Oregon Coast!!!!!!!!!!

In August we went on a spectacular trip to Lincoln City, Oregon with the Thurgood side of the family. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, such a great trip. Every single person was there--Ben surprised us and showed up from Utah. We rented this big, beautiful house about half a block from the beach. It has all sorts of amenities: a hot tub, flat screen tv's in every bedroom, two big screen tvs, a huge dining area, an arcade machine, a pool table, a couple of video game consoles, beach toys, a partial ocean view... it was a great place. Both of the kids loved the beach and playing in the tide pool. Levi learned a new word: "ocean" and says it in the most adorable way. He also refers to the ocean as "the big woker (pronounced wok-er)" a.k.a. the big water. Every day we went down to the beach and played in the sand, flew kites, went for walks, collected sea shells, and even braved the deathly cold water. One of the best parts of this trip was how well Brinley slept. We put her in a big ol' walk-in closet and she slept soooo well. Since then, we have gotten black-out curtains for her room, and she has been sleeping loads better!

Hundreds of pictures were taken on this trip, and there's no way I can post even a fraction of them. So I decided instead to just pick out a select few to share with you all. If you ever have a chance to take a trip to the Oregon Coast--DO IT! The house we stayed in is called "Drift Away" and I highly recommend it.

Classic Oregon Coast beach attire: shorts and a hoodie :D

We made a trip to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. There were lots of cool fish, and this shark tunnel was a big hit--especially since Levi had been watching a lot of Shark Tale.

Here is the AWESOME house we stayed in. Sam took pictures of every room, so if you are really interested I can hook you up with detailed pictures.

Oh! The sunsets! B-E-A-Utiful!

We also hit the outlet malls. This is my younger brother, Ben, sporting an awesome hat and glasses. Crazy kid.

Daddy keeping Brinley warm.

Our little family, walking in the surf. Oh man... I wish I could go back right now!

My cutie-potootie parents!
We have a long standing, and very true, joke in our family about us crazy full-blooded Thurgood's getting playing in cold water, while all the in-laws sit on the beach. We call them "cold-water wusses". Being at the beach changed nothing. Above are my dad, me, and my 5 siblings after we had played for way too long in the extremely cold water. It was so much crazy fun... memories that will last forever. I love my siblings!!!
This picture pays tribute to everyone who braved the cold water (I believe... if I'm wrong, please correct me.) The three additions are Bronson (Amber's), Madi (Amber's), and Savannah (Jared's).
Miss Brinley LOVED the sand and water. We had to keep grabbing her before she plunged into too deep of water.
Levi also had a blast playing in the sand. He wasn't too into the water, though. This was both of our kids first trips to the ocean.

Seriously, this trip was so much fun. A small post just cannot do it justice. I hope we will go back very, very soon. Being near the ocean just made me feel so relaxed and happy. The cold weather and cold water did not matter in the least. Just hearing the waves crash and feeling the salt air made my heart happy.