Coast weekend

Just got back from another weekend at the coast with the whole (Portland) fam-damily. My mother-in-law found a big, comfy house in Arch Cape for us to rent for the weekend. We had a wonderful time at the beach and a wonderful time together as a family. But what was the best part about this big, comfy house? Keep reading to find out!

But first: the Clam Report. We still don't know how to dig for razor clams. What was more annoying this time around was how everyone else on the beach had already "limited," which is clamming talk for...reaching the limit of clams you can dig. Stupid smug probably native Oregonians. But watch out. Back at the house, we researched how to find them on Youtube, and now we are pretty sure we are going to regulate on some clams next chance we get.

We did all earn our tidepooling badges, however! When I was a little girl I grew up learning about all sorts of Arkansas fauna, like water moccasins and armadillos. Anneke gets to run her fingers over sea anemones and starfish. I want to do what I can to make sure she's not squeamish about all of these amazing critters and creepy-crawlies. A tidepool would have seemed like a dream come true when I was little. It still does.

There was much gluttony, including mounds of my mother-in-law's wonderful sausage rolles and the 2010 cake #3 (counting the pecan pie): The Scarlet Empress, a la Rose Levy Berenbaum. Technically, it's a charlotte. It was in honor of Dave's birthday.

And the best part about the house? A SECRET TUNNEL TO THE BEACH! We were all musing that the only drawback to the house was the distance to the beach, up a hill and across the highway. Then a neighbor clued us in to The Tunnel, down a little trail at the bottom of the hill. It felt very James Bond/The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.