It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. ~C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses
I couldn’t get this quote out of my head on our recent day trip to the Oregon coast–especially as I watched Brynn playing in the sand.
The beach was beautifully deserted, so it felt like our private beach. 
Silas was shockingly brave as he ran headlong into the frigid waves. I joined him and couldn’t believe how game he was!
Cooper loved the sand at the beach, and we buried each others’ legs in the sand. Stephen and the boys walked along the shore looking at the sea creatures, rocks, shells, and drift wood. 
Both boys picked a shell to take home, and you would have thought it was buried pirate treasure the way they treated those shells. I even saw Silas lovingly kiss his broken shell.
We had driven over to the Tillamook cheese factory that morning where we sampled the deliciously creamy cheeses, ate lunch at the cafe, and watch the cheese-making and packaging process from the viewing windows up above the factory floor. Of course, we finished off the experience with some ice cream!
As we drove through the farmlands of Tillamook, I noticed how many houses, barns, and buildings were blue. While living in the Phoenix, blue was the color most absent and most discordant with the desert. There were no blue birds, blue flowers, or blue water in our life in Goodyear. But, here in Oregon, blue is a natural outflowing of the surrounding climate.
After our beach visit, we drove along the ocean’s coast to Cape Meares lighthouse. 
The lighthouse wasn’t tall, but it sat atop a steep cliff overlooking the sea peppered with sea stacks. 
Our drive took us north to Cannon Beach, and then through the rainforest back home to Beaverton.
It’s unbelievable that this green and blue state is now our home.