Birthdays, Beaches, Bunkers and Bumper Cars

Monday night I went to visit Mames in Vancouver for her little boys birthday. Her little boy Christopher just turned 2 and he is so adorable. Here is a picture of him opening presents.


Wednesday we took the young women from church to the beach. Originally I thought we would just be going to one beach, but Karmen, the other leader, had much bigger plans. We visited several beaches along the coast, ate lots and lots of yummy food, went to an old military site and went to Astoria where the Goonies was filmed for all you 80's movie fans.

Our small little group of YW at Ecola State Park overlooking Cannon Beach.

Cannon Beach, OR

The young women road the bumper cars a few times. I was laughing so hard at one of them because she could not get the car to go straight and she was getting hit over and over again. I think I need to start carrying a video camera around to capture these moments. Another young women, who is a bit more timid, road around the outside edge the whole time to avoid everyone else. (Doesn't that defeat the purpose of bumper cars?)

Seaside Beach, OR. The coast was chilly and it was so foggy. You could barely see the ocean. Some of the girls decided to work on building sand sculptures.

Tilt-o-Wheel. Just thinking of this ride makes we want to barf.

At Fort Steven's State Park

The fort was in operation for 84 years, beginning with the Civil War and closing at the end of World War II. It was the site that protected the Columbia River entrance. The only action this site saw was on June 21, 1942. A Japanese submarine fired in the vicinity of the fort. The Commander refused to return fire. After this, Fort Steven's became the only installment to be attacked by an enemy since the War of 1812.

Captain George Flavel House, Astoria, OR

Beautiful historic house that has been turned into a museum.

Sorry to disappoint anyone, but we did not find the Goonies's house. I did tell the girls that if we found it they would all have to get out and do the truffle shuffle, so most likely if they knew where it was they decided to keep it to themselves. Hopefully on my next trip to Astoria we'll find it.