Fort Stevens

One Saturday in October, when we were still having beautiful, warmer weather, we decided to head to the coast to enjoy it at least once before the colder weather came and we would have to wait until Spring.

After a little consideration, we decided to head to Fort Stevens in Oregon.

I hadn't been there since I was a teenager and no one else had ever been there, so it was super fun to go as a family.

We stopped at one of the batteries first, where the boys had a great time exploring the old barracks and seeing where the huge guns fit into the battery as well as running all over and having their own pretend war. Basically a little boys dream play place!

Then we headed out to the beach to see the ship ruins and play in the sand!

The boys wasted no time heading out to check out the ship wreck. I had brought shorts, etc for them, but they were in too big of a hurry to change, so rolling up the pants/getting soaked and planning on using the extra clothes they are sure mom packed for them worked just all well for them! :)

A year ago when we were at the beach Clark would have needed quiet a while to warm up to the idea before considering running in the waves, but now he just runs straight in...so you can see he has come a long way with water this summer! :)

And he had so much fun playing and exploring the ship wreck. He could have stayed there all day. (Logan was right there with him for a little bit, but it was freezing...the water and the wind...so Logan quickly went for wind protection where Mom had camped out and just played in the sand). The mean parents eventually made Clark leave the water too, but he sure enjoyed it while he could

We spent a few hours playing in the sand, though I have to pictures of that because it was too windy to have the camera out by the sand and I was also too busy trying to make sure Aubrie stayed on the blanket not touching any sand (remember sand=devil in her mind) and out of the wind to avoid as many meltdowns as possible with her while the boys enjoyed every second. Aubrie actually did really well after she realized that no sand was touching her if she stayed on the blanket and then she could eat her snack in peace....still not saying she enjoyed the beach, but she tolerated much better then mom had feared! :)

 

We had planned to actually go to Fort Stevens after the beach and see the museum and the Clark battery (the must on Clark's list after he saw it on the map), but we didn't know it closed at 4pm and we didn't get there until 4:20pm. To say we had some disappointed boys would be an understatement, especially since we got them off the beach with the promise of going to the fort next, but with a big promise that we would come again a different time and do the fort first and then a pizza dinner seem to smooth things over. Though Clark still reminds us often that we need to go back when the weather is nice again, so I am sure we'll be back soon!

Plus, we always love fun days as a family so it will be another one to look forward to in the spring! :)