Year 11 (But day 10)

One more night of sleeping with sounds of the ocean; tomorrow, the ocean will be replaced by the Bagachiel River in Washington. Will and Ethan started the morning off with a run down the promenade. Will said Ethan ran for a full 25 minutes - not bad! When they got back, I walked to Main St. I can't run, but my back was so stiff, I needed to move around. I also was in search of chocolate cake. Will and I have a tradition of having chocolate cake on our anniversary. Today is 11 years for us, so I wanted to find some good cake. I stopped in a coffee shop, where I got an amazing latte, and looked for cake there. Only brownies, so I kept searching. Unfortunately, I never found a bakery. No cake for us... :(

Today was gorgeous in Seaside, sunnier than expected even, so a great day to hit the beach. Still cool down by the water, but the sun was so nice, I read on the beach for several hours.  I even got warm (and brave) enough to take a quick dip in the ocean. It was cold, but I have always loved being in the ocean, letting the waves hit. Admittedly, though, I didn't go past my waste because I knew the breeze would make me too cold when I got out. The kids built volcanos and constructed a chocolate cake for our anniversary since I couldn't find one. 

By 3:30, the kids had seemingly attracted half of the beach sand onto (and into) their bodies. We couldn't even reapply sunblock, so we decided to have them hit the showers. All I can say is, two baths later (she had to go back in when I noticed more sand as she got dressed), I sure hope the pipes don't burst here until after the next guests stay here so we are not liable. 

Once the kids were squeaky clean, Will left for the laundromat. We have not had a place with a washer/dryer yet, so our pile of dirty clothes was pretty big. I'm in the best shape because I packed way more clothes than anyone.  Alternatively, Will is wearing one of 3 shirts in every picture on this trip. :) While he was gone, the kids watched the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie so I could shower and get ready for our "date." 

We left for downtown when Will got back and had dinner at Norma's, a local place for seafood. It gets a lot of good write-ups, but, honestly, neither Will nor I was impressed. My meal came with clam chowder, which was very good, but the locally sourced, lightly breaded sole I ordered was greasy and under-seasoned. I know I sound like a food critic always, but I am really not all that picky. I think our expectations were higher. Will felt the same about his halibut. Ok, but nothing fantastic. My rice pilaf was good, though Will and I joked that it was probably some MSG filled rice-a-roni.

Our original plan for after dinner was to make a fire on the beach and do s'mores during sunset. But when we saw how sandy the kids got, the idea of lugging wood out to the beach, fighting with the wind to get it lit, and then trying to keep the kids from rolling around in the sand sounded like more trouble than it was worth. So it was back to the condo to wrestle them to bed. 

We go to our third (and final) state of this trip tomorrow. One week to explore Olympic National Park, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier. Looking forward to this last leg of the trip, but sad to leave this coast. We will still be near the coast for the next several days, though, as Forks is not too far inland. I imagine we will visit at least one beach in the area. So much to do and see!