We had a fabulous Spring Break!!! We went to Seaside, Oregon with Brent/Holli, Dale/Heidi and her parents Marv/Connie. Here's a (not so quick) synopsis of our trip:
Day 1:Arrived late evening and unpacked/settled in. Ethan met Tyler and we basically said goodbye to him until day #6.
We walked down to the ocean to take a peak....here are Kaden's thoughts:
Initially, he was so excited to go see the ocean. He went right into the freezing water, then a huge wave came. He wasn't quite expecting that! and it obviously traumatized him!
Day 2:Attempted to go to Cannon Beach but it was high tide. Went to Ecola State Park instead. Since it was high tide, we weren't able to play in too many tide pools, but still enjoyed playing on the rocks!
Because of the above situation, Kaden was content staying next to the river and wouldn't come close to the waves.
The water was FREEZING! Nobody seemed to care - until they became so numb it was painful!
After the kids got soaking wet, we went to the overlook. Kaden and Taylor were the only ones we could get out of the car.
Day 3:Connie, Heidi, Holli and I went to Lincoln City to go shopping!!!
Chris and the dads stayed back and walked around town, rode the carousal, went down the beach again, went swimming in the awesome outdoor heated pool and went to a movie, Monsters vs Aliens. I left a camera for him, but he didn't use it. Surprise, surprise! But they had a great day and didn't miss me a bit. Taylor made a trip to the ER - bladder infection...no fun at all for her ;(
Day 4:Chris headed home to work for a few days.
Everyone else headed to Tillamook and went to the cheese/ice cream factory. We learned all about milk and how they use every bit of it. Kaden stayed back with Marv so he could nap. It was nice to having to worry about him running everywhere, but it's weird not seeing him in the pictures. This place reminded me a lot of the Candy Factory in Alpine, UT.
Sampling some cheese...or if you're Ethan, trying to eat the whole plate of cheese for lunch before the lady tells you to stop:
And of course, we couldn't leave without getting some yummy ice cream:
Came home and went swimming. The kids loved this - the pools were all heated so they could swim to their hearts content even though it was freezing cold/windy out.
This is the only picture I have of them swimming - we would make a mad dash out, hurry jump in, stay in the water until we were prunes, then make a mad dash back inside. No time to dawdle around for pictures!
Day 5:We drive up to Astoria to go to their fun indoor water park. Got there around 11:00 just to find out they don't have open swim until 2:00. SHOOT!!! We even called ahead of time to find out about slide height requirements, price, etc....just forgot to mention the most important part. We turned around and came back. Crew made a trip to the ER and I took the kids swimming. Chris got back late that night. Hurray for another set of hands!
Day 6:We check the tide schedule this time then head to Cannon Beach. Our favorite!
Finally! A family picture:
After the kids were once again, FROZEN, we came back to warm up and do some more swimming. The Dads and kids finished their weekend by going to another movie, Return to Witch Mountain.
Day 7:Packed up and said "Adios" to Seaside. Went to John/Nichole's house in Portland and stayed with them for the rest of the weekend.
We are so glad we have such wonderful friends. Thank you Holli for letting us stay with you at your timeshare and Nichole for opening your house to us. Love you's!!!
Getting a little bored waiting for the hunt to begin:
It's a sad day when your oldest daughter doesn't want to participate it something so "childish"! She helped Kaden instead - and it paid off! Look at how much loot he got!
He's not too old for candy!
Go Emma, go!!!
This morning we did our traditional candy hunt from the Easter Bunny. Ahhh! So much candy!
New Easter outfits:
Happy Easter, everyone!
Yes, Ethan's 2 fish have died. Didn't last long, did it? It was a very tragic and sad day for Ethan. He cried his eyes out - and for them to die at the same time! It was almost too much for him to bare. We had our ceremony at the toilet, Ethan said a few words, then we flushed and washed our hands.
We got back from Spring Break, had a day to do laundry/unpack, then Taylor and I headed off to Seattle with all the 5th graders. We had the best time and came home exhausted! The trip very well planned and organized and went w/o a hitch.
Once we arrived in Seattle we went on a boat in Puget Sound for 5 hours. They had mini Marine Biology classes for the kids to rotate through. I was absolutely fascinated the whole time and enjoyed myself completely. Does that mean I'm on a 5th grade thinking level??? Thank heavens for my new BFF - Dramamine!!! I didn't even get sick!
We even saw 2 sea lions:
The kids took water samples by reeling out some fine threaded nets:
Put the water into cups...
..and looked at all the plankton under a microscope. This was Taylor and my favorite part!
A jelly fish under the microscope:
Then we watched a scuba diver with an underwater camera as he searched for creatures:
Then the kids got to hold some of the underwater animals:
The kids had to fill out a packet on all the exhibits. Dinosaurs:
Butterfly:
Ooey Gooey Lab (experiments on candy):
Just goofing around:
Planetarium:
Finally, it's 11pm and we are ready for bed...right on the floor next to the boa constrictors:
We had to be up by 6:30am! We headed off for breakfast, went to the laser show, then the IMAX film.
I am grateful I get to go do things like this with Taylor. Luckily she is still at the age where she likes to be around me. She's also at the age where you don't always have to be a parent. I didn't have to worry about her running off somewhere or doing something naughty. We had a great time together and I think she's the best kid ever! :)
We walked down to the ocean to take a peak....here are Kaden's thoughts:
Because of the above situation, Kaden was content staying next to the river and wouldn't come close to the waves.
The water was FREEZING! Nobody seemed to care - until they became so numb it was painful!
After the kids got soaking wet, we went to the overlook. Kaden and Taylor were the only ones we could get out of the car.
Day 3:
Chris and the dads stayed back and walked around town, rode the carousal, went down the beach again, went swimming in the awesome outdoor heated pool and went to a movie, Monsters vs Aliens. I left a camera for him, but he didn't use it. Surprise, surprise! But they had a great day and didn't miss me a bit. Taylor made a trip to the ER - bladder infection...no fun at all for her ;(
Sampling some cheese...or if you're Ethan, trying to eat the whole plate of cheese for lunch before the lady tells you to stop:
And of course, we couldn't leave without getting some yummy ice cream:
Came home and went swimming. The kids loved this - the pools were all heated so they could swim to their hearts content even though it was freezing cold/windy out.
This is the only picture I have of them swimming - we would make a mad dash out, hurry jump in, stay in the water until we were prunes, then make a mad dash back inside. No time to dawdle around for pictures!
Finally! A family picture:
After the kids were once again, FROZEN, we came back to warm up and do some more swimming. The Dads and kids finished their weekend by going to another movie, Return to Witch Mountain.
We are so glad we have such wonderful friends. Thank you Holli for letting us stay with you at your timeshare and Nichole for opening your house to us. Love you's!!!
