Summer's last light jacket

The beginning of September was full of last minute swims and wearing tights to church when it was seasonably inappropriate. All seemed well and good until my coconut oil abruptly changed states from a liquid to a solid. And a million inches of rain fell. I'm glad we took the last possible opportunity to go camping on the coast a week after labor day. The weather was perfect, which was good because after our last soggy camping trip I was skeptical (it was a while ago). Our family has outgrown our four man tent in the time since, but luckily we have the all wonderful minivan that Margot slept in right outside of our tent. Camping with two kids is quite the event--so much stuff to bring! But they somehow make camping magical again, getting the biggest kick out of all the hot dog roasting, marshmallows, camp chairs and sleeping bags. We stayed in Nehalem and the beach was at its best, which means for me sweatshirts and little wind. We of course slept terribly, the kids slept great (besides Theo's 5:00 wake up), but we had such a great time talking with friends next to the fire that it really didn't matter. Because the next night we would be home.

The next day the guys went crabbing in a bay nearby. Apparently the best crabbing season is October, and apparently crabbing is so easy and fun, which must be why they caught not a single crab that was big enough. We watched everyone else cook their nets full of crab while we bought one to eat. We had spent time, money, and napping hours devoted to what amounted to a lot of chum smelling. I ate my first crab heart (don't worry, it just tasted like crab) and Theo kept yelling "I'm gonna eat you!!!"  Then refused to take a bite. He took one tiny one, after a lot of coaxing.

On the way home we bought some huge chocolate chip cookies from a chocolate cafe in Cannon Beach, and what do you know? Both the kids were asleep so we had to eat them both.

*Side note: On the way there we went through Tillmook and decided to check out the other cheese factory next to the Tillamook cheese factory, because it was different and had animals. It was pretty lame, but there were those animals. Actually Margot kept touching their noses, which was a little scary and hilarious.