Eugene-Florence vacation

Audrey and Kate took a five-day, end-of-summer vacation to Eugene and Florence, OR this week. Mama and Dada wanted to explore a part of the Oregon Coast the family hadn't been to before, and they both happened to need to be in Eugene for work on different days this week, so the trip was a combination of work travel and family vacation.

On Wednesday, the girls drove to Eugene and checked out the Fifth Street Public Market and the RiverPlay Discovery Village Playground while Mama attended a work conference in the afternoon. The Playground featured lots of fun play structures and opportunities to play with sand and water. They went down to the riverbank to try to find a place to wade in and stay cool, but there were no good beach options and the river was too fast, so they payed a bit more in the playground then headed out to get Slurpees and pick up Mama. They then drove from Eugene to their hotel in Florence, stopping for dinner at Mo's.

The girls' hotel room was on the bottom floor with easy access to the beach. There were two queen beds in the room, and the original plan was for Audrey and Kate to share a bed. But when silliness ensued, the plan was changed and they took turns sharing a bed with Mama and Dada. They also got to watch a lot of TV, especially the Disney Channel.

On Thursday, the family went exploring, taking in the Sea Lion Caves (unfortunately there were no sea lions to be seen that day), having lunch in Yachats, and touring the lighthouse and lighthouse keeper's house at the Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint.

On Friday, Dada had to travel back into Eugene for his own work conference. While he was gone, Audrey and Kate went to the beach with Mama to fly kites and play in the sand. Later they swam in the hotel pool, which featured a hot tub, a shallow kiddie pool, and a splashpad.

On Saturday, the girls drove south to Coos Bay for the annual Blackberry Festival, although there were not many blackberries to be found (it seemed more like an excuse to hold a street fair). On the way back to Florence, they stopped to explore the dunes and beach at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

On Sunday, the girls played at the pool one more time, then headed north to Newport to take in the Newport Aquarium before driving back home. They were supposed to end the day with a birthday party for Porter Koch at Pump It Up Junior in Beaverton, but a late start out of Newport and traffic delays meant they only had a few minutes to bounce and slide. They did get to have pizza and birthday cake, though.

(If the slide show below doesn't appear or doesn't work, click here.)