Cannon Beach Vacation

cannon-beach-vacationWe just got back from our first beach vacation as a family, a Cannon Beach vacation! I loved the wide sandy seashores with the waves crashing against the sand. The iconic triangular Haystack Rock looks beautiful in the mornings covered with mist.

cannon-beach-cottageThis was our temporary cottage, two blocks from the beach. It was a miracle how we were able to book this on such short notice. It was as if God reserved this place just for us. It reminds me of the times I went to Panajachel as a kid (as a missionary kid in Guatemala). We would play games and look at the water and be disconnected from electronics.

cannon-beachI woke up each morning and had coffee on the front porch while spending time in prayer. The porch faced a couple of cottages with flowers. There was a huge tree in the yard across the street, and I would see blue jays, goldfinches, and hummingbirds as I sat in prayer before the Lord.

cannon-beach-2My kids always woke up earlier than I did. My husband sometimes couldn’t sleep, so he would sleep in the latest. One night he got up and walked along the beach. He stumbled upon gorgeous tide pools with gigantic star fish at 3 in the morning. I’ll talk about the tide pools in a separate blog post, since we took lots of pictures.

cannon-beach-3My kids would play games, make a puzzle, or build card houses while they waited for Alan and I to wake up. Then we would go to the beach, where we dug a huge hole, built forts, and flew a kite. I enjoyed sitting and reading a book about spiritual warfare. There was a juxtaposition between what I was reading and the peaceful ocean scene, but it gave me new insight to understand many events from the past few months. Spiritual warfare is all about fighting deception. It’s interesting how it all boils down to that.

building-card-housesThe kids buried themselves in the sand. I’m not sure why anybody would want to do that, but here they are. When we walked down the beach to look at tide pools one afternoon, we saw lots of sand castles, which I will post in another blog post. Apparently Cannon Beach has an annual sand castle contest in June, and the sand castles are even more detailed.

covered-in-sand

One afternoon we hiked through a rainforest and saw some beautiful scenery. I’ll do a separate blog post on that, since we got so many great pictures of the rainforest and the beach from above. (The three ocean pictures above were taken from the vantage point of the rainforest, where you have to climb part of a mountain.)

We found lots of jellyfish. This was the largest one we saw, about the size of two hands. We also collected sea shells and small rocks, and I might make a collage out of them and post it on my blog later.

jellyfish

The kids were wanting to play games, so here we are playing Settlers of Catan. The game went on much longer than it should have because of all the sheep jokes.

playing-gamesThe sunsets on the beach were beautiful. On a couple of the nights, Alan built a fire on the beach. You are allowed to do that, as long as you follow the rules. We dug a small hole in the sand and built our fire.

sunset-at-cannon-beachWe ate some s’mores with marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. We looked out over the ocean that reminded me of the majesty of God.

fire-in-firepitI sang some hymns to the Lord while the kids giggled and chewed on their s’mores. This was truly a vacation to remember!

firepit-at-cannon-beach

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12 Responses to “Cannon Beach Vacation”

  1. Wow, looks like a lovely trip! Hummingbirds are one of my favorites. 🙂 And the jellyfish! Eek! We were at Monterrey Bay Aquarium when they had their jellyfish exhibit, and it was amazing. Such fascinating, foreign creatures!

    • Susan says:

      I love seeing all the different sea creatures, especially if they are still in the ocean! Sea creatures have always been fascinating to me.

  2. Anna says:

    Looks like your family had a fabulous vacation. I’ve only been to Cannon Beach once, but it was foggy and overcast the day we drove by. One of these days, when we go to Portland (we’re from Southern California) to see my brother’s family, we need to head to the coast and stay a couple of days.

  3. Beth Jones says:

    Susan, this sounds so incredible. Your pics are beautiful – did you take this with your phone or a camera? I’ve been craving to go to the beach this summer. This looks like an amazing place to go and how awesome that God seemed to reserve the cottage just for your family! Can’t wait to hear more and see other pics!

    • Susan says:

      We took these pictures with a camera. The pictures come out way better than the ones you can take from a phone. Cannon Beach was definitely an amazing place to go!

  4. Eva Varga says:

    What a wonderful holiday excursion! Believe it or not, though I am native to Oregon, I don’t believe I have ever been to Cannon Beach. We always gravitate to southern Oregon beaches. 🙂

  5. April says:

    What a big Jellyfish!! I always enjoy it when we are able to rent a cabin, or cottage of some type, especially when it’s a beach vacation! There seems to be a much more relaxing feel to the trip!

  6. Lauren says:

    Looks like a beautiful little vacation!

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