We started our trip early in the morning, 8am. The kids are all anxious, eager to go on their first road trip. According to google, our trip to Seaside Oregon will be approximately 7 hours. It's a bit longer than I remembered but google map takes in consideration border waits and traffics. We're dividing this trip into 2 parts. I read somewhere that long ride in car can be bad for kids so we will be making a stop with 2 nights stay near Seattle on the way there and 1 night on the way back.
One hour in on the road and Bee started to ask
"Are we there yet?". I saw it on TV countless times and I really thought they are just exaggerating, but nope, they're right on point with this :-( she asked that question EVERY 3 min. After the 5th times we reminded her of her plan, that she's going "to sleep so the trip is shorter". She remembered the plan alright but said that her tummy is too excited she can't sleep !!!
I printed a map of our trip and prepped some snacks and water for the kids for the ride. When Bee wants to know where we are, I would point her to where we are on the map, and get a long reply of groans from her :-/ map was not a good idea. She's too excited, too eager and filled with so much anticipations, that she can't handle that we're no were near there ! Lovebug did us a favor and ripped up the map :)
We decided to put on the Frozen movie on the ipad (we bought an adjustable ipad holder and installed it on the back of our seat) for the girls to watch. It was meant to be played way later on in our trip but oh well. Lovebug passed out after 30 min. while Bee continued til the credits were rolling in end.
"The movie is done, are we there yet?" she asked,
"We should go somewhere closer, this is tooooooo long ! I'm a kid!!!" she whined.
Being 16 weeks pregnant, my patience is running very thin. I've been avoiding people for my sanity and for theirs :-) the kids and C are the only exceptions but they are walking on egg shells with this cranky mama ! So when Bee whined about
"Are we there yet ?" for the hundredth time, I gave her two options. I asked her if she wants me to drop her off on the side of the road or stay with us. She chose the latter and mumbled about how she does not like this trip at all, then fell asleep shortly after.
Candies and movie to keep them occupied and entertained.
FIRST STOP
So here we are, on the road in a packed car with 2 kids ! Our first stop is at Hampton Inn in Lynnwood, 15 min. from downtown Seattle. It was a good move on our part to stop here, to have a bit of break for us and the kiddos. We spent the day shopping (our hotel is next to Nordstrom Rack, great selection of shoes and bags, and we're 2 min. away from Alderwood mall) and then swimming at our hotel at night. The next day, after buffet breakfast at hotel, we explored Seattle, ate some good grubs and back at hotel in the evening for swimming again.
We continued on with our other half on the trip the day after, when we all are refreshed and full. I like the hot buffet breakfast at this hotel (we been here a few times) because they have variety of options (eggs, sausages, oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, juices, variety of baked bread and baked goodies, fresh fruits, and waffle)). When travel, we all wake up at different time so buffet breakfast works well for us :-) no stress.
Traffic on the i5 to Oregon was so bad that our estimated 3 hr drive extended close to 5 hours. Lovebug either sleep or watch Frozen or sing on the top of her lung, she's a gem ! Bee continues to whine but much much less on this ride. She seems to understand that we can't speed up any faster.
DESTINATION SEASIDE
View from the balcony of our inn
Once at Oregon, seeing miles and miles of sand meeting a wide body of water makes the drive all worth it ! We quickly checked in at the Hi-tide Inn. The only place on the promenade (walking path) that can accommodate us for the week. I actually lucked out as practically the whole town was booked. I called every other day to see if there's a cancellation and finally came across an ocean front room here and it's close to "downtown". Downtown here just a small area, with one main street, Broadway . You want to be near this area because it's where food are :) Restaurants, coffee, and grocery
shop. Price we paid for hotel was $159 USD a night, which was quite reasonable comparing to other lodging around here. If going again I would make reservation at least 2 months in advance.
The kids went nuts with the sand, as if they never seen it before. They put sand on their body, on their hair, in each other's pants, they make sand angels, they crawl on them and roll on the sand. And they did that the whole week we were there. Bee also want to go swimming every afternoon ! It's expected because I know she loves water ! hence when travel, I only book hotel with pool.
Every day, C would dig a huge pit in the sand, until it hits the water. He said it was enjoyable and relaxing for him. Each night the tides would come in and fill it and he would start a new one the next day. He also would make a walk way down for the girls and that pit would keep them entertained the whole day. Many kids came by and many dads came by to see how it's done. Some even told C that he made them look bad because their kids want them to dig one too but they're too lazy to do it.
