Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

My cousin, Joanna Mackay, and her 3 kids live 5 hours north of me in Puyallup, Washington. Once a year, if we're lucky, we get together and have a fun cousin playdate!

It had been 2 1/2 years since we had gotten together. So I decided to make the 3 1/2 hour drive north to meet the Mackay family in Long Beach, Washington during their summer campout. In the past, Joanna has always driven down to visit me, so it was my turn to make the long drive. On our trip, I got lost and made a wrong turn that added about 45 minutes to our driving trip, but my kids were pretty good sports about it. The only rough moment was when Angel got car sick and threw up. It can get pretty windy on a trip to the Oregon Coast!

Long Beach, Washington had a cool beach! It is the longest beach in the world. It is HUGE and very flat, which mean the surf reaches a very long distance. The tide was coming in, and it would soon be full high tide. We parked our vans on the hard packed sand, right next to where it begins to get soft. We had a picnic lunch and played in the sand.

Julianna had a blast. She loved the wet sand! She loved the mud! She just wanted to crawl right into it. I had to keep holding her back to keep her from drowning in it! When I walked her through the water, she kept calling out, "Wow, wow, wow!" in wonder.

Courtney had a horrible time at the beach. She was miserable the whole time. She was terrified of the water. Whenever the surf got close to her, she began wailing in fright. She was so sure the water was going to suck her out to sea. I found this very frustrating, since she is my independent water lover. This is from the girl who on our family reunion trip to the beach explored the tide pools and climbed a giant sand dune by herself and without my permission! Maybe it was lack of sleep, or maybe the tide had done something to truly unnerve her, but she cried the whole time like a newborn baby, wanting to be held or to hide in the van. So strange!

Angel was filled with sunshine and cheer. She happily played in the river. She jumped from puddle to puddle. I didn't get to enjoy her delightful playfulness, however, because Courtney was screaming, and then Dorathy showed up sopping wet. She was playing in the surf in her coat and dress, and then a big wave came in and swept her down. She spent the rest of our beach time shivering and crying in the car because she was cold. She refused to put on warm clothes, she just hid in the backseat, complaining the whole time. I was beginning to get upset. I had driven 4 hours so my kids could have fun! Not hide in the car and cry!

Once all my kids had eaten (Christopher at least, was having a good time) the complaints died down a little, and Joanna and I decided to go out into the water and play for a while. Julianna had finally fallen asleep in her playpen that I set up. Angel was asleep in my front seat. They were all exhuasted from waking up early and making the long drive

Joanna and I were having fun in the waves, when a sneaker wave hit us. Were were playfully running with it, and getting quite wet when we noticed something.

The water was close to our cars. Too close. It was going to hit our vans! It was going to get the kids, and the shoes, and the chairs, and the food! The kids were shocked to have all their sand games washed away. We had been SO FAR AWAY from the water, what was it doing way up here by the soft sand? We laughed at the tide playing such a trick on us, and began packing up. The water had just barely touched our tires, surely we had several minutes before the water got us again...
THEN WHOOSH!! The water was swirling all around us, surrounding our cars. The kids were crying out, jumping into the cars or running. I picked up the Playpen and ran with it so Julianna wouln't get wet.

Joanna's Husband came running up to us, "We have to move our cars! Pack Up!!" He jumped into his own van and drove it back to the parking lot far off. I looked at the water as he drove off. It was So So So far away.....surely it was just a fluke. The high tide looked like it almost never came up to where we were. I had a few minutes to pack up, right? I was trying to decide what to do. Julianna had only recently fallen asleep in the playpen and she was exhausted. Angel was asleep in my driving chair. How could I move them all and move the van quickly? I still had bags and chairs scattered about. I began by packing up all the bags and chairs, but while I was still debating with myself if I should wake up the babies or not we were inundated by a huge wave...

YIKES!!!

I had to run further back with the playpen. My other kids were all in the car, surrounded by water. Angel was still sleeping....now I was in trouble, what should I do? I was in SHOCK...I couldn't move, I couldn't think....My kids were in the water, and I didn't know what to do first. Did I grab the baby and leave the playpen? My thoughts were so confused.

I was just stunned, staring at my van, when Joanna's husband, Andy, came to the rescue. "What are you doing?" He shouted, "We need to move your van NOW or you'll get stuck! I threw him my keys. He woke up Angel and gave her to me. He threw my keys to Joanna and she got in the car and tried to back up. The front tires just spun and my van started to sink. "STOP!" Andy shouted. The water came again. It receded. Andy and I pushed the van out of the sinking mud and it barely got out and Joanna drove it back to the parking lot, through the salty water. Angel walked back with a cousin, and Andy and I carried the playpen the whole way.

Julianna never even woke up. By the time we got to the parking lot, we were all exhausted. We were done at the beach! Christopher was the only one sad about that! He was wanting to go back and play some more. I had to wake up the poor baby, and we headed back to their campsite. Christopher told me that when the van was completely surrounded by water, half way up the tires, that he thought he felt the van moving. He said to me,"I thought we were going to just start to float away!" I smiled and said, "What do you think our car is, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? Wouldn't it be nice if the tires turned sideways and turned into floating devices, and we could just FLOAT out of the water?" All the kids laughed at the thought of our van turning into a floating car. Geez, it almost happened!

While Andy sprayed off the undercarriage of our van to prevent problems from the salt water, all the kids got changed and cleaned off.

We celebrated with some lollipops! I was SO GRATEFUL that we got out of the tide!
I was praying so hard when my van started to sink!

I am so thankful we didn't have to get my van towed out of the water. That much salt water would have killed my van, and buying a new one is NOT on my to-do list!!!

Can you tell Julianna is still tired after her aborted nap? Poor baby!

Brooke and Jessica: Lollipop twins!

Muska-Cousies: "All for one, and one for all!!"
(Joanna, Me, and my sister Mary Cate used to call ourselves the MUSKA-COUSIES!)

We went exploring at the Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment, and then we had to begin the long 3-4 hour drive back home. It was worth it to see my dear cousin and her beautiful children!!! And we sure had an experience that I will never forget! I don't think I will ever EVER ever park on the sand again! It's too risky. I think one problem with Long Beach was that it was SO FLAT that the water traveled very long distances. Most of the beaches we visit don't do that.