This is going to be a really long post because I'm combining our whole camping trip plus Easter.
The rest of our Spring Break was spent up in Ft. Stevens. We went to the KOA that we stayed at last time and we had beautiful sunny weather for the most part. Jim and Georgia came with us and we left on Thursday afternoon.
In the car on the way there
We of course stayed in our trailer and Garrett reserved a cabin for Jim and Georgia. We weren't able to be close, but it wasn't a very far walk.
This is the outside of their cabin. It was a cute little cabin with a porch swing.
Bella hanging out that first afternoon while we got everything set up.
Grandpa chopping wood for the fire. I guess it was a little cloudy at this point, but the following days were beautiful...still cold though.
Eating dinner. Georgia had cooked a ham before they left and some baked beans and potato salad and it was so nice to just warm them up and eat.
March 29th
We went and had the free pancake breakfast that they offer and then the kids wanted to play mini golf.
Noah cried almost the whole walk back home because he constantly wants to be carried. We are trying to break that. Garrett offered him a ride on his shoulders and he only cried more because he didn't like it.
We went to the beach to see the shipwreck--the Peter Iredale and to play in the sand. It had been warming up back at the campground, but out by the beach was cold and windy. I think we were there for about an hour.
Lydia writing in the sand with a big stick
Paige making a sand angel
Lydia buried her feet
Noah loves to dig in the sand
Then we took the kids swimming
Lydia helping Noah
Since it was Easter, they had Easter activities. While we happened to be there, they had an "Egg Dive". A little misleading since you weren't allowed to dive. They tossed a bunch of plastic eggs in the pool and on the count of 3, all the kids jumped in and tried to get as many eggs as possible. Lydia and Paige did it, but Lydia said it was a little crazy and she got kicked in the neck.
There were really cheap prizes in the eggs. But, if you found a gold egg, then you were able to get a bigger surprise. Lydia had found a gold egg, but didn't know she would get a prize for it. So, while she was in the bathroom changing, they were handing out prizes. Paige went in to tell Lydia and by the time Paige got Lydia's egg and went to turn it in, I think they had given away all the prizes. So, the lady left for a few minutes and then came back with this huge bunny and gave it to Paige. You should have seen Lydia's face when she walked out of the bathroom and got the bunny from Paige. It was so cute.
this is her bunny.
Eating hot dogs for dinner. We had s'mores after, and thanks to grandma's instigation, we all told silly stories around the campfire about unicorns, skittles, bears and little girls named "Sassy Priscilla".
March 30th
We had a great campsite, because they had this area of soft dirt, that my kids spent a ton of time digging in. We tried to fill up the holes as best we could before we left so that no one would hurt themselves. It sure kept them occupied though.
After getting breakfast cleaned up, we headed over to Fort Clatsop. We found this great visitor's center that belonged to the National Park. They had this great program for kids where they could get a booklet and do so many activities according to their age and then they got to be Junior Ranger's. The activities had to do with the environment, the Fort, and the museum. It was a really great learning tool. Paige, Bella and Lydia participated.
There was a statue of Sacagawea there that my girls loved. Paige was reading a book about her at the time and was telling us all about her.
Observing nature and filling out their packets
This is a replica of the fort that Lewis and Clark and their expedition team stayed at in the winter of 1805-1806 before heading back to St. Louis. They were here from Dec. 8th-March 23rd 1806. The original fort decayed from the wet weather and so a new one was built in 1955.
This was the fort in 1955.
That one was severely damaged in a fire in 2005 and so it was reconstructed again in 2006.
inside one of the rooms
Trying to finish up their activity books. I thought they were great because I learned a lot by helping the girls work on them.
Inside the museum
Getting their Junior Ranger badges. They had to repeat this oath to swear to help protect National Parks and help others learn about them. I thought it was pretty cool.
Then we drove down to Cannon Beach to eat at Mo's Seafood Restaurant.
And on the way home, we stopped for ice cream!
Then we colored our Easter Eggs.
Then Bella helped me make Monkey Bread that we cooked in the dutch oven. They were yummy!
Hanging out by the fire.
March 31st
We have never been camping on Easter before, so I wasn't quite sure how to work it. We brought everything with us that we needed (baskets, grass, eggs, egg dying kit, etc.) Usually we have a jelly bean trail that the Easter bunny leaves and the kids follow that to find their baskets. Then, we just have Easter egg hunts with their plastic eggs, after they've emptied their candy out of them. We can't really hide 5 Easter baskets in the trailer because there is NO room and I didn't want to do it outside because then they'd be out all night long and I couldn't do it in the morning because my kids wake up earlier than I do. So, I got their Easter baskets ready the night before and just set them out on the couch.
This kid loves Pez candies more than anything!
Then, the Easter bunny left a note with a sack full of stuffed Easter Eggs, saying that Garrett and I were supposed to hide them around the campsite for the kids to find, whenever we wanted. Well, since we were leaving this day and had to be out of there by 11, the egg hiding just didn't happen. So we promised the kids that we would hide them when we got home. They were cool with that. They were just excited to see a note from the Easter Bunny!
Noah doing some last minute fishing while I was packing up the inside and Garrett was putting stuff away on the outside.
Bella sweeping our rug and Garrett is putting down the canopy.
Maggie and Noah putting up the stabilizers.
We got back home and it was so warm--I think it got somewhere in the 70's that day--it was awesome!! We unloaded everything and while we were putting stuff away, we had Grandma hide the eggs in the backyard. After lunch, we had the kids find their eggs. They each had a certain color to find and there were 10 eggs for each kid.
Trying to find eggs in our tall grass.
Candy!!
Her outfit cracks me up!
This was the first year that we have ever planted tulips and I love them. So I wanted to get a picture of my kids by them, but of course the sun was too bright. So, this is the best Easter picture that I got of all of them together for this year. Later that night we had a family home evening lesson on Christ's Resurrection, so it was a perfect ending to our Easter.
