The Redwoods

Continuing along from our last post, we met up with the Andersons in Crescent City; a short drive across the state border from our campsite in Oregon. It was so good to see everyone again, eat (too much) yummy food and engage in good conversation. Of course, we were also able to get out and enjoy our beautiful surroundings with a couple good hikes...

For the first hike, Jaxon spent the morning with Grammy and Pappy at the visitor's center and met up with us later, which I'm actually grateful for because the hike would've been pretty difficult for him with such a rough terrain. Violet was a trooper in her backpack carrier. It was our first chance to see the trees up close and personal!

The second day, we hiked the James Irvine trail. It was so beautiful! Everything was so green and there were huge ferns everywhere. The weather was absolutely perfect and we were never hot nor cold. It ended up being a long hike time-wise because of all the kiddos, but at least the terrain was more flat than the previous hike. Jaxon was a trooper and only had to be carried for about 20 minutes of the whole hike.

Taking a rest

We were rewarded at the end by the beach. At that point, I cared very little of how my kids looked. :)

The Redwoods proved a perfect setting for a family reunion. We've started thinking about where we'd like to do ours when it's our turn to host in a few years!

Camping on the Oregon Coast

Last week was another Anderson reunion, this time in the Redwoods. Our family decided to take advantage of the location and go camping for a couple days along the Oregon coast before we met up with the rest of the clan.

Mapping out our trip

We made the drive to Harris Beach State Park in a day. The kids were so happy to be out of the car!

The next day, the park ranger took all the kids on a tide pool walk along the coast. We got to see lots of marine life.

Starfish

There's a crab hidden deep in this crevice

Jaxon looking at a red crab (it was dead. A moment of silence...)

We came back later that afternoon for a chance to play in the sand. The water was pretty cold, so the kids didn't venture in much.

I tried out a couple new recipes in my dutch oven. Pizza night!

I wish I got more pictures, especially of the campsite. There was a nice playground and trails, blackberries, etc. Wish we had another day or two there. But we were off to see the beautiful Redwoods!