For the second week of their break we packed up the kids and the dogs and headed to the Oregon Coast! On our way out we stopped at the Tillamook Forest Center for a fun 2-mile hike along the river. We had intended to stop in and check out their highly recommended exhibits, but we got back from our hike just as they closed. Next time!

We rented this great house in Rockaway and it had tons of room, a dog door with backyard, laundry, beach access, and a lovely ocean view:

We spent a day out at Oswald West State Park. I had lots of memories to share, as this was one of my favorite childhood beaches and we camped here many times. (The campground was closed in 2009, but the beach is still great.)  Ben and I had also hiked through here with Meg in 2010 and had fun memories to share.

Of course we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

It turns out my brother Kevin and his family were staying in a beach house a couple towns over, so my parents and my brother Sam and his wife Grace all came out to spend the day with us.  We spent the morning out at the incredible Oceanside Beach State Park:

Everyone broke for lunch and in the early afternoon we all met up at our house and spent several hours out at “our” beach. There were crowds way in the distance in both directions, but our section of beach was secluded!

We spent a morning at the Garibaldi Maritime Museum; building ships and buckets, playing dress-up, and learning about all things nautical.

Our final adventure was a trip on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad!

It was a packed week, but we all had a great time.  The weather was perfect and getting to see my family was an awesome surprise!