The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Psalm 93:4
We saw these waves that crash incessantly upon the sands. We heard the noise of the many waters. We got to see the treasures of the sea.
Last week we took the family and went to the mighty Pacific Ocean. This was a family vacation that we have been looking forward to since about February! If you remember, we did a vacation like this about 3 summers ago and our family loved it so much we decided to try and do it some more. However, it is hard to take vacations that carry us in the opposite direction of our families back east. If we go west, it invariably means we forgo taking the children back east to see their grandparents and cousins.
However, we also realize the importance of doing things together as a family and this is one of those vacations we enjoy doing together. Everyone finds something fun to do. Lowell and I mostly just love being able to disconnect from responsibilities for several days and concentrate on our precious children. Life is too short to let priorities get messed up.
This young man was all excited to use his metal detector at the beach. I’m not sure he found very much, though.
Mornings were low tide. And when we went out our first morning there, we found some little pools in the sand with creatures in them. Interesting creatures.
They wanted to see how his claws would clamp down on something – besides their finger. So they tried out a mussel they found!
He went treasure hunting the whole time we were there. And we now have shells sitting around my house.
I’m not sure if you would call these little pools “eddies”, but they were left by the way the high tide currents swept across this sand bar. Then when the water went out at low tide, it left these pools of water. The children had fun even swimming in them! They said the water was warmer there. Which is saying something since the Pacific Ocean is cold.
These days felt like a big science lesson. We found so many creatures and got to see how they worked.
The little guy that looks like he’s floating upside down at the bottom was a peculiar one – and highly fun to watch! Whatever these bugs are, the children found them by quickly digging up the wet sand as soon as a wave left. Then they would pick out this bug and set him back down on top of the sand. Immediately the bug would dive head first into the sand and disappear.
Our days were not highly scheduled. It was mentally and physically relaxing to have no schedule. We did try to get out in time to see the tide pools at low tide. But on this particular day we did some sightseeing and ended up at Yaquina Head Lighthouse.
At Yaquina Head Lighthouse, there is a cobble beach with these round stones all over it. We were there at high tide and it is one of the most beautiful musical sounds you will hear.
As the wave comes crashing in, it pushes the round stones up the shore. When the wave goes out, the stones roll back with it. It makes a sound that is hard to describe. The information board there said they call it “rock and roll music”. It is truly beautiful and mesmerizing!
While we were there, we saw several gray whales out in the ocean off of the point. As we were getting ready to leave, it began to turn even more exciting! Some dorsal fins began appearing around one of the gray whales. Killer whales! While we watched, it looked like they were circling it. I tried taking a picture, but that is hard to time when you think you see a fin way out in the deep blue sea. If you look close, I think we have both the dorsal fin of the killer whale and also the back of the gray whale in this picture!
Mommy did what she loves to do at the beach . . . and in her garden. Play in the dirt. With some lovely helpers!
Dad decided if you are going to be at the ocean only once every few years, then you need an authentic food experience.
We found a little restaurant on the bayfront in Newport and tried our taste buds out on some real seafood. Surprisingly, the children enjoyed it!
It’s the look of the place that adds the authenticity to it.
Ice cream cones on the dock.
The bin behind this punkin’ is full of ground up fish skeletons. And it stank bad. Real bad.
We burst out laughing at watching him plug his nose while trying to eat his ice cream cone! You can tell he is rather disturbed by his predicament.
We played many Dutch Blitz games. And had a blast doing it!
The next morning, we went back to the cobble beach at Yaquina Lighthouse at low tide this time. And we found some amazing tidepools filled with itty bitty crabs!
We called this one “Popeye”. He seemed to be flexing his muscles. In reality, I think he’s a porcelain crab.
We had purchased two small books to take with us to the tide pools that helped us to identify the animals and organisms we found. These were the ones we purchased and recommend:
- Pacific Intertidal Life: A Guide to Organisms of Rocky Reefs and Tide Pools of the Pacific Coast
- Fylling’s Illustrated Guide to Pacific Coast Tide Pools
The colors you see in tide pools are so pretty! All you have to do is go to the ocean to realize just how imaginative our God is.
And on one foggy day when it wasn’t much fun to sightsee, we did some indoor activities like the aquarium.
I knew I had probably taken too many pictures when I looked at the amount on my sd card: 236 pictures! There is a slight problem when trying to fit even half of them onto a blog. So we will finish these in the next post!
Until then . . .
- The Adventum CD Collection – Sale Now - March 27, 2021
- Alternative To Facebook Option - January 30, 2021
- The Beauty of the Hoary Head - January 2, 2021
Regina S says
This pictures makes me miss living near the ocean. We didn’t go as much as I would have liked because of the women wear immodest bathing suits. We live a few hours from Baja California and I think it would be fun to go there and play in the ocean.
Kendra says
Yes, this is one thing I like about the cooler temperatures along the Oregon coast: no bikinis! It honestly was so cool that I wore a sweater and sometimes a jacket over that yet!