Oregon Coast Vacation Part One

Last Wednesday we started off on our much anticipated Oregon trip.  We had booked this trip back in fall (that's how popular these campsites are!) so it was something we were pretty excited about.  It was a long drive to Cape Lookout State Park so we stopped at Trader Joe's in Bellingham to stock up on yummy snacks.  My children's choices didn't surprise me in anyway.

 Nate is my fruit lover and went for dried mangoes.

 Liam chose the classic animal crackers.

 And Chad chose the decadent chocolate covered marshmallows!

 After lunch in Tacoma and groceries in Astoria we finally hit the 101 and saw our first glimpse of the beautiful coastline.  I do love the ocean so much.

We were road weary and VERY glad to finally pull into our site at Cape Lookout.  We were thrilled with our site.  The yurt did not disappoint and there was a lovely little stream running through our 'back yard'!  The fresh water tap was right across from our site and the showers/bathrooms were near enough to be very convenient but not too close for comfort either.  The facilities were very good.

 We started out by arranging the site just the way we wanted it.  It was lovely to not have to set up a tent and blow up air mattresses!

 And this is the inside.  Lovely, isn't it?!  The perfect amount of room for the five of us.  It crazy to think this yurt cost us the same price as a simple tent pad in a BC Provincial park. And for that all you get is a fire ring and picnic table.  Here we had heat, electricity and beds as well.

 The beds were very firm but it wasn't too terrible.

 The yurt is 16' in diameter and had a locking door as well.

 After we got settled we headed down to the beach to catch the setting sun.

 Gorgeous and the boys said it was completely worth the long drive.

 The next day dawned warm-ish and clear.  Bonus....ocean-side camping is risky in the weather department.  After breakfast we headed down to the beach for some walking and exploring.

 Beautiful in any direction you chose to look.  I just soaked it up.

 The sand was super soft....and reminded us of some of the great Caribbean beaches we were at in spring.

 The boys left a Canadian inukshuk display.

 That evening we bought some firewood and made smores.  Chocolate covered biscuits are perfect for this.  I may or may not have had two!

 The next day we woke up to the infamous 'marine layer'.  I knew it would burn off eventually but to get through the morning we headed to the cheese factory tour.  Who doesn't love cheese?!

 Lots to see on the production line.

 Lots to eat in the sampling area.

 And then it was close to lunch so we figured we should have something cheesy.  We all opted for the Centennial Grilled Cheese which was Sharp Cheddar and Vintage White Medium on sourdough with a pickle.  Very rich and very tasty.

 Let me tell you that this place is a going concern.  The amount of people there was astounding!  The parking lot was huge and jam packed.  Tillamook has a good thing going on there with their restaurant, fudge shop and ice cream store and on-site cheese sales.  We rounded off the meal with ice cream...very inexpensive and very delicious.  What was not inexpensive was the cheese!  I couldn't believe the price and opted to get my souvenir Tillamook cheese from Safeway down the street for $2.50 less per block.

 That afternoon the sun made it's appearance and we enjoyed beach time.

 

If you've ever have driven the 101 you will have seen this massive hangar that houses the Tillamook Air Museum.  It was our destination the next morning.  Again...it was cool and cloudy so we needed some entertainment.  It was a bit different for us to leave our campsite so often.  Usually when we camp we stay put the entire time.  It was a nice change to go out and about.

 It was pure heaven for the boys...they love planes and pretty much anything 'army'.  It was actually interesting, I'll admit I was into it as well!

 There were lots of flight test cockpits that the boys enjoyed.  Liam fancies himself a pilot when he grows up now.

 Lots of WWII memorabilia that I enjoyed.  I love history.

 And then YEAH, the sun came out.  We enjoyed another afternoon on the beach but this time there was a breeze that just froze my bones.  I couldn't believe all the people IN the water and frolicking in their swimsuits!  I must have looked like a freak all huddled up in my chair.  Whatever.

On our last day we very reluctantly headed back north but wanted to stop at Cape Meares before we headed east to Portland.  We were very lucky to be able to go up into the actual lighthouse.  Due to vandalism a few years ago the lighthouse is very fragile and the constant vibrations of people going up and down the stairs is doing further damage to the lens.  They let up 45 people a day and we just squeaked in.

 This picture was taken right before the park volunteer yelled at the kids to 'GET OFF THE ROCKS'.  Sheesh.

 We just soaked up our last views of the coast.  I seriously could live here and walk on these beaches every day.  The sunshine was spectacular.

 And so we said farewell to the coast and pointed our car east.  Part two coming up...Portland!

This & That

So I just completed my first official week of summer holidays.  I got bored by day four!  I know that is very lame.  Trying to keep Liam entertained and from annoying his older brother is quite the task and I'm trying to get my groove on!  We did try to keep busy each and every day though.  Liam had swimming lessons every morning at 10 am.  This gave me a reason to get dressed each day!  Sadly he did not pass to the next level and he was quite disappointed about that.  He definitely improved and got braver about his face in the water so that's good.  We are considering putting him in a few private lessons just to get him going a little more quickly.  30 minutes divided by six kids with one teacher doesn't give much quality teaching time.

One afternoon we rode our bikes to 'The Reach' gallery to see the Star Wars exhibit.  It was very good and if you have any Star Wars fanatics at your house, I recommend a trip over there.  It's free!

