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!"