Sunday, August 17, 2014

Family Trip to Cannon Beach

Last week we took a family vacation to Cannon Beach, Oregon. The Hansen family has been vacationing in Cannon Beach for generations, so I was very excited for my first official Hansen family Cannon Beach trip. Cannon Beach is home to the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center, which hosts conferences almost year-round. Summer is when the family camps happen, which is what we were participating in. The conference center does a wonderful job putting together an exceptional week, including great food, abundant (and free!!!!) childcare, great preaching, and endless family time.
Packed the Jeep to the BRIM! But, we did end up using everything we brought,
except for the beach chairs. I'd say that's a packing success!

We did a caravan to CB from Seattle with Kyle's parents and his sister's family.
We stopped for lunch along the way...
And once more before crossing the Colombia River.
First morning breakfast in Cannon Beach. That's Drew wandering off in the background!
He just darts off now, without a care in the world...sigh... 
On our way to the beach! The beach is one block away from camp.
Drew, with Haystack Rock in the background.
Gorgeous!
Some of the nights we'd meet up at the Coach House after the evening service.
Papa Peter sharing his rootbeer float with the boys.
One of the nights we signed up for the free in-room babysitting service!
Heather, Adam, Kyle, and I enjoyed some late night drinks and snacks,
and then had the town to ourselves walking home!
Midweek the weather turned crummy, so we piled the kids in the car and headed to the
Tillamook Cheese Factory. Now that we've been, I can't say that we'll go
again - but the free cheese samples were enough to make it worth the drive.
Drew didn't quite understand the concept...
Some of the afternoons additional childcare is offered (did I mention it's FREE?!),
so we would check Drew in and then enjoy an afternoon date in town
("town" is one block over from the conference center grounds).
The picture above is Kyle picking out his haul from Bruce's Candy Kitchen!
Then we just sat and people watched for a while...
Kyle got to ring the bell for dinner one night; he was pretty amped about that.
Breakfast and dinners are provided for all family campers, and the food was
always yummy. At dinner, the food is brought out to you at your table, and they
clean up everything after you. Pretty great!
More fun at the beach!
This wagon saved us from having to carry Drew everywhere (or chase
him as he runs away).
Drew loved having a whole week to spend with his dad!
And it was really fun for all the cousins to get to play together!

But mostly, Drew just followed Kyle around everywhere. 



On our last morning, Kyle and I checked Drew into the nursery,
but then we skipped morning service and went on a morning
date walk down to Haystack Rock.

At the rock!
The cousins got in lots of play time together - such cuties!
Lots of wagon rides...
Drew's first visit to Pizza a Fetta!
One of the days the conference center hosted a big carnival for the kids.
Drew loved (LOVED!) the obstacle course. They tried to tell me he was too small
for it, but once they agree to let me go with him they saw that he was indeed
NOT too small for it. He may be small, but he's strong - and FULL of energy!
Playing in the ball pit.
Our room situation was a little funky because we booked late in the year.
We weren't able to get a family room (which has a bunk bed room inside the main
room for kids to sleep), so we had to put Drew in our bathroom to sleep. It actually
worked great for him (he slept perfectly the entire trip - thank you Baby Wise method!!!),
but it meant long trips down the hall to the community bathroom for us. (Oh - and he
hates it when you put him in the pack n play for play time. This kid hates being confined!)
Family pic at the beach. That's the best shot we could get; Drew refused to stop playing in the sand!
We can't really blame him though :-)
Cannon Beach is a really neat town, and the Conference Center does such a wonderful job making families feel relaxed and taken care of. The preaching at the morning and evening services was wonderful; it's so nice to get to hear from other great pastors from time to time. We had a wonderful week, and I already can't wait to go back next year! 

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