Hatfield Science Center and the Bayfront

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Aaaaaaaaand we're swimming again. Notice Alanna's new swimsuit?

We took a trip to the Hatfield Science Center, something we didn't do the last time we were in Newport. It's a free center with lots of interesting demonstrations and displays. It's really kid-friendly, probably being as close to a children's museum as it could get without actually being classified as a children's museum. There were several tanks filled with saltwater fish and other sea life. The very first thing we saw upon arrival was a tank with an octopus. It was pretty awesome! The center pumps water in from the ocean, filters it, and then filters it again when it's sent back out to sea just like the Seattle Aquarium. Due to the high surf and stormy weather outside, some of the tanks appeared murky in the center. So interesting! Of course, they had a fabulous touch tank filled with starfish, sea anemones, and other crazy sea creatures. We spent some quality time touching everything we could.

 Alanna is face to face with an eel.

 After the science center, we went down to the bayfront. There are logs of cute shops and restaurants along the water along with a Ripley's Believe it Or Not wax museum, a floating aquarium, and several local sea lions adding to the ambiance with their continual, loud barking.

 We stopped in a candy store for a free sample but didn't buy any saltwater taffy this time. It's so good!

Long Weekend in Newport

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Yay for three-day MLK weekends! We booked a hotel room at the La Quinta in Newport for a weekend of coastal life and hotel swimming. We all had a really great time together! The kids got to go swimming five different times. the pool was nice; not overly warm, but not so cold that we were all shivering the whole time either. The hot pool at the end was a nice warm-up as well; a good hot not a burn-your-skin-off kind of hot! We packed a bunch of snacks, kept our expectations low in regards to seeing and or doing a bunch of things, and just enjoyed our time together. Naturally we hit the beach, the bayfront, and a few other highlights, but we kept it low-key. The weather was such that we were glad to be in a hotel and not the camper because it was quite rainy. It was actually really neat to see the ocean in all it's fury for once. We obviously don't go to the coast on day trips when it's stormy so it was fun to see some big water and high surf. Pictures don't do justice at all, but - surprise! - we took some anyway. 

Hattie traveled really well, only fussing a short time on the three-hour drive there and back.We packed lots of snacks for the hotel room and only ate out on Saturday and Sunday nights. One consisted of McDonald's drive-thru and the other was a deli pizza also in the hotel room. It was a great choice for our family. We also packed two pack and plays and had plenty of room for them both in our hotel room. As hotel rooms go, this one was on the bigger end of average. (Does that make sense?) Anyway, we had enough room for everyone and everything - and even a place to spread out wet clothes, swimsuits, and life jackets.

At the hotel! Charlie wanted to wear camo for when we drove past Dean Creek Elk Preserve just outside of Reedsport. We stopped there so I could nurse Hattie, and Matt and the three oldest got out to see if they could get a closer look at the elk out in the field.

This is the first time Molly has worn this life jacket and it worked perfectly!!!

Mom fail. I accidentally forgot Alanna's swimming suit. Sigh. Matt was bathing someone while I was packing Alanna's things in her room, and I knew that her swimsuit was hanging over the shower curtain rod drying from lessons, but since I didn't actually go grab it while I was thinking about it, I forgot it. She's rocking some undies and a life jacket here, but we made a stop at Walmart the first evening and found her one.

After an afternoon swim, we spent the last hour or so of daylight at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. This was the spot where we saw our very first whale last summer. We looked hard but didn't see any whales this time. Like I said, the water was crashing against the rocks and the waves were really big so it wasn't ideal conditions to see anything.

It was pretty cold and windy, and Charlie was pretty concerned that Molly's hat was going to fly away. Rest assured it did not, but Molly kept pulling it off which is why she doesn't have a hat on in the picture. Why? Because she's one.

The sky was fairly clear directly above us and mixed with the clouds out over the water, the sky was really pretty.

Aaaaaaand back into the pool we go! Matt and I took turns swimming with the kids; one with the three swimmers and one with Hattie. It worked out great!

Molly's flashing a thumbs-up in the picture.

Daddy's Home!

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Matt traveled back to Canon City again for a week to attend another RMP workshop. It was another week of the Mommy show but we made it just fine. The kids and I stuck close to home and didn't have anything noteworthy to report at the end of the week. I stayed busy (you're foolin'!) and the only pictures I took during the week were Hattie's weekly ones. When Matt came home, I took a few that evening. Picture #1 shows how excited everyone was to have Daddy home, and the kids demonstrated this enthusiasm by all wanting to be as close to him as possible. Only afterwards did I even realize that I got a picture of Charlie putting something (a postcard?) in his mouth and Alanna biting her toenails. Ohmyword. Ew. Unfortunately I can't say that I haven't done the same thing. One particular memory will always stick with me; I was watching tv at my grandparent's farm house, sitting on the carpet, biting my toenails. Now, I'm totally mortified that I ever did that. Someday Alanna will feel the same about this picture. She sure is flexible though!

 What happens when my 23-month-old doesn't like to keep her hair ties in her hair? She pulls them out over and over again. This is a deflated pigtail look. Oy.

 Is this the beginning of Hattie's first roll?? She got her own arms like that and was leaning waaaaay over...

 ....and waaaaaaay over some more.... oh look! My paci!.... before actually rolling over in the last picture! Yay Hattie! We rolled her back over and she rolled a few more times in both directions (still from belly to back though). Wow! Baby Hattie's got some skills!

12 Weeks

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 Hattie is wearing a new outfit from Country Grandma and Grandpa for her 12 week picture. The outfit is so soft which is perfect for our super soft-skinned, fuzzy-haired, growing-like-a-weed baby Hattie! I love her expression in the last picture.

Sand Dunes Sledding

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The ocean is calling and we must go... so to the coast we went. We headed back to Reedsport (I believe OR42 was still blocked at this point due to a landslide) to do some dunes sledding and hit the beach to enjoy the sunshine, blue water, and copious amounts of sand. Hattie and I missed out on most of the dunes sledding. Charlie and Alanna had so much fun sledding. When we were packing up the sleds that morning, one of the kids asked, "Are we going sledding on sand or snow?" It's a legitimate question around these parts! Molly went down a time or two but then decided it wasn't her thing. Instead, she stood at the top of the hill and watched while Charlie and Alanna (and Matt) went down the hill over and over again. Our first stop was for 90 minutes maybe? Then we headed just a little bit farther north to play at the beach for a while. It was a really beautiful day with a little wind but nothing crazy at all. We were at the beach for three hours and then stopped back at our sledding spot for a few more runs down the sand before losing our daylight. We were just leaving Reedsport as the sun dipped into the beautiful Pacific. Sigh. 

 Is that Charlie and Alanna running barefoot into the water in January, you ask? Yes, yes it is.