Vacation at the Beach, Days 3-4

Wednesday was foggy in the morning, 

so we decided that it was probably a good day for the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which was an hour south of where we were staying.

They had lots of fish tanks, outdoor tanks (seals, otters, etc.), and a touch tank to explore Pacific tide pools.  H wasn't too interested, but I got Owen to touch a few anemones and an abalone.

I also liked the seabird enclosure where puffins and others were free to fly overhead or float nearby.  Puffins are cute!

We also thought these spider crabs were particularly creepy and fascinating.

But Owen just about lost it when we finally made it to the shark tank!  It's one of those walk-thru tunnels, and he thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Hadley wasn't so sure...

But soon they were both skipping through and doing a happy dance.  I think we stayed in here for nearly half an hour!  Owen's only complaint was that the sharks were a little small. :)  Apparently, they do birthday party sleepovers in this tunnel.  If only we lived a little closer, I know a little boy who would definitely be interested!

I think Hadley's favorite part was the climb-on sea creatures.

That evening we took it easy, playing on the neighborhood playground, doing laundry, and cooking dinner at the house.  So nice to be able to do that!

Thursday morning was our last time at the beach - we could have stayed here all week, I think.  I hope we'll get to do it again soon!

And here it is, your moment of zen:

Vacation at the Beach, Days 1-2

WARNING: Long post!
We arrived at Pacific City on Monday afternoon, an hour before check-in, which gave us the perfect chance to go explore the beach!  But, we didn't realize that later in the day meant stronger winds.  We got a little sand-blasted, but the kids still thought it was pretty cool.  And the water was frigid!  (Hadley got her feet pulled from under her when a wave came up farther than expected, and she fell on her butt in the cold water.  She was not a fan after that!)

Afterwards, we checked into our cute little house for the next three nights and got some dinner from the local pizza place.  The house was great: 5-minute walk to the beach, 3 bedrooms so we could all have our own schedules, laundry facilities, and it was full of little-kid toys and gear that made life easier.

The next morning we decided to try the beach again, since winds were calm, and although it was a little cool at first, it was perfect Oregon beach weather!

We loaded up shovels, pails, and trucks from the house's stash and headed to the beach right after breakfast. It was so peaceful, and our little stretch barely had anyone on it.  

The kids absolutely loved digging in the sand.

Owen was excited about building a sandcastle, so I helped him out a little.  I think we built a little too close to the water, so we needed a trench.

And a generous beachcomber gave us a nearly intact sand dollar, which we used to decorate the top tier.  Ta da!

Even the biggest kid had fun building a super-duper sand castle in to the tide cliff.

The water was still a little intimidating for the kids after Hadley's fall the previous day, so we ventured down to a big sand bar where the waves met at all angles, and it was shallow enough to splash in.  Big hit!  Owen ran through it enough that he was starting to turn blue.  

Even Hadley had a blast.  It's short, but hear her beckoning us to join?  "C'mon, Mom!"

And by mid-morning, the sand was starting to feel nice and warm on our feet.  Hadley was getting loopy, pretending to be a dog for a long time and refusing to look at the camera! She put her face directly in the sand several times.

 I'm pretty sure this is Owen's little slice of heaven.  He even made sand angels! :)

It was hard to leave the beach that morning, but our snacks were depleted, and it was getting to be time for lunch and naps.  The wind had picked up again that afternoon, so we headed for Cape Kiwanda a mile up the road in search of tide pools.  We did find a few tide pools, but we just barely caught a glimpse of a starfish as the tide was coming back in. 

However, the Cape did provide some wind protection, and the boys saw a mountain to climb.  Hadley desperately wanted to join them, but I had to let common sense rule when the steep path turned gravelly, so we turned around and waited for them at the bottom.

We ended the excursion with an early dinner at the local micro-brew, The Pelican.  If you are curious, we thought it was overpriced and the beers were just meh, although I have to admit that neither of us tried one of their 'award-winning' beers.

Vacation Westward

We may have been slightly crazy, but we opted to drive to the Oregon Coast for vacation this summer.  Western Oregon is my happy place: lush green, mountains, forests, beaches, beautiful, quiet places.  We discovered that Eastern Oregon is not that.  We had pretty low expectations for our kids' car travel, and I was pleasantly surprised!  Even so, I won't be planning any long car travel for a while...

Our first sight-seeing stop was Shoshone Falls.  It has been a pretty hot and dry summer, so these falls were not at their most spectacular, but it was still worth a view.  (You can see from the linked site that the whole left waterfall wasn't even flowing when we visited.) I liked the canyon view just as much as the falls.

It was hot, so we pressed on to Boise for an easy traveling day to get the kids acclimated to being in the car longer.  The next night was in Bend, Oregon, which is a really lovely mountain town on the fringe of the Eastern Oregon desert.  The Deschutes River flows through town between a picturesque neighborhood and a city park, so we walked from there to downtown for our micro-brewery meal, which was pretty delicious.  I was sad we had to miss the Bend Ale Trail, which has a passport to 14 breweries across town, but it leaves something to do on our return someday.  :)

A random turn off the highway in search of a bathroom the next day led to some of my favorite scenery deep inside the Willamette National Forest.

A lunch stop in Corvallis and quick stroll on the Oregon State campus were our last stops before the kids' first glimpse of the ocean. (To be continued...)

I just had to post a picture of this.  Problems you don't foresee when your toes are longer than a centimeter!  Peekaboo!

Keeping Our Cool

We've stayed close to home for July, and it's been pretty warm (for up north), so we've been trying to stay cool.  Sometimes that means playing/drinking in the sprinkler,

Hiding indoors in the A/C,

Or traveling to the splash park.  Owen loves it, but Hadley is still not sure about the big structure. Here she changed her mind at the last minute when Owen was going to help her up the stairs.  Notice his look of bewilderment!

But at the same park, she was pretty fearless on the playground.  That's her second from left, hanging with the big kids on the monkey bars.  She did this all on her own and, like her dad, would not stop until she reached the top!

Our neighborhood HOA held its annual ice cream social, which the kids really enjoy.  They have ice cream (duh!) and build-your-own paper rockets to launch.  (Don't tell, but we brought last year's model, and it worked great!)  Could there be another rocket scientist in the family...?

And Hadley ended that event on an awkward note after OD'ing on ice cream and staying up past bedtime.  She peeled off her shirt and ran around to everyone with a crazed look in her eye and a giggle, while avoiding her shirt-waving parents.  Yep, we are that family!

Keeping the family tradition alive with a father-son mowing picture, just for grins.

And a new playhouse was added to the backyard.  I think we've already gotten our money's worth.  ;)

Finally, for those interested, we've been keeping up with the garden again this summer. We have finished strawberries, but now we are deep in raspberries, tomatoes, zucchini, beets, and carrots.  I also have to mention that the parsley is growing like a jungle.  Too bad my husband insists that it's just a garnish!  :)  The kids like to go help me check on the garden, so that's been a fun tool that helps them eat their veggies.

P.S. Hadley did great at her 2-year checkup and is at about 50% for both weight and height, though she still has that 90% head circumference!