Vacation; Days 9-10

Day 9: What I Call Vacation

We had a really laid back kind of day on our last full day of vacation. It was the kind of day I like the best when I'm on vacation: just hanging out with good friends, chatting, watching the kids have fun together, and doing nothing in particular. 

We went to McGrath's Fish House for dinner. I ate New Orleans Catfish, which was sooooooo yummy. The menu describes it thus: Petite Prawns, Andouille Sausage, Mushrooms, Scallions, Peppers, Tomatoes and Cajun Cream Sauce over Blackened Catfish. I describe it as pure deliciousness. 

Then Madeline and I went through some old photos she took a couple summers ago when they were in town. We came across the following gems:

Lunch at the park.

Drew, wearing Madeline's glasses.

Owen, waiting for his turn on the swing. I love how chubby their little arms and faces were! Look at Owen's elbows...

Evie and Samantha sharing a swing.

Samantha doesn't like to swing too high. Or relinquish food in order to play.

She loved the swing if it wasn't moving. She's still like that, even now. But she'll go down the tallest slide she can find all by herself with no second thoughts.

Drew climbing on a little jungle gym.

Day 10: On Our Way Home

We started our trek home on Wednesday, February 10. We stopped in Portland on our way out of Oregon, so that I could go to a Thai Market I learned about online. It was everything I hoped for and more! They had plenty of ingredients for Thai food, lots of yummy Asian candies and they even had a deli where I could purchase some already made Thai food. And I got to practice my Thai with the people working there, which is a rare occasion for me. Owen even practiced his Thai (he can say "hello" in Thai; the employees thought it was pretty cute).

It was pretty late by the time we got out of Portland. We were hoping to drive straight home, but we got a little less than half way and ran into a blizzard. We stopped for the night, and when we woke up in the morning, most of the snow was gone! Weird. After a few final hours in the car, we made it home safe and sound. It was such a fun trip. I loved Oregon (this trip was the first time I'd been further than about 20 miles into Oregon). I hope to go back soon!

Vacaction; Day 8

Day 8: Evie's Birthday

The Birthday Girl

We had a blast helping Madeline get ready for her girl's Fancy Nancy birthday party. The kids were all so excited when they saw the table loaded with adorable decorations, and delectable edibles. They were excited to be dressed up again, too. And when Evie's friends started arriving in their fancy dresses, things really got fun for everyone. 

The refreshment table.

I made these little purses based off a purse Madeline picked up at a little store. They're just cardstock wrapped around a Dove chocolate, and sealed with a bit of glue and a sticker. The handles are ribbon.

Drew, Owen and Samantha in front of the party tent.

From Fancy Free to Full-on Fit in no time...

The little girl in blue looks like she's saying, "Let's share--I'll have some of yours."

Drew's cupcake creation. Mmm...

Samantha loved the bright colors of the red velvet cupcakes. Of course, they tasted great, too!

The party turned out to be a lot of fun. I think my kids were the only one who threw tantrums, though. Darn. Drew threw one big tantrum and, as I was hauling him off (picture me carrying him under my arm like a football), his pants fell down, revealing his backside and at the same time revealing that he had no underwear on. It was hilarious. For everyone but Drew. 

Later that evening, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's for Evie's birthday dinner. All the kids had a great time running around, pretending to drive all the cars, but when we put tokens in the cars to make them move, suddenly they weren't interested. The adults had a great time playing skee ball and basketball, and winning tickets. The kids caught on quickly, and they didn't want to "waste" any more tokens on car rides. Owen put a token in a machine when no one was looking, and won a balloon. We thought he took someone else's prize, but the people standing next to the machine said he played the game himself. Smart kid!

Evie and Owen riding a roller coaster simulator.

 There was a screen so the parents could watch the kids enjoy (or not really, in this case) the ride. 

Looks like we need to have a talk with Samantha about riding in cars with boys...

Owen and Samantha had a great time climbing on the jungle gym.

"They have Mario Kart! Just like we have at home!" 

She really had a lot more fun than it looks like in this picture. I think this must have been taken shortly after the mascot, Mr. Chuck E. Cheese himself, came around to give all the kids high-five. She started crying when he talked to her.

