Mom in Brookings

Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn't seen my mom in just about 2 years.  Unacceptable.  But she came out to see us at the end of February, and I've roped her into coming in September too since she'll have another grandchild to see.  We spent 2 days here in Brookings and we did some cool stuff.

Brett was able to get us on a ride on one of the Coast Guard boats.  The gear is less than attractive, but it will keep you warm if you fall overboard.

We rode out to a lighthouse about 12 miles off shore.  I didn't get sick until we stopped near the lighthouse.  Although the sea was calm, you never would have known it by looking at that lighthouse.  The water was swelling so drastically it was scary - and beautiful at the same time.  There was a family of sea lions that were practically swimming on top of each other in the swells too, which was awesome to watch.

Here's Brett and the crew in full gear.  If you ever get stranded and need the Coast Guard to rescue you, this is what they'll look like.  Hard to miss in bright orange.



On the way back home, we got a chance to drive the boat.  Here's mom.

And then me.  I drove for quite a while and was completely paranoid the whole time that I would hit a bunch of crab pots.  They are really hard to see, especially with the wind blowing in your contact-wearing eyes.  We had gone to the beach that morning, so with these two activities we covered one of Brookings' best features: the ocean.  The next day we covered the second one: trees.

We went down to Trees of Mystery in California to walk through the redwoods.  It's a beautiful drive with trees on one side and ocean on the other.  Then, while you're walking through the trees, it's like you could never imagine being only a few miles away from the beach.

Us in the scary gondola that nobody else was scared of.  Those things never seem stable to me and I'm very afraid that it will plunge us to our deaths 100 feet below.  Needless to say, I don't think I'll ever go skiing.

Mom took this awesome picture of Kennedy and Noah sitting on a carved wooden snake.  They are both smiling.  At the same time!!  Next installment will be our trip to Portland that we took with mom.  Stay tuned!

We Must Be Crazy

We just drove home from Portland yesterday.  And it was a crazy trip.

Kennedy threw up twice in the car on the way home.  Noah started dancing and singing to a made up song that went "dip dip dip dip" when we gave him some ketchup on a plate.

We had a great time in Portland (pictures to follow), going to the zoo, hitting up the Nike employee store, playing at the children's museum, eating Cheesecake Factory, and visiting with my mom and my brother and his family.

At the children's museum we kind of had to split up a lot.  The kids each wanted to go in different directions and spend different amounts of time in each spot.  We decided that come September, it will be much harder to go to places like that.  Because when we have 3 we will be outnumbered.  We won't be able to split up as easily.  So maybe we're crazy, but we're also excited to bring the next baby into our family!

Once There Was A Snowman

There was actually a snow day here in Brookings a few weeks ago, so we went driving up the river in search of enough snow to play in.  We found a really small area that was perfect for us.  Kennedy perfected her long awaited snow angels.  Noah really enjoyed the snow too, never really having seen very much before.

Of course, we had to build a snowman.  It was awfully small, but we didn't have much snow to work with.

He's adorned with Noah's hat.  He was probably cold after we left since we took it with us.

Kennedy managed to snap this picture of mom and dad right before we left.  I think she did a pretty good job.

Thoughts and Pictures

Kennedy has been taking a dance class since September.  If you missed the video from her dance recital in December, please let me know.  It really is a must see.  She has been LOVING this class and constantly twirls and asks to be able to get a ballet bag.  Her friend Mia was wearing a very glittery skirt this week, and Kennedy showed some ADD tendencies with it.  She couldn't keep her eyes, or her hands, off of it.

She also cannot get enough of her tutus.  She's wearing two in this picture.  She was also wearing two the other night at dinner, when in an attempt to get some dessert she stuffed so much pasta into her mouth she proceeded to throw up.  Over both tutus.  They ended up in the trash, needless to say, and I will be making her a new one for her birthday.

Just a beautiful sunset at Whaleshead Beach.  The beaches here really are spectacular.

