sure what he's pointing to... a boat? A shark? The sky? I love Miss J and her wide open mouth smile

This pic of Miss J and Nana is really cute, I'm not sure what they are laughing about, but they look so happy!

Our little base camp. We stayed at this spot for 7 hours! Note, I'm practicing beached whale pose!

My sweet girlies!

Of course we had to do a little beach yoga. Down dog with a hand stand

My stretch into dancer.

Nothin' but beach bums.....no to go ride some waves!

This is the view to the south.

And to the north. There was hardly anyone for hours, the whole beach was ours!

Around 3pm we noticed a helicopter circling the area, (since this is Shark week and we have been watching it every night!) my first thought was SHARKS get out of the water!!!!

Nope, the Seaside Fire and rescue were practicing drills and take offs. It was pretty cool to watch!