Marshmallow Fields!
It's been a few months since I updated our Blog so hopefully I can remember all the things that have happened. The school year finished up (much too soon if you ask me) and we discovered that Trevor had 100% attendance. I didn't even realize it. Megan started Driver's Education and finished up right before we left on vacation. Megan then went to Girl's Camp and had a great time. As soon as she got home, we packed up and headed to the Oregon Coast.
We drove all day and stopped off at Multnomah Falls and were surprised to see that it didn't have much water coming over the edge. Then we took the Family to the Portland IKEA for lunch and with much restraint didn't shop for too long before we got back on the road and headed to the coast. The traffic through Portland made me happy to live where we do and not miss that mess at all. We showed the kids various spots in Portland where Dave and I worked or went to school. We pointed to Beaverton as we drove by and told the kids that's where we had our first apartment after we got married. When we got to McMinnville we saw the Museum where they have the Spruce Goose. It was closing for the day and cost too much so we just did a drive by.
We finally made it to the coast, just in time for the fog to roll in. We had a mix-up with our Hotel so we ended up at another Hotel and I think it was a good thing because our room was really nice. It's balcony was right on the ocean! It had a Master bedroom, a fireplace, a kitchenette with cook top and did I mention the view? We just stepped out our front door went down some stairs and we were on the beach. There were also Fire pits right outside our door that they would lend you sticks to roast marshmallows.
The next day we met up with Ann and Mike's Family and drove to Newport and went through the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was fun to walk through the tunnels of fish and sharks. After that I wanted to get some famous Mo's clam chowder so we had to wait a while but finally got in. While we were waiting Dave found us some fresh shrimp and crab cocktail to snack on. Once we finally got into the restaurant we were frozen by the AC and the chowder was not as good as I remember but not bad. Not sure it was worth waiting an hour. After that we toured a little Light House and then headed back up to our Hotel in Lincoln City. We roasted hot dogs and had S'mores at the fire pits outside our room with Ann and Mike's crew. We popped some popcorn and watched a show after that. It was a good day.
The next day we drove the hour and a half drive up to the Beach house Ann and Mike's family were staying at in Rockaway Beach. We ate lunch with them and then spent the afternoon playing at the beach. It was a nice day for flying kites an we had three up at one time. There are cool rocks that are really flat so we collected some of them and then we went in to town for Waffle Cones. We then drove to Tillamook and took a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We got to sample lots of different cheese and see how it's made. We headed back to our Hotel after that. I had to take a picture of the Hay bales because they look just like marshmallows. I guess they wrap them in plastic to keep them from getting to wet.
It was raining the next day so we decided to drive even further north and walk around Seaside. It was just a lot of shops and touristy stuff but interesting enough. After that we went back to Rockaway Beach for a little bit and got one more waffle cone on our way back to the hotel (yes, they were that good!).
We reluctantly left the coast and headed to Bend. We stopped in Keizer and showed the kids the house we lived in before we moved to Idaho and then tried to find my favorite Vietnamese Restaurant. We couldn't find it and I was pretty bummed. We had a nice drive to Bend where my good friend Heather and her family lives and we spent the night with them. She took us to a really pretty waterfall near their house the next day and then showed us all the fun things there is to do in Bend. We will definitely have to stay longer next time. As we were driving home it felt like the whole trip was just a blur. It was fun but went by way to fast.
As soon as we got home we had to hurry up and scrub the house to get ready for Dave's parents and Grandma to visit. They stayed and even got to hear Megan give a talk in Sacrament Meeting. As soon as they left, we sent Logan off to Scout camp and Emma started swimming lessons. Whew, I think I need another vacation. | 
