Memorial Day beach trip

Audrey and Kate took a trip to the "beach house" in Gleneden Beach for Memorial Day. In addition to their usual coast activities -- swimming in the swimming pool, dining at Mo's, and watching a lot of cable TV -- the girls also helped Dada celebrate his birthday and checked out a few beaches they hadn't been to before (the beach on the Salishan Spit, Nye Beach in Newport, and the beach at Fogarty Creek State Park).

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Audrey and Kate helped Dada celebrate his birthday today at the "beach house." They helped Mama make a cake, and helped Dada blow out the candles on his cake.

Trip to Cannon Beach

The girls and their cousins took a day trip to Cannon Beach today. It had rained earlier in the day, but when they got their the clouds were breaking up and it proved to be a relatively pleasant -- albeit wind -- day at the beach. The girls played in the sand, climbed some sand hills, checked out the tide pools at Haystack Rock, warmed themselves by a fire in a sand shelter some nice beach-goers let them use while they were away, and had dinner at Mo's before driving home.

New Year's Beach Trip

Audrey and Kate rang in the new year with a trip to the "beach house." In addition to the usual beach activities -- swimming in the condo swimming pool, eating at Mo's, watching a lot of cable television -- they also explored a new beach, visited the Yaquina Head lighthouse and tide pools (unfortunately, the lighthouse was closed and shrouded in plastic for painting), and checked out -- at Aunt Jill's suggestion -- the Rogue Brewery and restaurant. Kate also convinced Mama and Dada that she should have a cake to celebrate her "half-birthday" on January 3.

Beach trip

After spending the night at Lily and Cora's house after Thanksgiving, Audrey and Kate headed to the "beach house" for the rest of the long weekend. As with previous trips to the beach house, highlights for the girls included swimming in the condo swimming pool (they didn't have the pool to themselves this time like they usually do, though: lots of other kids swimming there), eating at Mo's (twice), and visiting the Newport Aquarium. They also walked around the historic section of Newport, watching people catching crabs and sea lions resting on a dock.

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.)

Oxbow Park

Audrey and Kate cooled off today with a trip to Oxbow Park to play in the Sandy River. The river was shallow and slow enough for them to walk across it with Dada's help. Later, they thought it was hilarious to fill up their swimsuits with sand so that it looked like they had big tummies.

Beach trip

Audrey and Kate spent the Memorial Day weekend at the "beach house" (as they call the Cavalier condo in Gleneden Beach). Unfortunately, Kate was sick for much of it, so their agenda was not too ambitious. They did manage to get in some beach and swimming pool time, as well as make a couple of trips to Mo's and one to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Tennis practice

On the way home from our beach trip today, we stopped at Dorchester Park in Lincoln City to let Audrey try out her new tennis racket. She'll start tennis lessons tomorrow at Peninsula Park, and we thought maybe we should give her a brief introduction to the sport before the class starts. After hitting some balls around for awhile, Audrey and Kate served as ball girls for Mama and Dada. There were many balls to shag, as Mama and Dada hadn't played tennis in years.

Beach trip

Audrey and Kate enjoyed a four-day stay at what they call "the beach house" in Gleneden Beach. The weather was sunny and fairly warm, a real treat considering what the average Oregon Coast weather is usually like. Unfortunately, Audrey was fighting off a bug on the way to the beach and then Kate and Mama and Dada came down with it during the trip. It made everyone feel a little sluggish. We did still manage to get down to the beach, make a trip to Mo's, and swim in the pool a couple of times. On one day, Audrey went back-to-school shopping with Mama at the outlet mall while Dada and Kate checked out a fun park Aunt Jill and cousin Lily recommended.

New Year's Eve at the beach

The girls had a fairly low-key New Year's Eve. They had driven out to the "beach house" with Mama and Dada earlier in the day, skipping their naps, and so no one was really up for late-night revelry. They had fondue for dinner and then got to watch "Beauty and the Beast." They paused the movie to celebrate the new year at about 7:40 with noisemakers, sparkly (cava for Mama and Dada, sparkling blueberry juice for them), and a family photo, which Kate in her grumpy, nap-deprived state refused to pose for.

Beach trip

Audrey and Kate spent time at the family beach condo on the Oregon Coast, which they call the "beach house." While there, they visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, met up with Uncle Keith and Allison for lunch at Mo's, swam in the pool (Audrey's swimming is really coming along now), and ventured out onto the beach during a break in the rain. After they got home, they went to Ikea to help Mama and Dada pick out some new chairs. While there, Audrey asked to go to the playland and was content to stay there until Mama and Dada were ready to go and picked her up (we were quite impressed with her independence). The girls liked the chairs Mama and Dada got, mostly because they came in huge boxes they got to play in. (If the slide show below doesn't work, click here.)

Flower children

Audrey and Kate enjoyed their stay at the Oregon coast. On the way home today we stopped at Aunt Jan and Uncle Dennis' place. We got to see some of Aunt Jan's cracker-making operation, as well as the huge garden of a neighbor, Mary, who let the girls pick out a flower they could have. Audrey picked a purple dahlia called "Rip City." Kate didn't feel like picking, so Mary selected for her a red dahlia that was just about as big as Kate's head (as demonstrated by Kate in the photo).

Go fly a kite

It was a gorgeous day today at the Oregon Coast. We went to Nehalem Bay State Park, where Audrey flew her first kite and found her first sand dollar. The girls cooled off in the waves, slid down sand hills, and blew some bubbles.

Sunny day at the beach

Audrey and Kate on the beach in Manzanita with Neahkahnie Mountain in the background. They had just come from the Manzanita Farmers Market, where they got to see Aunt Jan working at her table selling her crackers and got their face or arm (Kate) painted (hence the blotches on Audrey's face). They are staying at Honey and Honey Grandpa's trailer near Nehalem.