This is the best Band-Aid ever.  Noah was spinning in the kitchen when he lost his balance and fell on the oven, then ricocheted and spun all the way to the cabinets on the other side where he fell right on the sharp corner.  It was quite a knot, and a bit of a cut.  I thought this Band-Aid was the perfect one to come out of the box.

We play human potato heads at our house.

Two cute and happy kids.

Driving Home

On the way home we drove on the coast so we could see as much of Oregon as possible before we leave (we'll probably be leaving in December).  We started by driving to Tillamook, where, I HAD to go to the cheese factory.

We have fun being dorks.  Especially if it includes free cheese samples.

Kennedy complained the whole time we were in the factory because all she wanted to do was drive this car.

Brett got mad because he had to be in the picture and I didn't.

Things we discovered about Tillamook:

1. It truly smells like cow manure.  It's slightly gross.

2. The cheese factory is hopping because there's nothing else to do in town.

3. The cheese at the Tillamook factory is more expensive than the cheese at our grocery store 7 hours away.

*Brett wrote a complaint about the price of the cheese and popped it in the suggestion box.  They then proceeded to send us a "thank you for your comment" in the form of coupons for cheese.

We then made a small stop in Newport for lunch and a trip to the aquarium.

Swimming with pirahnas.

How Brett got that stroller in that tiny tunnel on the floor that I could barely fit through is beyond me.

Kismet

Completely by accident we found a public fountain park in Portland.  Somehow we happened to have the kids' bathing suits in the car.  It was kismet.



Kennedy stole another girl's barbies while cousin Wyatt fended off any kids who thought they might be able to play with the same fountain as them.

Since Wyatt was in Noah's bathng suit, Noah was the only one not making trouble.

We love cousins.  We love random water play time.  And mostly, we love our darling kids (and cute Wyatt too).

Grilled Cheese Grill

Yes, this is where we ate dinner the first night we were in Portland.  It's a double decker bus and they serve grilled cheese.  Only grilled cheese.  Kennedy was so excited to eat on the bus she could hardly contain herself. 

The tables inside the bus were decorated with old yearbook pictures.  Classic.  And while we waited for our meals, we answered questions from the deck of Trivial Pursuit cards conveniently on the table.

I got a sandwich on sourdough with mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and artichokes.  It was yummy yummy yummy.  Kennedy had the preschooler, which was just a normal sandwich with no crust.  And Brett had this behemoth.

That's a grilled cheese on top of a burger with another grilled cheese on the bottom.  That's right.  No bun.  Grilled cheeses instead.  And he ate the whole thing.  Crazy!  We also had a grilled cheese for dessert which was AMAZING.  It was nutella, bananas, and mascarpone cheese grilled on cinnamon raisin bread.  It was suggested that you eat it alone.  I understand why now.

Our first night in Portland was definitely a success.

A Dinner at Harris Beach

We've been trying to take advantage of the beautiful landscape here in Brookings lately, so last week we had dinner at Harris Beach.  We ate a Brie cheese and herb omelet, salad and cookies and tried our best to keep it away from the seagulls.  We had a gorgeous backdrop for our meal.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and after dinner we went down to play in the water and sand.  Kennedy gets so excited when we go to the beach, she can't help but run around and leave little tiny footprints in the sand.

There really are the most beautiful beaches around here.  The rocks make the views wonderful, but is the water ever cold!  Oh my gosh, I can hardly stay in the water for a minute because my feet start feeling like they are going to freeze off.

Kennedy on the other hand could care less about the water temperature.  She doesn't get out of the water until we pull her kicking, screaming and protesting from it.  She has so much fun playing the in water, but she's still so small that even the smallest waves push her over, so Brett has to stay by her all the time to make sure she doesn't get pulled under.

We love having the beaches so close!  We have yet to venture into the trees or go up river, but I'm sure we'll get to it eventually.

Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me

Last Saturday we made the 2.5 hour trek to Medford, the closest big city to us. We needed to go to Costco to get some supplies, so we made the most of our trip. First off, here is the bathroom that we stopped at on the way there.

