Evraz Picnic Fun

Today was  Doug's company picnic. Both Doug and I were a bit indifferent about going, but in the end we are SO glad we did. It was such a fun and actually relaxing afternoon at Blue Lake Park and the kids had a BLAST!

On the way.. "Dirty Yellow", his monster truck came along for the ride!

 

After enjoying great BBQ lunch, we headed out to play. There was so much for the kids to do, but the THREE different bouncy houses were where they spent most of their time!

Um.. this kid is CRAZY on the bouncy house!

Sweaty, hot and happy kids with their buddy Hillary. Her dad Dean has worked with Doug for almost 19 years. We love the Barley family!

Hillary rockin' it on the bouncy "Twister" game.. she did the best out of everyone that played I think!

The kids had fun watching Hillary on the edge..

Face painted girl!

Matthew enjoyed arts and crafts, too!

Spin Art fun!

Such a fun day! The kids were so exhausted tonight and fell asleep early and quickly!

Another day of summer fun!

Evelyn's Picnic

Today Evelyn came up with the idea to pack a picnic and head to the park to play and eat. She was beside herself with excitement, getting everything ready to go. She mostly made her own sandwich (I cut the bread for her.. she did everything else) and packed some grapes, carrots, and chips along with water. She picked the basket and had one of her baby blankets to use as a cover. too. I was so impressed with my big girl and her planning skills!

Ready to go!

They held hands the entire way to the park

Happy feet...

The ground at the park was wet from the sprinklers so they ate on the play structure bridge!

After lunch it was time to play! Evelyn has some serious swinging and climbing skills!

She went up and over the "dome" 5 times!

What a treat it is to see Evelyn growing into a young lady. A tad bittersweet, but so awesome!

Beach Memories

Ahhh.... the Oregon Coast. One of the most beautiful, most peaceful places on earth.  God made the sea on the third day of creation.. and said it was good. Really good, in my opinion! There are few places where I can go and almost instantly start to relax, and the beach is one of them.

We just returned from our annual week away to Lincoln City. Again, it was such a fun and special time for us as a family. Being away from the hubub of every day life is just so refreshing and needed for all of us, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time away.

We arrived Sunday afternoon (we left right after church) and the kids wasted no time in getting down to the sand.. in their nice clothes!

It really is pointless to expect my silly husband to smile "normal" for a picture! ;)

The kids each brought a bag of toys and got their room all set up once our condo was ready! :)

MONDAY

Feeding the sea gulls is so much fun... they do fly-bys on our balcony and catch the bread in the air! The kids think it is hilarious!

I wish I could remember what theses faces were about! :(

We usually take one afternoon and head to Gleneden Beach to play and have a beach BBQ with dogs, beans and s'mores. We headed there and Matthew was whiny and fussy, saying he wanted to go back to "our beach" (the one right in front of our condo). Nothing made him happy at the beach and I could tell he was tired but he said he wasn't. I was snuggling with him and he fell asleep.. for over an hour! The waves were crashing and Evelyn and Doug were playing and he slept through it all. He really needed that nap!

I thoroughly enjoyed this time with my baby!

Sadly when he woke up he still wasn't in the best of moods and still wanted to go "home", and Evelyn wanted to go also, so we changed our plans and headed back. We stopped by Papa Murphy's and picked up pizza for dinner instead (it was one of our planned dinners anyway, so we just did it that night instead!)

The kids got "Mini Murphs" and made their own pizzas!

Where we stay is right where the D River (the smallest river in the world, if you must know!) joins the ocean. The "river" winds thru the beach and the water is much warmer than the cold ocean water.  After dinner, we headed back to the beach and had SO much fun playing in the water..both the river and the ocean!

Yes, she is always dancing! :)

"Sisser" and "TT" (What they call each other). They really are best friends!

He loves the water!

He loves rocks too.. and spent lots of time finding them and throwing them into the water!

Both kids fell asleep within moments that night (even with Matthew taking a nap) and all of us took naps the rest of our time there.. and it made much happier kids! Playing on the beach is hard work, ya know! 

TUESDAY

At 6:30 in the morning, Evelyn woke me up and said "Mom.. I just lost my tooth!".  We have been anxiously awaiting the loss of her very FIRST tooth for some time and she was so hopeful it would happen at the beach..and it did! She was so excited and will probably always remember where she lost her first tooth!

And yes, the Tooth Fairy DOES come to the beach! :)

We had fun feeding the sea gulls on the beach, too!

There was some serious sand castle building happening while we were there!

Relaxed daddy!

The weather was perfect!

Some of Evelyn's art she drew in the sand!

Her sign says "2013 Bech" :)

"King" Matthew kicking back after dinner enjoying a twizzler.. silly boy!

I am blessed!

Told ya she is always dancing and posing! :)

WEDNESDAY

We decided to do something new this year and headed south to Newport to play around. The kids were excited to see a new "beach place".  Our first stop was the Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center. Both Doug and I have fond memories of going to this place as kids, and it was fun to share it with our own little people! 

The famous octopus!

The kids REALLY had fun exploring and learning about sea life. They want to come back next year!

We headed to the historic bay front area of town and had lunch at Mo's.. the original one!

Then it was time to find a taffy shop.. and we succeeded!

We visited Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.. what a very cool place with such great history. Evelyn enjoyed it more than Matthew but he did like it.. "kinda"!

We headed back to Lincoln City and spend our last afternoon there playing in the sand.

Doug showing the kids how to skip rocks

Happiness!

Evelyn is quite the sand artist!

Evelyn's other "Beach Trip" sign

I pretty much love him to bits!

We left the next morning, filled with fun memories and full hearts. The kids are already counting down until next year. 

And, if I am being honest, I am too!!