Donaldson Crew Adventures

Presidents’ Day weekend 2024.  Abbie had a cheer competition in Seaside so we decided to make a mini vacation out of the event!  

We arrived Friday and watched the goonies with the kids  Saturday we explored around the Astoria area to see some of the famous scenes from the movie.

We did some great hikes and walks along the coast. Here is deadman’s cove across the border in Washington.

 Ecola state park near cannon beach 

Seaside promenade & Seaside town

Cannon Beach - exploring the town (favorite place) 

Haystack rock beach

Wreck of the Peter Iredale (fort Steven’s state Park)

Abbie’s competition

Our place (through Vacasa). Really liked it. 1 block off the beach in Seaside.

Hunter's end of year middle school trip was to the Oregon coast this year.  As with last years trip to Boise, I volunteered as part of the chaperone/driving squad.   It was a fun trip with great weather on the first day and decent weather the second two.  The kids got to go in the ocean, visit a marine science center, take a boat around Newport Harbor to see the sea life, ride an old railway line with peddle based systems and sand-board on some sand dunes.  Great group bonding for grades 5-8.  Here are a few pics and a video of hunter on the sand-board. 

It was just an ordinary Wednesday and I was running around getting things done before the kids got home from school. I was just pulling into the car wash and got a text with a picture of my whole family on a plane and the text said, "Surprise, we are coming for your birthday!" I was so over the moon excited that I could hardly stand it. It was one of those moments I will never forget. I had no idea they would come to celebrate my birthday. I felt so incredibly loved. I am one blessed woman! So grateful to call them mine.

The video captures the fun time we had together in Depoe Bay. 

Our family drove down and spend the week of thanks giving in sunny, warm California.   The weather was spectacular which made for some great times at the beach.  We also spend two days at Disneyland and California Adventure.  First time for the boys!  All in all a great week, and nice to spend it with family.

If you cannot see the video above click here. 

Over the last couple days we have had some stormed with some amazing clouds before and after.  Here is a shot yesterday afternoon from our patio.  

The storm passed through overnight with some heavy rain and thunder but was gone by the morning.  Today swim classes started back up again for the kids so we were down at Atlantic College and got some nice shots by the castle and water.

After Oxwich, the weather started to clear late morning and with the low tide hitting about mid afternoon, I wanted to take the boys to beautiful village of Rhossoli and see if we could hike across to Worms Head.  Worms head is a tiny spine of rock that hangs off the Western tip of the Gower, and you can only cross over to it at low tide when a rocky land-bridge is exposed.   Historically 'Wurm' is another word for dragon and the rocky outcrop is called this due to its resemblance to a sea serpent.  

 Worms Head off in the distance and waiting for the tide to recede before making the crossing

This past weekend I took Hunter and Noah camping on the Gower Peninsula of South Wales.    The Gower is a beautiful are with amazing beaches.  People come from all over to stay there.  The site I booked was a place I tried to get to last year but was full.  It is called Three Cliffs Bay Campground.  In 2006 the Independent ranked it the best campsite view in the world.  Its definitely must be up there for sure.  

View from the Campsite and our setup

Hiking and playing at the beach and nearby Pennard Castle 

Beach Day and climbing up to the highest of the 3 cliffs

I just got back from the US and Kelly and I wanted to go on a date night - just something simple so we decided to go for a walk down at Southerndown.  I chilled a bottle of wine and grabbed the beach blanket and off we went.

With the amazing weather we are having, I took Friday off and we decided to pull the kids out of school since there is only a week left anyhow until the summer break anyhow.  We decided to take a day trip to west wales in Pembrokshire to a place called Barafundle Bay after a recommendation from an office mate.  The reviews were good too!  According to wikipedia, It was ranked as one of the top 12 beaches in the world in 2004, the good holiday guide ranked it as the best beach in Britain, and in 2006 it was rated as the best spot in the UK for a picnic by Country Life magazine.  Plus its a little out of the way to find, and requires about a 15 minute walk along a coastal path to get to it which keeps the hordes away.  

The walk from the car park to the beach - beautiful:

Fun at the beach:

Some strange fog was resistance to burning off today but it was still a fun day at Southerndown. You can see the strange mist in the background of some of the shots.  Also take note of our 'sand art' and Abbie's practice shot for swimsuit modelling.  Hunter and I actually went out and braved the waves and cool water today - there were some good rollers coming in and I was trying to teach Hunter how to body surf.