Hug Point beach day

The kids and I went to Hug Point, just south of Cannon Beach, for a fun day of adventure with friends. Liesl brought Arianna, her primary friend during Covid. Seb brought Kelan, a friend from soccer and basketball and school. Everyone was delighted and happy to escape from home and have a whole day together playing and laughing and running around. The boys played a mammoth game of Uno on the drive out, with new rules (the sandwich, the Keloreo, the multiple draws, the swap hands) that kept the game going for 45 minutes of laughter.

It was a little cloudy and grey when we arrived, but not terribly windy or cold, so in the true spirit of Oregon children they were all soon running around in tshirts and shorts. It became increasingly sunny over the course of the day, which was welcome as the girls jumped into the ocean. We set up camp in the cover of this cove, which was terrific for climbing.

The girls dug holes and filled them with water; they explored the tide pools; they played in the water. They giggled a lot and chattered about so many things.

Liesl is a tiny speck way up this rock.

Jasper ran and fetched and played in the waves and followed the children everywhere, so happy to be out.

Beach baseball! Boys vs. girls, with Jasper as the wild-card fielder -- he'll run and get the ball after a hit, but will he bring it back or go jump in the ocean? It was really fun -- the girls were terrific sports, and the boys very patient.

Ocean time! I was so glad that Arianna, like Liesl, was not afraid to jump in the waves and get a little cold and wet. I'm always a terrible wimp and can't keep her company very long.

The boys played sports all day - football, frisbee, throwing a ball against the cliff and diving to catch it, bocce ... they also climbed a rock structure, which was pretty tall but had good stairlike holds.

Liesl finally got too cold to play in the ocean, so she wrapped herself under this blanket. She was eating apples under there, which accounts for Jasper's fascination. And the boys buried each other and then super-manned it out.

And then it was 3, and time to head home, tired, sandy, hungry, but so happy. We ate snacks, we played 20 questions (acid; magma; Taj Mahal; Tesla; sleepover; aglet).