We had so much fun at Chuck E. Cheese. I used to mock it, because the commercials make it look like a (pardon the pun) cheesy place to go. But I would totally go back. Drew says it was his favorite part of vacation. Owen's favorite part was Brytton and Madeline's house in general. When we ask Samantha what her favorite part of vacation was she says, "I'm scared of Chuck E. Cheese."

Vacation; Days 5, 6 & 7

Day 5: Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and Visitors Center

Our plans for the next few days of vacation were to stay with David's aunt and uncle in a tiny town called Molalla. Before we left the coast, though, we wanted to check out at least one lighthouse. The closest one turned out to be Yaquina (pronounced ya-KWIN-a) Bay. It was beautiful. There were stairs leading down to the beach, so we were able to check out the tide pools, then head up to the lighthouse for a tour. The boys were just barely tall enough; I think the tour guide actually fudged a little when she let Owen in; the minimum height was 42 inches, and his cowlick just put him over 41. David and I took turns holding Samantha at the bottom, so the other could take one of the boys up the steps to check out the view. 

I thought these black things were little rocks.

Upon closer inspection, I realized they were little shells!

I'm pretty sure I saw a sign that prohibited climbing rocks, but David claims he saw no such sign.

So we all took a turn. Samantha wanted down immediately. (Gotta love those wind-blown locks...My hair was a complete tangled mess by the time we got back in the car.)

I loved the look (and the sound, which of course a photo can't capture) of the waves crashing on the rocks.

Drew was all about the photo ops on this trip. "Take my picture, Mom!" he kept saying.

The view from the top of the lighthouse.

Drew thought the top was very cool.

This picture makes me dizzy. This is at the bottom of the lighthouse, looking up. I can't imagine hiking those stairs a few times a night, carrying 2-3 gallons of oil, like they did in the old days. I get tired just thinking about it.

The entire lighthouse wouldn't fit in one shot from that close up. I even had the camera on the ground.

A family shot--minus a few faces.

I hope he had a dry-suit.

After checking out every nook and cranny at the lighthouse, we headed to the visitors center where we learned that instead of paying $7 to visit Yaquina Bay State Park and Lighthouse, we could have gone to another lighthouse down the road for free, and all of our kids could have gone to the top at the same time. Sigh. Oh, well. We also learned about different games that kids whose families took care of the lighthouse would play for entertainment. Drew and Owen learned a little about the tide pools, and the wild life in and around them, and were given Junior Ranger badges for reciting what they learned to the Park Ranger. They were pretty proud of themselves.

By early afternoon, we were back on the road and heading to Molalla. Molalla is further inland, about a couple hours from the coast, and is mostly farm land. The road into Molalla has a breathtaking view of Mt. Hood, as well as picturesque farms and ranches. 

Day 6: Molalla

David's aunt and uncle live on a farm with a few horses. The neighboring farm is home to a couple dozen llamas and alpacas. I wish I had a good picture of the little baby that looked like an Ewok. I'll try to get it off David's phone. 

Drew and Owen got to sit on a horse, which they were very proud about. Owen actually let the horse walk around, but Drew just wanted the horse to stand still. Samantha was too scared to get on, but she did feed the horse some grass. 

We enjoyed a couple really laid back days in Molalla, just visiting with David's aunt, uncle and cousin, and looking at the animals.

Day 7: Goodbyes, Travel and Hellos

We had planned on leaving Molalla early Sunday morning to head to Albany, to visit our friends Brytton and Madeline. We didn't get up as early as planned, and by then our friends were at church, so we hung out in Molalla a little longer which was fine with me. We don't see David's side of the family very often, so it was nice to spend more time with them.

We made it to Albany in time to eat some delicious barbecue and hotdogs, and watch the Super Bowl. Madeline is co-founder of the cooking blog I sometimes write for, so she and I had lots of fun talking about recipes and food, and making cookies to eat during the Super Bowl. 

The kids played tried on clothes to wear for Evie's Fancy Nancy birthday party the next day. They loved their outfits!

