A Million (or so) Fun Things to do at the Beach

It was such a beautiful day on the Oregon Coast we had to get out and explore. So, I packed my backpack, gathered my friends, and headed out. I was so excited to be at the beach that I almost fell off the log and into the river! Luckily, Katie’s had practice catching Stuffies (remember Froggy’s Narrow Escape?). Nice to have a helping hand from a friend, right?

We decided to play “Follow the Leader.” It’s a pretty fun game when you’re in charge. You get to decide where to go and how to get there & everyone has to do what you do! Ha-hah! I knew I’d get to boss people around again! I chose to play “How Far Can You Go? Look Out Below!” It’s a game I invented where you balance on a wobbly surface and push yourself to see what happens next. Trust me, it’s awesome!

Genie wanted to check out the Salal and see if it tasted as good as the Spinach. WARNING TO READERS- the leaves are definitely NOT good to eat for humans. The berries are supposed to be delicious, but these leaves are the opposite of tasty. Little Guy 2 couldn’t be persuaded to even take a bite- too vegetabley.

Then Jicama took a turn and wanted us to go check out the great view from really high up. See the river all the way down there? Pretty cool, huh? Of course, her choice to do “Meditation” wasn’t very popular with some of our more active crowd. I like to look at a view & all, but why do we have to be quiet, anyway?!

And, of course, being up high reminded Little Guy 2 how much he likes to be higher than everyone else. After he got over sulking about not getting highest on the stump, we started “King of the Mountain.” We don’t allow shoving people off- it’s just a race to see who can get the highest the fastest. In this case, rock climbing skills were key. LG2 and Taco raced up this cliff in no time at all. Little Guy’s record: 28 seconds!

And that, of course, led to some doing some "Sand Climbing.” It’s like rock climbing, except you try to get up the cliff before it crumbles beneath you. Extra challenge = extra fun! Look out for little friends below!

Our climbing adventure inspired Taco. He wanted to play “Climb in the Jungle” for his turn. He found such a cool little nook- just Taco sized! It was so cozy he might have stayed forever (except we forgot to pack tacos and hot sauce in our backpack). We might never have seen him again. Most of us would be very sad.

And Francis and Gertie wanted to go “Caving” for their adventure. There are all these cool basalt and sandstone formations that get worn away from the water. It was pretty dark back there, so we didn’t get very far. Next time we’ll have to bring a flashlight with us. We’ll have to be careful about who gets to lead with that trip. I can just see it now… “Hey, where are you going with that flashlight?”

We sure had a fantastic time out there! If you want to watch the video our new friend Karie made of the day, check it out! We love the beach, rain or shine, but shine is definitely nicer. So, if it’s sunny, make a break for it! You never know when it will start raining buckets again. (Also, what does that expression mean? It sounds like it would hurt! On the other hand, you’d never need to buy another bucket!)

P.S.- This is the down side of “Sand Climbing”- sometimes things collapse on you. Guess that’s why you shouldn’t climb those sandy cliffs at the beach. Even Stuffies can cause sandslides. Oops.