Our Oregon Beach Getaway

This year for our 9th wedding anniversary, John decided to plan a getaway for me and the girls. In the month prior to the trip, I managed to get these hints; we're driving there, we're staying at two places along the Oregon coast, and you and the girls need rain boots. :) Needless to say, we had a fun time packing! So here's what really happened during our trip.
Day 1
A 5 hour drive down to Newport, Oregon. Our first stop was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

The views from the mountain were beautiful.





Next we checked into our vacation home that had an amazing view as well.







Day 2- March 25th - Our 9th Anniversary
John made us a wonderful breakfast (he'd even done the shopping...can you believe it). Then he took us to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It's supposedly in the top ten of the American aquariums and I do have to admit that it was really nice and the girls had a blast! I just wish it hadn't rained the whole time we were there.








We had lunch along the fisherman's docks in Newport where we met these lovely boys and girls.





Even after a long day and being seriously tired, the girls found the energy to play for a while on the beach that evening before dinner.





Day 3 - A drive up the Oregon Coast
We left after another yummy breakfast prepared by John. We drove up through Tillamook, Oregon where we just had to stop so John could show us the cheese factory he went to as a kid. If you've ever had Tillamook cheese or ice cream, you're probably salivating. The girls liked seeing the cheese making machines and tasting all of the samples. We all loved eating our ice cream before lunch! Afterwards, we finished our drive up the coast to Seaside, Oregon where we checked out the boardwalk shops and beach before checking into our beachfront vacation apartment. The girls loved the carousel ride. In the afternoon, we made sandcastles and spent a lot of time running away from the water. The girls aren't too sure how much they like beach water.










Day 4- Our last day of vacation
We started off the morning at the beach just a short walk from our back door. We spent an hour or so collecting sea shells, sand dollars, and again running from the tide. We also took another attempt at getting our new whale kite into the sky. After our beach morning madness, Hayley decided that she dislikes these cold beaches and the cold water and the cold wind and she wanted to go back to the hotel. We all showered up and took the girls to a salt water taffy outlet and to their last surprise, another aquarium. The Seaside Aquarium is really small and not really worth the money that they charge to get in BUT you can feed the seals that they have there and that was FUN! The girls loved that part. After our short stop at the aquarium, we said goodbye to Seaside and started our drive home. We stopped along the way in Astoria, Oregon to have lunch. We had such a nice time away from home with the exception of me being sick the entire trip. I actually lost my voice for the majority of two days. Oh well, it figures. We already can't wait for our next adventure!

Family Field Trip

Today we went on a family field trip with Ashley's preschool class. We started off in the city of Steilacoom where we met at a park, walked to the city bus stop where we got on the bus and took a "super exciting" ride into town. The kids loved it of course but holy cow it took twenty minutes to go four miles up the street. :) We got off at the bus depot in the Lakewood Towne Center and walked to the Old Country Buffet where the kids got to tour the kitchen before we had lunch. John was able to meet us at the restaurant for a quick bite. Afterwards we made a pit stop into the Dollar Tree where we got the kids some little treats before heading back onto the bus. Then we headed back to Steilacoom where we ended our day. I know,it sounds so exciting huh? For the kids, it really was. Hayley just loved getting to go on the school field trip and all of the kids just thought that they were so grown up, getting to go on the city bus like that. It was actually quite funny that all three parents on board were getting sick from the bus ride but all the kids were just fine! How pathetic is that?