When not playing in the pit or with the sand, the girls are chasing birds and waves. The beach water is nice and cool to play and soak our feet in, but it is the pacific ocean after all, so it's brrrrrrrr cold !!! For us whimps anyways, because many others were swimming in there. So what did I do all day here ? I sit and snack and read and play :-) I don't remember if there's wifi there but we didn't "connect".
At night it can get a bit chilly on the coast. A few nights we put on our sweats and go for a walk on the beach. We also bought some wood and lit a bond fire. It was nice being out at night, listening to the waves crashing in, watching the stars twinkling up high and being warmed by the fire. We brought snacks along to munch on. At some point we also took a bunch of long tall dry grass and lit one stick of grass at at time and try to write our initials with them in the air. The kids were entertained, watching the grass and wood burn.
Seaside is all about seafood and sweets ! Candies and ice cream shops are everywhere. We ate gelato every day. Pretty much all restaurants serves clam chowder and seafood from the steamer. Norma's and Dooger's Seafood are good and kids friendly. We frequented Pig'N Pancake for breakfast (typical breakfast fares). I couldn't eat too much seafood due to mercury intake (16 wks pregnant) so hot wings and pizza was my other stables. The kids' meal consisted mostly of popcorn shrimps, mac/cheese and chicken strips. They didn't want to try anything else except the one time they tried and finished more than half of a lobster. C and I found everything is so heavily salted in the States (except for steamed seafood). They have excellent food here but just on the salty end.
As for entertainment, there's a small aquarium, Funland games, a go-cart place and a miniature golf park ! we spent some time at Funland, playing games and collecting tickets to buy things. Someone hacked the Jurrasic Park game so we sat there and finished the whole game (over an hour of shooting). We also discovered that the Fruit Ninja game give out the most ticket so we played at that station for a long time too. All tickets were used toward the purchase of candies !!!
Mid week we went and visited Canon beach to show the girls the haystack rock (a 235-foot (72-meter) sea stack). After hanging out at the beach, we went for a stroll around the little town, bought bags of salt water taffy (they can be found everywhere), had lunch, explore the town a bit more and then headed back to Seaside for dinner. I don't think we ever spent a full day here. There's just little to do. Seaside is small too but it seems to be more vibrant in my opinion and more family/kids friendly.
If you're not a small town and beach loving person, you probably won't enjoy it here as much as we do. At 9pm the town gets pretty quiet but the beach is noisy ! I think most people are out at the beach for bond fire. C and I like small town as well as big city feel ! We both like to talk so no matter where we are we have each other for company :) if you like activities and seeing attractions then small town might put you to sleep !!! We love the ocean so we can be at the beach for a week or more and not be bored !!! As for our kids, when we're not playing with them, they are capable ofentertaining themselves. They have so much to play with here and are quite creative so we didn't have to worry about them. When not digging the pit, C and I would lay under our beach canopy and talk about all things between heaven and earth. It's just very chill and relaxing for us. I am happy just to be with my little family, with the sun above me and the waves licking the sand.
We dressed up for Sunday brunch
Jumping over waves !
C called this his man cave :D He can nap in here as it blocked out all the noises.
Jelly fish !!!
Good bye Seaside ! We'll see you again !
HOME
We didn't want to go home, we wanted to stay longer but there's no accommodation at all in this whole town. I think another day would be nice, to make it a full 7 days 7 nights there. We reluctantly pack our car and two unhappy kids for home. They really want to stay ! Oh well, sooner or later we still have to leave and the kids will pout then too. Lucky for them, they still have another place to look forward to ! A night stop over at Holiday Inn in downtown Tacoma, with swimming pool !
We got to the hotel late in the afternoon, checked in, changed, and went straight to the pool ! We woke up early the next morning for breakfast together and headed out at 9am. We wanted to do some shopping at the outlet in Tulalip before home. At this point I was ready for home. I miss my bed, my kitchen, my garden, my house.
All in all, it was a very good road trip. Bee didn't complain much on the way home, she slept most of the time, so was Love. They asked to go back Seaside again next year. I would totally do this again but not next year. Maybe when the baby can walk. I can't imagine driving this long of a distance with a new born !
