Our day...

Yesterday, we went to the coast after church.  It was supposed to be really warm and sunny in Eugene, so we thought the coast would be the same - and it was.  We tried a new beach, which was great - although a little too windy for us!  It was a wonderful family day, and the kids loved going to the beach to play with the sand.  The sand constantly amazes me at how much entertainment it can provide for a child over and over again!  Below are some of the pictures that I captured of our time on the beach.  Enjoy!

Molly in her cute pink hat.  The scrap on her nose if from a rocking chair incident.  Shortly after this we were walking back to the car and she fell on some rather sharp rocks and blood flowed thereafter.  Right now, she looks as though she has had a rough week.  Her legs are bruised and scraped from yard work, and now she has TWO "owies" on her face.  We are definitely not taking any portraits this week!
Jack LOVED the water and the rocks.  He would stand in a spot and let the water go out and he would sink into the sand.  It was fun to watch his curiosity take over and have no fear.  At one point, Molly was about to go under and she was little scared but big brother was there to life her out.  It was good to see his helping side, and to hear afterward how proud he was of himself for "saving" Molly (by the way, she was in no real danger in case you were thinking we were being bad parents).
The three Parkers who were willing to brave the way too cold water.  They liked the water and were not aware of how cold it was until they came out!
Jack posing for me to take a picture.  He was helping Kyle build the sandcastle.  He recently got this new hat, which we do not know what the letters stand for, and promptly decided that it would become his "work" hat like his dad has one.
Hard at work on the sandcastle.  It was pretty good one.  Kyle worked the hardest on it, of course, but the camera lost its battery and Jack knocked it down before I could get a finished picture of it.  So...it will live only in our minds.
A little team effort on the castle!

After the beach, we were going to visit another beach where the wind was a little less intense but we happened upon the Coast Guard station instead.  If you know Kyle at all, we had to see about a tour.  We were able to go on the two boats they have docked there.  The guy that gave us a tour was great.  The kids got to climb all around the boats, and Kyle got the low down on how fast, what kinds of waves it can take, and the fact that one can roll and roll and still float onward.  It was pretty cool, and I am glad that Kyle talked me into stopping!  Then we stayed in Florence for dinner, and then headed home.  It was a wonderful day for our family.  We often don't do fun things like this without a LOT planning, so this was a great memory for us.