The kids had loads of fun playing with Evie, who turned three while we were there. If anyone asks Owen what his favorite part of vacation was, he still says, "Brytton and Madeline's house!"

Vacation; Days 3-4

Day 3: Driving Down the Coast

We were a little sad to leave the beauty of our oceanfront hotel in Seaside, but were looking forward to seeing other parts of Oregon. At the suggestion of our server at breakfast, we stopped at Haystack Rock in Cannon. It was kinda neat, but as we drove further down the coast we saw many such rocks so, without reading up on the history of the rock and adjacent town, we have no idea why it's so special.

Next stop on our tour was Tillamook. This is another place I'd like to go back to see again. We stopped at the cheese factory (I love Tillamook cheese. Their ice cream is delicious, too!) and took a tour. 

The kids loved all the cow stuff at the factory.

Having worked in a cheese factory once upon a time, for about three months, I was fascinated by the inner workings of the place. It was a lot different than the factory I worked at, mostly because the one I worked only took the process as far as curds, which were then shipped to other places for them to turn into blocks of cheese. The tour was self guided, and there were interesting facts and artifacts placed throughout the observation area. It was very cool.

So much cheese!!

The big blocks are called "Forties"--they weigh around forty pounds, give or take a few ounces. These ones are in line to be cut into smaller cubes, then they'll go down the belt to be wrapped.

All that cheese made us sort of hungry, so we headed down to the cafe and got some ice cream. Then it was back into the car to keep heading South. I sort of regret that we didn't make it to the Air Museum. David and I just wanted to get on the road because we wanted to see as much of the coast as we could before it got dark. So we told the kids we couldn't find the museum (it was sort of true, we didn't look up the address so we didn't know where it was!). They seemed fine with it, so we kept driving. 

I expected the coast to be gorgeous. It didn't disappoint! We were blessed with some sunshine that day, and the perfect amount of clouds to make the skies beautiful. 

 

 

I would love to live in Oceanside. All the houses were built on a hill, overlooking the ocean. 

I also loved how the road took us along the edge of the mountains, through the rain forest, and the rare occasions we could see through the trees, we saw ocean. 

                   

These pictures, as was the case with most of my scenery pictures, were taken from the passenger window as we were driving along. These ones turned out better than most.

We took the long route, but we finally made it to our hotel in Newport just after dark. By the time we got there it was pouring buckets, so we pretty much just holed up in our room for the night. We did go to Burger King, figuring the kids could spend some energy at the play place, but I think it just make them more hyper. Then, I gave Samantha a manicure and pedicure which made the boys a little jealous, but I just refuse to paint their nails. Finally, after a lot of wiggling, giggling and nagging, the kids, and therefore the adults, were able to get some sleep.

Day 4: Hanging out in Newport

Newport is a pretty cool town. We liked the bay, and the bridge that went across it, and the aquarium. We didn't spend more than about 20 minutes at the beach there, because the weather was a little drizzly. 

There were sea lions on the rocks, and they were quite loud. Their bark is not a pleasant noise, but I think it would be one I would never get tired of if I lived there.

At the aquarium. Drew, for some reason, refused to be in the picture.

Great White Shark jaws. I think these are an aquarium staple; they seem to be at every aquarium I've been to.

In front of all the funky fish that can be found in the waters around Oregon.

Samantha was fascinated by the "underground" fish.

The kids loved seeing the seals and sea lions up close. "So that's what was making that noise!"

They also really enjoyed the birds that "fly" underwater. All the birds squawked and dove into the water at once. The kids thought it was a show just for them. It pretty much was, because we were just about the only people there!

We also saw anemones, sea stars, various other fish and crustaceans and a big ol' octopus. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died right after the water birds. We took some pictures with Dave's cell phone, but they didn't turn out that great.

After the aquarium, we went to dinner at a place called Mo's. They had pretty tasty fish and chips, and their kids meals came with toy sharks that the kids thought were awesome. The clam chowder there was good, too, but it came out of the kitchen garnished with fresh parsley and a butter pat, which I thought was a little odd and probably unnecessary.

On Day 5, we went to a light house, then headed North and East to visit David's aunt and uncle. Stay tuned!