Oregon Coast

Welp. Our summer family vacation took place July 29-Aug 2 in the lovely little town of Florence, Oregon.

We were joined by Ryan's parents, two of his sisters, and their kiddies. The lot of us temporarily inhabited two houses adjacent to the beach. They weren't the snazziest accommodations, but they were comfortable and super close to the ocean.

Ryan wanted a picture of the snow-capped mountains we passed on our way to the coast...

And here some of us are on the beach. Wow, that was a quick change of scenery.

 

Shimmery water as far as the eye could see. And then some.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual, it was absolutely dazzling.

 

I'm not going to get too detailed about every little move we made the entire trip, so don't be too bummed about that.

 

One of the afternoons we drove to a nice, easy hiking trail. It was perfect for the kids and Ryan's preggo sisters. =)   Actually, was ideal for anyone who doesn't loathe effortless, earthy walks .

 

 

At the end of the shortish trail was this good-looking waterfall. 

 

Oliver, Jane, Malory, Cora, Ethan, Alex and Tomi. (Not pictured: Royce. He was napping in the van with Grandpa.)

 



 

We had fun negotiating these boulders. Easy does it, Cora!

 



 

My little girl isn't little anymore. =/

 

 

 

 

One day we visited the Heceta Head Lighthouse. 

 

 Bethany looking concerned.

 

 



 

What a view! 

 

It turns out our new camera has a decent zoom function. According to my contact-bedecked eyes, this rocky hill was covered with moving black specks. Turns out they were black and white birds. The kids thought they looked like penguins. Some photographer guy next to us told us what they were, but I don't know how to spell that word. It starts with an M.

 

 

 

Next we explored some tide pools.

 

 

I hadn't seen any since my 5th-grade science club trip. 

 

 

The kids had a bunch of fun here. I'd have posted more pictures of each outing, but it took FOREVER to upload the ones I did, so these will have to be enough for ya. 

 

We spent plenty of time on the beach. It was chilly as usual, but the kids didn't care.

 



 

 





 

 

This is the view from our window. It was foggy a lot of the time, but you can sort of see the ocean if you have a good imagination.

 

 

This is another picturesque pit stop we took, which included more nature walking.

 



 

 

This path also led to a beach.



 

 

 

We opted for a couple more easy as pie hikes on our last full day on the coast.

  

We were looking for the so-called Hobbit Trail. We first stopped at the wrong place. We figured out it wasn't right after walking down the path for a few moments. But we saw some cute lizards on the way, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

 

The Hobbit trail was on the opposite side of the road. The sign was tucked back enough that we couldn't see it from the car.

 



 

 

 

 

 It was pretty cool. The pictures don't do it justice. Many of the trees were mossy, twisted and old. As you can surely see.

 

The trail led to a secluded beach. We must have been there on a slow day -- we were the only ones frolicking on the sand. Or maybe it was that we scared everyone else away. I am good at that. :/  Either way, we had fun and it was beautiful out there.

 

I had to wear my glasses for a day because one of my contacts had ripped and was giving me fits, and I hadn't brought a spare pair. I'm just glad I had the foresight (haha) to bring the glasses as backup. I got them over two years ago and I never wear them in public (for personal reasons -- including but not limited to depth perception issues) and I only rarely wear them at home. 

I like them because they have pale blue and black giraffe print on the sides. =) 

 

 

 



 

We had cousin Malory with us. She even hitched a ride to Oregon with us.

 



 

The kids had an impromptu, music-free dance party. =)  

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome trees.

 

 

 Awesome kids beneath awesome trees.

 

 

 



I'd say our trip to the coast was a success. 

Below is a photo of the dense mountain greenery on the drive home.  

 

The only regret was running out of time/luck to find any sort of souvenir stores. Florence didn't seem as touristy as Seaside is (where we went last year). That could be a good thing unless you have a trinket-loving 10-year-old wanting a special treasure to take home with her. Yes, a town void of gift shops is the perfect place to vacation ... unless the mom involved wouldn't have minded stumbling upon a cool candy store or two before heading home. ;) 

 

Anyway, yay for the Oregon coast!

Summer Fun

I'm getting kind of behind on my reports. Better do a quick one before I forget everything about my summer.

I only have 3 measly pics from the last several weeks. (Could be a blessing in disguise...)

So the Color Me Rad 5k was fun. Maria, Renee and I participated. We didn't get as colorful as we'd imagined.

 

Maria was the only one of us with a way to take a picture. She took a few other pics, but they apparently weren't as good as this one. Must be why I haven't seen any of them, even after asking if this was really the best photo of the morning. ;)  I was in the process of saying something in this shot. I found out a couple of days later that we'd missed out on some sort of photo booth. I got an email about our finish line photos, so I looked at them, only to discover that I'm not pictured with Maria and Renee. I'm all by myself! Nice. Needless to say, I refrained from ordering any.

