HFR 2008 on the beautiful Oregon coast

We returned last week from an 8-day family reunion/vacation with our Hemmert Family. About half of the family flew and the rest drove out to Oregon. We were fortunate enough to be in the flying group. As our kids were fighting on the way to the airport, we realized that there was no way we could make the 13-hour drive if we couldn't even make it 1 hour to the airport without problems. Our VERY lively 2-year old made the flight very troublesome for his parents. It was about as bad as you can imagine. Not staying in his seat, screaming, kicking the seat of the "not-so-friendly" passenger in front of us. But alas, we made it. After picking up our rental car, we made the 2 1/2 hour drive out to the coast. We stayed in a great rental house in Lincoln city. Check it out here. It should be noted that this was a LARGE family gathering. Jared's parents, all of his 5 siblings, spouses and grandkids. 14 adults and 14 children. Of the 14 children, the youngest 11 are all boys, and the oldest boy is 7! It felt like about 30 boys.
Our first full day was Sunday, Father's Day, so we just hung around the house and relaxed. It was nice after all of the travelling the day before. Monday, we headed towards Tillamook. Our first stop was Oceanside. (see above pictures). We played on the beach and collected shells and rocks. There is this little cave through the rock that leads to another side of the beach. It was really cool. Chandler froze, which is why he is wearing 2 of his own coats and one of Jared's in the pictures.
Our next stop was a short hike to the 'Octopus' tree. There is also a lighthouse there that we got to go to the top of. Very pretty! After this, we were all starving so we had lunch at the Tillamook Cheese factory. We got to see cheese and ice cream being made there. Sorry, no pictures, though.
We next stopped at Cape Lookout. More beaching. Preston, of course, found a stick to terrorize some of the other cousins. After a very fun, exhausting day, we headed home. Note Chandler's quote on the right-side bar. This applies here.
The next day was 'picture day.' Reese Christensen, a Provo photographer accompanied us to Oregon and took family pictures on the beach. He also spent the 'Tillamook' day with us and took a bunch of candid shots. I'm sure I'll be able to post some of those at some point. It was quite an adventure with so many people and kids. After the formal pictures were done, we enjoyed hanging around the beach. My boys found some microscopic shrimp on the beach and enjoyed watching them in a cup for awhile.

These pictures were taken around the house. Each family had a night to do a devotional. For Joyce's night, all of the kids were given cowboy or pioneer garb and she told them an old pioneer legend of 'Injun Joe.' The top middle picture is of the wind shelter that was built early on when it was quite windy. We flew kites and had a couple of illegal bonfires on the beach as well. On Wednesday, we headed to Silver Falls and went on a hike. It was so beautiful hiking in the lush green forest and past multiple water falls. The boys did pretty good and only had to be carried briefly at the end. We had a picnic lunch by the river and then headed to the Aerospace museum in McMinnville.
This is where the 'Spruce Goose' is housed. It was Howard Hughes' enormous airplane that is featured in the movie, Aviator. You can tell from the pictures how enormous it is. There are also tons of other aircrafts and space stuff there. There was even some tanks outside. Yes, it was boy heaven! After another exhausting day of sight seeing we had another home day filled with lots of crafts for the kids and multiple trips to the outlets for the grown ups. Note: No Sales Tax in Oregon!
Friday, we went to Newport and visited a really cool aquarium there. The boys loved it. The picture of Preston with a glare is in a fish tank that you can crawl under and it is open in the middle so that the fish swim right by your face. Above is also some crazy spider crabs, a shark jaw and a little play area. We also got to stop at another lighthouse on the way home.

Saturday morning, a bunch of us participated in a 5k that was held on the beach in Lincoln city. After an exhausting week, I had decided just to walk it with some of the others who were going to walk, but then Jared decided to join us and decided that he was going to run. So I said to myself, "If Jared's going to run, so am I!" (For those of you who are unfamiliar, Jared's had many health problems and is not a runner). We stayed together and ran and walked our way through it. Jared even got 2nd in his age group! Matt got third in their age group! Don't ask how many were in their age group. (3) Wynn got first in his age group! Don't ask how many were in his age group. (1) The best part was the raffle after the race in which all registered family members walked away with prizes. Yes, it is a small race, but it was a lot of fun.

Staying with everyone was a lot of fun. It probably won't happen again for at least a couple of more years. Thanks, everyone, for being patient with us and our kids! Above is a video of Devin teaching Preston about the 'Secret of Silence.' He uses this to move things with his mind. You probably figured out that the 'Secret of Silence' is the antithesis of Preston's high-pitched scream. Video courtesy of Julie. Thanks!