Beachside State Park
Oregon Coast

We have arrived at the beach.  But we are having just a weensy bit different experience from the traditional Arkansan’s week at the beach.  It is not just that we are camping.  Taido said to me yesterday out of the blue, We are full on camping for three months.  You know at first I thought that we were sort of cheating when we got the pop up camper, but now I don’t really think so.  Full. On. Camping. I was experiencing some rough moments of re-entry from what may have been the best three days of my entire summer, about which I am writing, but it is going to take some time to do it justice.  But needless to say, I am getting back into the swing of life in the pop up, which includes searching every tub in the van for the peanut butter because in three days, my family managed to rearrange everything.  Oh, and the lighter is covered in sticky marshmallow goo.  But the primary difference between say, Destin and the Oregon Coast is that the sun is like permanently on vacation up here. Which means that it is freezing.  I don’t really know exactly what the temperatures are, but let me paint the picture for you.  I am sitting on the beach in my crazy creek in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweater, a jacket, a wool hat, wool socks and hiking boots, while my oldest son is wearing a swim suit and a t shirt playing in the waves.  All day I am thinking, surely he is going to die of hypothermia.  Or something.  I mean, I am considering heading back to camp and adding long johns under my jeans.  That’s how cold I am.  Mary Polly and Ben were somewhere in between.  Rolling up their pants to feel the freezing cold ocean water on their feet and rolling in the sand like puppies.  Simon never ventured to get wet, but was as ecstatic about the sand as the others.  So here’s my conclusion.  Kids love the beach. They trip out over a giant sandbox and rolling waves so much that they don’t care that it’s not warm.  Ben’s take: Hey, we don’t have to worry about sunscreen!

So this is our beach week.  Taido is loving the cooler weather.  He was done with the desert heat.  And someone told me that it is like 101 degrees in Arkansas so we need to be thankful for our gloriously cool days.  I am thankful.  I am just going to have to put some more clothes on.