Life In The Unknown: A Day at the Beach

Last weekend we took the boys on a day trip to Fort Stevens on the Northern Oregon Coast. Daddy wanted to show off the historic batteries from WWII. The batteries were put at the mouth of the Columbia River to protect inland attacks. Now the batteries are abandoned tunnels to play in. I let them play at the batteries as I patiently waited for the time to play on the beach. "A" can be a handful and I have found my most pleasant days with him in the past have been beach trips. He seems so calm and can entertain himself for hours. I have such a peace around him while we are near the ocean. Plus, I was super excited because this was babies first time at the beach. We put him in the sand although both Daddy and I were terrified he would eat the sand. I know that is just being overly protective and all babies eat sand, but we had a choking scare that brought us to our knees recently. Surprisingly, "B" at first just loved the feel of running his hand through the sand. This kept him occupied for almost 15 minutes until he had to taste it. Daddy quickly scooped him up and held him the rest of the day. The weather started to get cloudy and cold (which happens frequently on the Oregon Coast) so we couldn't jump waves or play an the surf. Bummer! Also the beach we were at didn't have my two favorite beach activities: agate hunting or looking at tide pools. However, there was shipwreck and lots of sand for castle building. Overall, a wonderful family outing!!!

Exploring the historic, abandoned batteries: