This year's family trip was spent at Seaside, Oregon.  We had a great time.  The kids LOVED the beach, the cousins, the pool at the resort...everything!  We had a great time as well...thanks Mom and Dad!  Picture taking was sporadic and blurry at times, but for our record, here are some of the better ones.

Westin and Jade could spend all day at the beach and this year Jade loved the water and looked so happy running around in it.  It was so fun to watch.  Westin loves to dig around in the sand and I love how focused he can be on his sand play.

One of the days we drove up to Astoria, where we took the group picture at the top, and went to the Astoria Column.

It was the best watching the cousins play together!!!

Benson did pretty well.  He was intrigued by all the activity.

The crabbing trip.  They had a good time, and we all ate some tasty Dungeness crab.

 Benson got some great time with Aunt Andrea.  Wes and I even got to swim with the kids at the pool, while he played with Andrea.  Thanks Andrea!!!

 Grandpa and Benson

 Growing fast...we love this little guy!!!

 Mid July, Wes hiked Mt Williamson with his boss and some others.  It has an elevation of 14,389 feet...6th highest peak in the contiguous US.  He said it was hard and painful.  He had stomach pains and he should have brought a proper pack for the hike.  The pack worked against him since it protruded out a ton.  of course you want your pack and gear as close to your body as possible, laying parallel to your body, not perpendicular.  A blurb from the internet, "The most common way to climb Williamson is via the standard Class 3 West Face route. The climb itself is not overly difficult, but getting to the base of the climb is a different matter altogether. The most common approach involves an 11 mile hike to 12,040’ Shepherd Pass, followed by an arduous traverse of the glacially carved Williamson Bowl. The Williamson Bowl area may look fairly flat on your topo, but it has lots of small ups and downs. You have to weave around lakes and climb up and over many large boulder-strewn hills just to get to the base of the route.   It is important to note that hiking the trail to Shepherd Pass (12,040 ft) is not a casual outing! The trailhead is only at 6,299 ft! In addition, the people who built the trail must have been on crack because parts of it have switchbacks that gain about 3 ft in 100 yds, and at one point it descends almost 1000 ft when it should be going up!"
They hiked two days, and he appreciated the adventure.