Ocean Shores

We arrived in Ocean Shores fairly late, so we ended up just heading straight to the hotel, unpacking, and settling in for the night.  We had a partial view of the ocean, not as impressive as our view in Newport, but it was still beautiful and fun to see the beach!

The partial view from
our hotel room

The next day we headed out to explore Ocean Shores.  I have to say, there's not much that's kid-friendly in February in Ocean Shores.  We went out to the beach for a bit and flew our kites but then the rain came in so we headed back to the car.  At the other end of the beach there was a company with lots of horses. For $20, you could ride a horse on the beach for an hour. We didn't end up actually riding a horse, but true to form for Samantha, she wanted to see and touch each horse! So we asked the owners and they said it was ok for her to meet all of the horses. 

Meeting and petting each of the horses.  This girl loves animals!

 It was still too early for Samantha's nap time but the weather was not cooperating, so we donned our swimsuits and headed down to the hotel pool.  (I think it's time to get Samantha back into swimming lessons because it took her a good 20 minutes to loosen her death grip on me in the pool!  After she got more comfortable, she started to have fun.)  We spent about an hour and a half in the pool and she did not want to get out, but alas, it was lunch and nap time.

The storm coming in off the ocean.

After nap, we headed back out to explore a few shops.  We ended up at an ice cream parlor/arcade.  They had over 30 flavors there but what did Samantha choose?  Vanilla.  She's definitely her Daddy's girl when it comes to ice cream flavors! 

Racing cars with Daddy

After ice cream and games, we went for a drive around Ocean Shores - it was a stormy night, so not a good time to be out at the beach.  We ended up back at the hotel and again, relaxed and settled in for the night.