Why they thought a gigantic fly on the top of it would actually entice people to want to go in I will never know. Brett went in, but I was saved because the women's door was locked and there was no way I was going in the men's. I just held it all the way there. We went to Ashland first so that we could go to an interactive science museum for kids. Kennedy had a blast. There were all kinds of things for her to play with, including a bubble room.

She wasn't too sure about standing inside the bubble, but she did it anyway. We had a lot of fun in the bubble room too.

We also found a room with a wall that would hold the image of your body as a shadow when a light flashed. Brett and I had way too much fun with that one. Kennedy was even getting bored and trying to leave while we were playing. Afterward we headed to downtown Ashland (which was absolutely darling) to a florist/chocolatier. I bought some drinking chocolate (the house blend) which was hot,thick, and absolutely delicious.

Kennedy kept stealing drinks at every opportunity and making a huge mess of it.

I also got two truffles. One was Ylang Ylang Citrus, which was just plain nasty, and one was Chivas which was made with goat cheese and was wonderful. Then we headed to Costco and spent way too much money, and then headed to Olive Garden. The drive to and from Medford is absolutely gorgeous, so we really enjoyed our time in the car as well. The next morning we had a family party in our bedroom and Kennedy wanted to hold Noah.

After a while, Noah wasn't too sure about the whole arrangement.

On a good note, Noah slept 8 hours last night! He slept 7 the night before, so it looks like he might be lengthening his sleep out, which is fantastic. Hopefully he'll be getting on a schedule in the next few weeks!

Exodus Part 3: Santaquin to Brookings

We left Santaquin (somewhat) early on Tuesday morning and drove to Reno where we stayed the night. After driving through Nevada, I've decided that there are only 3 things there: casinos, prisons, and long stretches of nothing. We literally only hit about 3 cities on our way through - one right on the border of Utah, one in the middle, and Reno. It was the most boring day of driving we had had. There was nothing to look at, except Beverly Hills (which consisted of a couple of small hills in the middle of flatness and a rundown house) and a voodoo witch doctor shack that was about 30 feet high and built out of antlers. Right before Reno it started getting hilly, but we were thrilled to be out of the car. The kids reprised their throwing up incidents at dinner that night, except Kennedy added a poop and Noah added two.

The next day was our last day of driving, and it was beautiful. We left from Reno and shortly entered California. It was weird, because that drive in California was nothing like I have ever known as California. This is what our drive looked like through most of it.

Tons and tons of tall snowy trees with interludes of beautiful lakes. In Oregon it was so green, mountainous, and just plain gorgeous. We stopped in Burney, CA for lunch and gas, and Brett ordered this bad boy.

That's a french fry on the top of that tall stick. It's got ham and turkey, bacon, and two types of cheese. It was huge. I don't know how he fit it in his mouth. My chili dog was not as impressive as it was more of a pork and beans dog. We kept driving and made a small stop in Medford, OR to shop at the Harry and David manufacturer's store, since it is headquartered there. Then, with only 2 hours to go, we drove to Brookings. The 199 in California and Oregon is absolutely gorgeous. Waterfalls, trees, rivers - you name it, it's there. Then, as we pulled into Brookings, we could see the ocean.

This beach is about 3 minutes from our apartment. Yes, you should be jealous. The whole place is beach on one side and hills and trees on the other. When I drive back to the 101 (which is the main street where pretty much all of the businesses are) I can see the ocean. When I drive home, I can see hills and trees. It's really beautiful.

It took me a little while to feel at home since I have never lived in such a small town. Between Harbor, Brookings, and the county residents who are outside the city limits there are 14,000 people. Previously I have lived in Orange County, CA, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Boston, and Provo (which might not seem that big, but BYU alone has more than double the amount of students than this place has residents). Obviously, it takes some adjusting. The local restaurants are pretty good and there's a great grocery store that has a home goods section too.

Everybody has been very nice, and we're finally feeling like we are at home. So far, so good with the Coast Guard. We hope it keeps up and they keep sending us to beautiful places like this.