curbing

We love working and being in our backyard. This spring, we added some curbing to the border of the flower beds. I think it looks really nice. And hopefully, it will keep the grass out of the flowers a little better.

BEFORE:

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Spring Break: Friday

On Friday, we said goodbye to the condo and the ocean and started driving.

We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory before leaving the coast. It was fun and a great place for lunch. We drove all the way to Boise, and spent the night at a cheap hotel by the airport. Saturday, we drove the rest of the way home. The girls were so excited when we got home. I was happy to see how much they missed their room and bed, the backyard, etc. Home Sweet Home!

Spring Break: Thursday

On Thursday I did not want to go anywhere in the car, since we would be driving all day Friday. It ended up being one of my favorite days of the trip. It was supposed to rain, but we got lucky and had a pretty nice day. We walked down to the promenade: the bay, the whale watching center, and the shops. We stopped in the candy shop and got some taffy, several gift shops to get a bell and t-shirts, and the Fuddy Duddy Fudge shop that had awesome fudge.

Spring Break: Wednesday

On Wednesday, we took advantage of the one day it wasn't supposed to rain to go out on a boat. We took a Discovery Tour of the Newport Bay. Normally, they would go out on the ocean as well for some whale watching, but it was too stormy still. So we just cruised around the Yaquina Bay and River. It was really fun, with teaching and activities for the kids. Kimee and Audrey both got to take a turn driving the boat with Captain Tom.

Right at the end of the tour, as we were walking to get off the boat, Kimee dropped her glasses in the water. She says a bug landed on her face and she shook her head to get it off. She kept shaking her head, and her glasses fell right into the water. She was so sad, she cried as if she was really hurt.

 This is where Kimee's glasses were lost.

Down by the docks, we walked around to some of the shops and also watched and listened to the California Sea Lions bark.

After the tour, we stopped for lunch at the Pig'N Pancake in Newport. We loved it! We want to add that to our "must see" list next time we go to Oregon.

When we were in Newport, we stopped at a seafood market and picked up some fresh crab.  Dave was excited to eat it for dinner with the Claunches. The girls and I had something else for dinner; we were going to just have a taste of crab. When they were asking Audrey if she wanted to try some crab, Jon told her it would make her grow big and strong. She took it very literally. She actually still talks about it now, over a month later. When I say she is a big girl, she says she is bigger because she ate crab.

Well, Dave fed Maddi a small bite of crab. Audrey started sobbing. We couldn't figure out what was the matter. It was so sweet and almost brought me to tears when she could finally get the words out.
It was something like this, in between sobs...
"I don't want Maddi to eat crab. I don't want her to grow big and strong. I want her to stay a baby. She's my baby."
Audrey, I completely understand how you feel!

Spring Break: Tuesday

On Tuesday, we drove down to Sea Lion Caves. It was really awesome. We didn't get pictures in the cave (it was pretty dark and no flash photography allowed), but it was cooler in real life than in the pictures anyway. Before going down, we saw Heceta Head Lighthouse in the distance and watched a lot of sea lions in the water outside of the cave.

In the center of this picture, you can see a few sea lions in the water.

To get to the cave, you walked down quite a bit of stairs, then took an elevator. The elevator had a smell of dead fish, a small glimpse of what awaited us when the doors opened to the cave. Smell and all, it was totally awesome to view and listen to a cave of hundreds of sea lions, and birds, in their natural habitat.

Overlooking one of the water entrances to the cave. 

You could see lots of sea lions out there as they came and went from the cave.

We stopped in the gift shop for some sea lion key chains, a magnet, bath toys, and popcorn!

After Sea Lion Caves, we stopped at Devil's Churn State Park and went for a short hike. It was downhill quite steep to the ocean. Poor Dave got quite a workout on the way back up. Thanks, honey!

Audrey and I walked out to the tide pools.

One more stop on the way back to the condo- Beverly Beach! We camped at this State Park with the Smiths when Kimee was 11 months old.

We have a picture of Dave holding Kimee in front of this sign six years ago, so we thought we should take another one. My, how she has grown!

Audrey wouldn't get out of the stroller. Once we got to the beach, she was terrified because of her previous experience at Gleneden Beach. She cried the entire time until we got back to the car. Sorry to all the people that had to witness that. Kimee and Maddi still had fun, but it wasn't long enough.

Spring Break: Monday

On Monday, we went to the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. The kids loved the touch pools. Kimee wasn't scared to touch anything. We also got to watch the workers feed some of the bigger fish in the tanks.

After the science center, we drove to the Yaquina Bay view area and lighthouse. The lighthouse wasn't open at the time, so we just looked out over the bay.

It had been raining and it was really windy. We stopped at a lookout that had binoculars that you put a quarter in to get them to work. Kimee ran back to the van to get a quarter. Then ran back to us at full speed. As she got to the extremely slick wooden deck, she slipped and hit the deck with great force. She screamed so loud and cried for a long time. She ended up with a really bad bruise.  After we got home, this was one of three stories that she had to tell everyone of the bad things that happened on our trip.

 The Claunch kids on the overlook deck where Kimee slipped.

Then we went to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It was extremely windy here. Seriously, it was hard to even walk. We got there a little before it opened, so we had to wait outside. We stood in a huddle for a few minutes just trying to stay warm.

This lighthouse is really cool. It is the tallest on the Oregon Coast and has 114 stairs to get to the top. Kimee didn't feel up to it, so just Audrey and I went. Audrey was such a good sport. I don't think she realized what she was doing. Just before we got to the top, she got spooked, but she was able to make it to the top. We both got buttons that say we made it to the top of Yaquina Head Lighthouse. She started crying on the way back down. I stopped to take her picture.

She cheered right up when I asked her to smile for the camera.

I am so proud of Audrey for being such a good sport!

Everyone was ready to head back to the condo for lunch, naps, and swimming!