Vacation!!!

What a vacation we had!! On Saturday we dropped off the dog and headed to Newport for a weekend of O fun. What better way to celebrate O weeks than a trip to the ocean!

We started at Yaquina Head lighthouse, where Bayley & I climbed to the top. At the vista there were volunteers with telescopes so the boys could see Seal Rock. We hiked down to the rocky shore and saw seals swimming. We drove to our hotel and checked in...briefly. Nothing could keep those boys from the beach! They played chicken with the waves, flew a pterodactyl kite, and made sand mountains. Thankfully we had beach access, so we were able to spray the sand off when we called it a day.

Day two was the Oregon Coast Aquarium where were we sure to seek out the octopus & otters. They have a great crustacean exhibit set up like a comic book. A seal made friends with Hayden, and both boys agreed the shark tube was the best feature. At the Hatfield Marine Science Center they loved the tide pool with fish, rays, anenome, sea slugs, and starfish. We even made lunch educational with a trip through Rogue Brewery - hey, they have a great kids meal, crayons, a lego table, and view of the marina. After lunch we headed to the Bayfront and did Ripley's, Wax Works, and the Undersea Garden. Yaquina Bay lighthouse came next - this was my highlight of the places we visited. The lighhouse had the lightkeepers cottage attached, and they'd done up the rooms to be historically accurate. Back to the hotel for swimming in the pool, followed by a trip back to Yaquina Head where they have tidepools. We found a hermit crab, muscles, sea snails, anenome, starfish, sand fleas, and a crab ran in front of us as we were leaving! After dinner we were sure they'd be tired out. No such luck. But it only took an hour to get them to settle down. (Better than the 2+ from night one.)

After a chocolate breakfast (chocolate chip muffin & cocoa. So nutritious!) we were on the road. We stopped at a few places on the map. Devil's Punchbowl was interesting, but Bayley declared Cape Foulweather the worst place ever. He finds no point in an ocean view when there is no beach to play on. So we found him a beach. We didn't exactly count on how dirty they got there, but they had fun. We ate at Pig'n Pancake for no other reason than it is a Oregon coast staple, and then headed for home!

Quite nice for our first summer vacation!