Seaside, OR Family Vacation

We've returned from our week long vacation on the Oregon coast. I feel like we were gone forever, which I think is a good thing. We had lots of time to sit around, read, play, go to the beach, walk downtown, eat and sleep. All the things we needed to do to just have some time to get away from the "normal" life and feel a little recharged to come back and do it all over again. My parents joined us for the week which was a super treat for us since we were able to sneak out at nap times and in the evening when we needed to enjoy some time away from Shane.

Here are some of the highlights of our week away.

We spent a fair amount of time on the beach, since I think Shane is a fish and would have spent even more time in the water if we would have allowed it. He basically spent every day just waiting for his time in the water. The water was so cold even on the days we had sunshine. He would go in up to his belly and often Papa would take him out as far as he would want to go to jump waves.




There was a carousel in downtown Seaside. Our first morning there we took Shane down to ride it. I think maybe he didn't understand that it was going to move because he was a mix of emotions when he got off a little excited and a little scared. After this time he would only go on it with someone, but always picked the ostrich to ride!?!

There was also a little train ride downtown Seaside that Kenny and Shane rode. Shane refused to go by himself.
Seaside was put on the map because Lewis and Clark spent many months there during their explorations. Before they returned home they spend about 2 months making salt to preserve their meat for the return home. While we were there they were having the "The Salt Makers Return" where people were in full character "acting" out what happened during that time. It was quite interested to visit. They would even barter with you for items. I saw a bunch of kids with various fruits trading for beads.

This is all the salt they made in one day!
My brother and sister-in-law came down for a couple days from Keizer, OR. Here Shane is enjoying being buried in the sand.
There were swing sets all along the beach, which made for some great swinging time for Shane and a little peace and quiet for Mom and Dad as well.
One morning we made our way down to Ecola State Park for a little tide pool visit. They were the best and most beautiful tide pools I have ever seen. Shane had so much fun and was very comfortable with touching the marine life now. The hardest part was keeping him from getting wet from head to toe which he very much wanted to do!


Seaside had an aquarium just down from where we were staying. It has been around since 1937 and I was honestly a little nervous about the condition of it or what we would see. But I must say it was the highlight of the week for me. There were about 10 Harbor Seals that we could feed and man were they hilarious!!! Many of them had taught themselves "tricks" to get your attention for the fish "treats" we were feeding them. One full on splashed you. They were super cute, happy and in good condition, which made me feel lots better.

We had amazing weather the whole week. It did vary from foggy, windy, cold and sunny. But we couldn't ask for more from a week on the coast. I think we saw more sunshine there then we have been seeing here at home. There was even one day were it was just about hot outside. A view of the sunset from our condo balcony. We stayed in what we think could be one of the best places to stay in Seaside. We were right down in front of the Promenade and beach. We spent tons of time just watching people and the beach happenings.
Monday morning arrived to a flurry of construction and people down on the beach. We quickly figured out they were setting up for the upcoming relay race Hood to Coast. Sadly we left on Friday a day before we got to see all the people come in from the race.
We stayed in the building to the left of the biggest one in the picture. We were on the fourth floor making it a spectacular view of all things below and out on the beach. Every night we could see all the beach fires on the beach. The place was super cozy and comfortable and gave us all enough space to relax, play and hang out.
We took a morning trip down to Cannon Beach. Which had gorgeous beaches, places to stay and shops. Very much more high end then Seaside, but not quite as family friendly. This is a picture of Haystack. Kenny and Shane are walking towards it in the picture. That morning on the beach was super, super, super cold. But of course Shane needed to go in the water.
A few other highlights where when we took Shane to the arcade where he got to play "big boy" video games with Kenny. He was in heaven driving cars, motorcycles, boats and flying airplanes. We found an awesome bakery that had day old plates of donuts for $1!! Of course we made a quick stop there before heading home and still are enjoying the yummy and super cheap donuts at home. Finally, my favorite store of all was called Tiptons where they had beautiful house decor and Christmas decorations along with the best specialty candy selection. I could use a mint malt ball right about now!! I think we all put on a few pounds last week for sure.