My kind of paradise...

When Amy I were first married we were fortunate to get to go on a family vacation to Hawaii. It was a so much fun. The days consisted mostly (entirely) of sitting on the beach and reading. I think I read 8 books in 5 days. It was paradise. I had never been there before, and I was astonished as we drove around  the island at how beautiful and amazing it was. The vistas were so spectacular they were almost unreal. It was like living in a postcard.

A couple of weeks ago Amy and I went with her family to stay in a beach house in Arch Cape, Oregon on the Oregon coast. It was that same kind of beautiful. The beach was enormous and gray and surrounded by pine trees wrapped in mist. (Much like my bald head.)

It was gorgeous. Not in the same way that Hawaii was, but in a much more me sort of way. I'm sure you haven't noticed, but I'm not really a beach body guy. So a cold, windy, gray beach is much more my style. 

Because Oregon is the most beautiful place on earth, this was the path that you followed from our beach house to the beach.

Really? Isn't it charming?

We spent a lot of time sitting around the beach house playing games, and a lot of time eating the best sugar cookies on earth from a little bakery we discovered, and a lot of time playing on the beach. The beach was beautiful and horrifying. The waves would be at your ankles one second and at your waist the next. So we spent a lot of time trying to keep the kids alive. 

Lila was in heaven. As soon as you let her go, she would run towards the ocean until you plucked her out of the ocean. 

Jonah liked the beach because it allowed him to start a new "nature collection." He likes to do that when we are out and about. This nature collection was of some weird snot looking things that were all over the beach. Really, what the heck is that thing? He had a whole big handful of them. It was charming/disgusting.

Amy and I decided that we officially are retiring here. See those little white and brown houses on the ocean? We want to buy one and live out our old age there. Actually, I want to buy a house a few miles north, right next to that bakery. For reals, they had these pecan praline cookies that made me see the face of Heaven. 

Noel, surprisingly, liked it too. Usually at the beach he spends most of the time complaining about the sand, and the water, and the wind, and the air, and the light and the everything that isn't a Wii. But he really got into it.

Check out my killer photog skills. I call this one "Reflections of a Yellow Bucket."

It was fun to see cousins and aunts and uncles. Amy was amazing and planned the whole thing, including planning and prepping all the meals. It ruled. Nothing like just showing up for vacation with everything planned. She is truly the greatest. See more photos here. 

It was the perfect 4 days. And the best part is, the bakery is only like 10 minutes from one of my stores. Next time I am there I think I need to stop and get some of their Tillamook Cheese biscuits. Hold me.