C is for Coast (Oregon Coast)

Our field trip for the letter C is a day spent at the coast last week. My oldest daughter had an orchestra concert for the kids over there, so we drove her out early one morning, dropped her off, and spent the morning/afternoon exploring. Then we picked her up about 1:30, had some ice cream and headed back home. I was really worried the night before as I was planning out what we would do because the forecast was showing rain. Lots and lots of rain. And, we have to go over a mountain to get there so I was also a little worried about the colder temperatures and possible snow as we went over the mountain. As you can see the day turned out beautiful, but we did hit some snowy/slushy rain as we went over the mountain. And, it pretty much rained the whole drive. Eventually, it did stop raining, and the sun even came out later in the morning. We zoomed over to the beach as soon as I saw that sun break. I wasn't sure how long it would last, and I had one boy who just couldn't wait to get his hands in the sand... (the one wearing blue!)

Looking at the blue sky you wouldn't think it was just raining all morning! Coming over the top of the dune was just pretty...

Ahhh! Peace. I could just spend all day here. If it's not raining.

This kid didn't waste time digging in the sand.

Still so pretty...

We did some beach combing, and Aric found this sand dollar.

And crabs...

And driftwood...

These 2 had a blast just looking around. I loved the peace and quiet because all I could hear was the ocean. It was nice to have some space after the long car ride! And see those clouds in the distance? Those are what we saw most of the morning.

One of the things we like to watch on the 2 hour drive to the Oregon coast is The Blue Planet. It's an educational way to spend the time in the car. We've gotten through 3 of the 4 discs with this and the last trip to the coast. I don't see them, but I hear them so I learn all the interesting facts too.

After the beach we headed to The Oregon Coast Aquarium for a few hours. This shark encounter tunnel is always peaceful to sit in and watch the fish.

The jaws at the end make for a fun picture.

The octopus was actually out (a rare event), so we got to see it. The volunteer actually came over and asked us if we had seen it, and let us know it was out. I thought that was pretty cool.

I love visiting the coast. I think the Oregon coast has some beautiful things to see. We didn't even get out to hike or anything which is something we'd usually do if the weather had been a bit better. There are some great hikes and beautiful scenery on the Oregon Coast.

That wraps up this blogging through the alphabet letter C post. I am linking this up with a Blogging Through the Alphabet linky party.