 Do you like my little shorts with sprinkle donuts on them? I do.

 

 

The tap dance class was quite the experience. It started out with 8 or 9 students, and by the end it was just 5--  my sisters, me, and one other brave woman.

 



These are our tootsies just before our first class. Somehow I missed the subconscious memo about wearing cute sockies.

 



 

And here we are at the start of our last class. We plan to resume the experience this fall. The teacher promised an end-of-year production that will include all levels of tap dancers. =)

We all had an enjoyable time, though some of the steps are pretty tricky for those of us who aren't very coordinated (me). I won't stop until I get to learn a routine. Or maybe I won't even stop then.

 

 

I finished the "Read the Book of Mormon in 60 Days" challenge right on schedule. I have to admit, I have the worst attention span. I had to read along while listening to it online to even have a chance of concentrating. But it was overall a nice experience. I'm glad Suzy put us up to it.

 

 

Here's what else we've been busy with so far this summer-

 

Took the kids for our first swim of the season on July 1. With Renee and her kids. At Renee's mom's pool. So fun and refreshing!

 

Went to Eagle Island with the kiddies on July 2 with Rachel and her girls. Cool and relaxing, in spite of the murky water.

 

Took the kids to the zoo once with my mom, Fletcher, PJ, Maren, Maisie, and Ruby.

 

Went to the aquarium with Ryan, Oliver, Jackie, Eric, Ethan, and Tomi. I think that was the week Cora and Jane were on a trip to Utah with Ryan's mom.

 

I've been going to that BODYPUMP class 2 or 3 times a week at the gym. I like it now. I look really awesome doing an hour worth of clean and presses, squats, lunges, bicep curls, dead lifts, push-ups, bench presses, dips, etc... ;)  I *think* I'm noticing a tiny bit of muscle tone on my previously wimpy limbs.

 

We went bowling once. Visited a few parks, threw rocks in the river, attended cub scout day camp, cub scout den meetings. Got fired ;) as the R.S. pianist and called as the R.S. meeting committee chair. Been doing yard work-- pulling weeds, trimming shrubs and trees, watering flowers, replenishing flower bed bark where needed. Yard work is good thinking time -- quite therapeutic for me.

Went to a 4th of July BBQ at the Lytles and went to Ann Morrison Park for the fire works.

 

I guess that's enough summer for now! Getting set to go camping with Ryan's fam tomorrow. And the camera Ryan ordered should be coming in the mail any minute. =) I'm excited to take pictures again! Let's hope the new camera doesn't get hurt like the others.

 

Ok, I mean it. That's enough for now. I'm such a rambler. 

Yard Candy

Yup. Summer is busy spewing its beauty all over our property again. See for yourself...

 

I can't remember what these globular flowers are called, but I love them!

 



 

Okay, these pictures are all more than a month old and some of the flowers are goners by now. But I can't not share them. Especially since we're currently camera-less. =( Mine has been broken for a while and Cora's is now broken. We're reading reviews on what to get next.

 

 

 

I transplanted individual bunches of flowers into pots... 

I'm thrilled to the max whenever I see my lovely flowers.

Here's a portion of one of the cute front yard shrubs...

I've also treasured the cute birdies who have visited me.

 

 

We had an adorable family of mourning doves camping out in our backyard for a couple of weeks. =)

 

These are the babies before they could fly.

 

 





I did a little research on mourning doves and found that they are not particularly afraid of people. I liked that. For as long as they were in our yard I pretended they were my friends and that they found comfort in my kind words and hospitality. =) 'Cause I'm sure they did.

 

Within a day or two of these photos, they learned to fly but continued to hang out with me, lounging in different spots around our yard.

 

 

Below is a grainy pic of the doting parents...

 

 

I saw one of the adults feeding the babies one day. They were right outside Cora's window, so I had a clear view of them.  I grabbed the camera and proceeded to video the moment. Apparently they like their privacy. After a few seconds they became aware that I was watching them. They all ceased feasting and slowly craned their necks to look at me. I think I read their beaks correctly when they asked in unison, "Do you mind?!"  It was pretty funny.

 

The birds abandoned me the day after I posted a picture of them on facebook. I'd captioned it with something about how they didn't want to leave me because they liked me too much. =/  I just don't know when to quit! Next time some birds decide to reside in my yard I will try minding my own dang business!

 



Anyway, that's a sample of what's sort of new in our yard. My front yard flowers are progressing nicely, but I can't document them until we get a new camera. If that's not motivation enough, I don't know what is...