Beach Vacation

We spent two days this week at a KOA between Astoria and Seaside. It was a lot of fun. We were in a little two room cabin and there was so much to do at the KOA, we didn't have time to fit it all in. We only spent a few hours at the beach in the afternoon. It was just enough time to get good and sandy. Dylan had fun jumping in the waves with Clint, and Courtney kept busy running to fill up her little bucket with seawater in an effort to make a sandcastle.
The jumping pillow at the KOA was a big hit with the kids. It is literally like a pillow on the ground that is pumped with air and tapers off at the sides. I don't think I ever saw it empty in the time we were there.
We also spent quite a bit of time at the pool. The kids have been in swim lessons this summer, but haven't been brave enough to dunk their heads in the water. This weekend Courtney finally worked up the courage to do it and was so proud of herself that it was difficult to get her out of the water.We also made an attempt to teach the kids how to do minature golf. I don't think they really got the concept. Ah well, you can't win them all. This place had so much to do, and we had so much fun, we can't wait to go back. I made the rest of them tour a historic home with me in Astoria, called the Flavel house. It had 14 foot ceilings and a tower so you could watch the ships come in. I love the uniqueness of these old homes. On the way home we stopped at the outlet mall in Seaside. Now, if we could just get the kids to sleep when they are not in their own beds I would say it was a perfect trip.

Southern Oregon Vacation

Clint and I decided to use the week between our birthdays to go down to southern Oregon and see some of the sites here in Oregon that we have never seen before. On our way down, we went to the Wildlife Safari, just outside of Roseberg. Clint took the kids on a camel ride and I couldn't believe we got Courtney to do it. Seeing all the animals up close was a lot of fun as we drove around the park. The bears were the most amazing and scary.
On day two we went to Crater Lake. We were staying near Grants Pass but it was still quite the drive out to the Lake. The kids were amazed to still see snow on the ground since we were at a pretty high elevation. I had to keep my eyes off the road because the cliffside dropoff is alittle too much for me. I was amazed at how clear and beautiful the lake is. We toured the visitors center and the historical lodge that had recently been renovated.
Day three was the busiest. In the morning we went on a tour of the Harry & David factory in Ashland. It was a pretty amazing set of factories and fields. At the end we got free samples of the chocolates and cookies. The kids loved them, but I think they liked the tour bus best. Then we had to stop by the Medford Temple since we were so close. It is right next to the stake center and we couldn't help wishing our temple was that close. It was small but beautiful and we were sad that we didn't have anyone to watch the kids so we could do a session. Later that afternoon we went to the Oregon Vortex. This is similar to the Bermuda Triangle. We saw a bottle roll uphill and people appear to grow 2 inches by walking on a level board. There were also these spots to stand in where, when you relax, you can feel yourself pulled to stand at an angle. I'm not sure how much the kids understood, but Clint and I were pretty impressed.
On the fourth day we went to a children's science museum in Ashland. The kids loved it there. They had a bubble room like the Gilbert House in Salem, but everything else was new and we spent a couple hours just letting the kids explore. That afternoon we also went to the city park to let the kids play and Dylan got himself soaked in the water feature there. We were scheduled to stay the night and go home Friday morning. But we decided that we really just wanted to sleep in our own beds that night. So we packed up after dinner and made it home late Thursday night. Whew! We had a lot of fun and despite the lack of sleep and the ant problem we'd definitely do it again, just not right away!