16th Birthday Bash at Cannon Beach

We had a crazy fun girls weekend for Bailey's 16th birthday. We loaded up five of her friends into our van and drove two hours to the ocean where I had booked a suite at a little hotel in Cannon Beach. We enjoyed a fun Friday night/Saturday in charming Cannon Beach (first time I had been there). 

The car was positively rockin' with teenage tunes the entire way there and back. There was definitely a preponderance of Taylor Swift and One Direction songs. It was really fun!



After we checked into our cute hotel (so small that the owners left a welcome note with our key on the counter in the office) we relaxed for a bit and then opened gifts.

We checked with the hotel owner for ideas for dinner and he recommended we walk down to the town hall where an all  you can eat spaghetti feast was going on. We were able to fill up on all the pasta and french bread we could eat for $5 each! We ate outside on the park benches.

Then we went for a walk along the beach, watching the sun go down.

 I just have to say that these are delightful young women. It was so much fun to spend time with them.

After the sun went down we went back to our rooms and began an all night adventure of junk food, music, and talking. We had two bedrooms and two pull out couches in the main room. All 6 girls decided to sleep on the very uncomfortable pull-out beds rather than separating and using the comfortable bed in the second bedroom. Silly girls!  

I drifted off to sleep at about midnight and awakened at about 1 a.m. to the sound of elephants clomping through the kitchen.  I stumbled out and saw all six girls dancing around to music in the kitchen, filming the dance with Bailey's camera.  I was so tired I could hardly spit out words, but somehow muttered "we're on . . . second floor . . . keep someone awake . . . downstairs."  Then I became coherent enough to remember that our room was positioned over the office and atrium, and luckily we (hopefully) weren't bothering anyone. So I stumbled back to bed.

The next day we ate breakfast in the room and then walked down to the beach. We were excited to find out that we happened to be in town for the annual sandcastle contest.  Groups come from all over to build HUGE sandcastles through the day. By early afternoon the sandcastles are judged. It was fascinating to watch - the castle builders took their job very seriously and were professionals! Who knew that there were professional sandcastle builders?   We were able to walk along the beach and watch the castles begin to be built.

We left the beach and spend the next few hours walking through the very cute downtown of Cannon Beach. We took pictures, ate lunch













and found a candy shop with oodles of saltwater taffy and some of the best fudge I've had in awhile (almost as good as BYU fudge and Fuddy Duddy fudge in Depoe Bay). Oh yum - I unfortunately ate 1 1/2 lbs, and then repented for it the rest of the summer at the gym. Totally worth it!

We returned to the beach and the girls tried to do beachy things like lay out in the sun and play in the water. Except the ocean in Oregon is never warm, not even in the summer! The girls were freezing but happy.

 We checked out the finished versions of the sandcastles. They were amazing!!

And then it was back to the room to clean up, pack up, and drive home. I think Bailey had a good time and it was a delight to spend the time with her and her friends.