 

 We have also spent time at the BMX park. 

 Hanging out in the back yard, playing with the garden hose, slurping watermelon and basically being lazy was also on the agenda.

 Chad is now my official mower now that Nathan is working.  The job is going very well by the way and Nathan now knows what he does NOT want to do for the rest of his life!  Ha!  Life lesson.

 This was a new flower for me this year and I'll definitely be planting asters again.  They are very pretty!

I don't have any photographic proof but last night we had a most wonderful date.  We drove William and his friend Rose to the airport (yes, seeing him off was WONDERFUL!) and sent them on their way to China.  We all need the holiday and I hope he comes back with a better attitude towards his school work.  We will have a new list of rules for him now that we're more experienced host parents that is going to hopefully keep the frustrations on both our parts to a minimum.  Anyhow!  He's gone and that's good.  After the airport we drove to Stanley Park and met up with Kori & Roger for a brisk walk around the seawall.  It wasn't crowded at all and we had a great time chatting and catching up.  At this point it was around 9 pm and we were starving so headed on foot to Canada Place where there is a new Cactus Club.  We were seated with a fabulous view of the harbour with the sunset....oooohhhh it was perfect!  Awesome food, fabulous sangria and some good laughs made for an excellent end to the week.  After all that food it felt good to have a 20 minute walk (minus a pit stop in the Westin lobby to use their facilities)  back to our cars and even better to find that they were still in the parking lot!  It was almost midnight by this time.  After we got home I tracked our walk online to find that we had walked 14.6 kms in total.  Yowzers! 
And so week one of the holidays is now just a memory.  Week two should be more exciting and I am looking forward to posting all about it!

My Child the Punk?

 

Heaven only knows where he learned this pose!

A New Beach

Sunday was too beautiful to hang around home.  None of the local beaches appealed so I proposed a 'exploring' trip to Semiahmoo Beach.

It was a good choice except it was unfortunate that the tide was almost in.  The beach was fairly empty, the breeze light and the sun warm.  We enjoyed ourselves very much!
I look forward to going back again but this time we'll check the border line-ups first.  Finding ourselves waiting an hour to cross into the USA was a bummer.

 

 That's White Rock across the bay.

 Not even close to a Caribbean beach but we'll take it anyhow!

Liam is in awe of his super strong brother.

 Yep....he's strong too!

 My handsome lads are looking so much older than last summer.

 Scurrying back to land before they were stranded!

 Just hanging out an enjoying the delightful sunshine.

 

 

It was a great afternoon!  Next time we'll bring a picnic supper and stay longer.

Handy Man Keith

Keith installed a hitch on our car yesterday so we could attach the bike rack we recently bought at Costco.  We've always wanted to take our bikes to various places to ride as a family and now we can!  Don't get me wrong, there are loads of great places to ride around here but sometimes it's fun to try new locations. 

Anyone want go for a bike ride?!

An Expensive Week

Many weeks, maybe even months ago the freezer section of our fridge started becoming a bit warm.  The ice cream was too easy to scoop and the bread was sort of soft.  We didn't really pay too much attention until earlier this week we noticed that the ice cubes were melted.  This problem could no longer be ignored.  Due to the recent heat wave it was a bit difficult to tell if the fridge compartment was cold enough because it seemed cold compared to the air temp in the kitchen.  Mind you the milk wasn't as chilly as I preferred!  I bought a thermostat and was rather aghast to find the fridge hovering around 10 degrees.  Proper cooling should be at a minimum of 4 degrees!  We tossed a lot of food we thought might have been compromised.  Fast forward to a quick evening of fridge shopping and two days later this beauty was delivered to our home. 

I'm so thankful we have a back up fridge in the basement for the essentials.  It's a tiny fridge generally filled with just our milk jugs and pop etc but we loaded that little thing up just as tight as we could.  Now we have to wait 24 hours for the new one to come up to proper temperatures.  I can't wait to go grocery shopping (did I just say that??) and stock up for my hungry family again.  We've been limping along for a few days on very simple meals!

 

I had thought I wanted French doors but after testing them out at the store I quickly changed my mind.  They feel a bit fussy to open and close and the storage space in the doors is a bit inadequate.  We were happy with this rather simple Samsung.  I'd rather have a base model of a good brand than a fancy model of a crappy brand that will break in a few years.  Our old fridge was only 9 years old....can I be an 'old person' and say that they don't make things like they used to!

O Canada Day '13

The last couple of Canada Days have been very moderate but yesterday we woke to very warm weather with predicted highs in the mid-thirties!  Crikey.

The boys were marching with the Arts Council float as members of A.C.T.  The parade theme was 'Western' hence the jeans.  They had a long, hot walk.

 

 Keith had to leave the parade early as he was on shift from 1 pm to 11 pm that day.  I wasn't happy he had to work and miss out on our annual BBQ with the Unraus and Jones.  The promise of double time sort of made up for it.  I feel bad for him spending the day walking around outside in full uniform. 

 Roger kindly took Keith's place at the grill.

 We enjoyed a good buffet of summer eats.  Keri and Kori both contributed dishes therefore making my work light.

 The three older girls were all working so it was a boys party for sure! 

We ended off the evening in the tradition of walking to the stadium for fireworks.  By then it had cooled off nicely and it was a treat to not be sweaty for 5 minutes!  It was a long day, late night but good memories made!A