We spent this past weekend on the Oregon coast (we came back yesterday, Monday).  We had such a wonderful time!  I forgot my camera though, so no pictures . . . I was kicking myself for that most of the trip.  Anyway, we stayed in Port Orford.  It is a very small town between Gold Beach and Bandon.  The reason we were there is that Josh is working there . . . he has been working out of town a lot lately.  We went over to visit him.  Port Orford was really nice in that there were not a lot of people there . . . so we had the beach to ourselves most of the time.  Surprisingly it has some great restaurants as well, so there was yummy things to eat!  The kids just love the beach and it was so great to see Josh.  We did lots of shell and rock collecting as well as walks on the beach.  Maisie and I made some percussion instruments out of drift wood on the beach and had fun playing them . . . not much of an audience though (Maisie kept saying we needed an audience).  We also drove to a couple of other beaches . . . it is interesting how the beaches can be so different so close . . . they each had different kinds of shells to collect etc.  We also took a tour of the Cape Blanco lighthouse.  That was interesting.  It is the oldest lighthouse in Oregon.  It is also the most westerly point in Oregon.  We had a wonderful time doing everything.  It was fun to be all together and the kids kept saying "Mom, this is a really fun trip."  They are pretty cute.  They are also at the age where they can walk wherever we are going without being carried, and can play on the beach without my input . . . I can just sit in a chair and watch. :)  Maisie is a crazy girl on the beach.  She just loves the ocean and the beach and feels no cold.  One evening we were down there and it was COLD.  I was in jeans and sweatshirt and jacket etc.  She strips off all her clothes to reveal the swimsuit she had put on underneath (always planning) and was rolling around in the water.  She insisted it was not cold.  She loves to roll in the water then roll in the sand so that she is covered . . . she says it is sandscreen (enough sand to work as sunscreen).  Cole has fun too, but is aware of the cold . . . he copies Maisie sometimes, but would never do it on his own.  He is more into just running on the beach and digging in the sand and exploring.  There were lots of tide pools to check out etc.  Oodles of fun . . .