Newport - The Aquarium - Tillimook

We got into Newport around dinner time.  We checked into our hotel and then went to get some dinner at The Chowder Bowl.  Nate and Amy had heard good things about this little restaurant so we tried it out.  I didn't have any chowder my self, but the others said it was super good and Tyler was pretty much licking the cup clean and asking others for some of theirs. Everyone was happy with their food and it was a fun meal.  It was a little chilly after dinner so my boys just wanted to get in the car and Tony didn't want to get in for a picture but lucky for me Nate, Lydia, and Margie humored me and got a picture by the restaurant.

After dinner we went to our hotel for some more swimming.  We all enjoyed the swim but the babies were tired so Amy and I ended our swim early to put the babies to sleep.  Then Tony wore out the boys swimming so that they had a good night sleep.

After breakfast and check-out we headed to the Aquarium.  It was really close to our hotel.  It was nice weather and we got to see lots of different animals.

Megan really liked being able to get really close up to the bigger animals and watch them swim or play around.  Well, really we all liked getting as close as we could to the animals to see them play.  It seemed like so many of them liked to play with us and would show off their skills so we'd watch them.  Super cute.

They had some animals outside in water holes or enclosures and then a bunch inside - like fish.  I my self like the bigger animals better.  Like the sea lions, penguins, and such.

We did get to see some really big fish and sharks.  We all had a great time seeing all the animals at the aquarium.

They had a fun touch and feel area where you can touch the star fish and other sea life.  Tyler and Josh didn't want to touch anything, but Megan was willing to try.  So she touched some star fish and seemed to like it.  I thought it was good fun touching the sea life that you don't usually get to see or touch.  

They also had a fun area for the kids to play. They had a big boat that had a slide that Megan really liked (Josh too).  I tried to get pictures of her on the slide, but they all came out blurry.  Since Josh doesn't stay still long enough for me to take a good picture all his were blurry too.  But Tyler will pose for me.
Tyler liked to play captain of the ship and owner of the store.  With the store the kids bring you fish and you can weigh them and then give them money for their catch.

They also had big bins for the kids to go fishing in.  Josh really liked fishing.  After you catch a fish you put it on a big conveyor belt and then move the crank to make the fish move up the belt and fall into a bucket to be sold to market.
It was a fun play area and the kids really liked it.  They could have stayed and played longer, but we were ready to keep going.

After the aquarium we went and got some lunch.  After lunch we went to find my Aunt Cindy's house.  Nate and Amy decided to start driving north and would meet up with us later.

We found Cindy's house without too much trouble and had a good time chatting with her and Vikki.  The kids liked playing with Vikki's kids while I chatted with Cindy.  We didn't have much time so we said our good-byes and headed back on the road to find Depoe Bay.

We found Depoe Bay and the Whale museum where my Uncle Morris works.  We all looked around the museum for a little bit and then picked out some toys for the road.  Tony and Margie found some pictures that Morris had taken that they really liked.  So they picked out the size they wanted and bought them to take home.  They were really cool pictures.  Morris always does such a good job.  We said more good-byes and headed back on the road to meet up with Nate and Amy.

You can't go to Oregon without going to the cheese factory in Tillimook.  We don't go there so much for the cheese, even though it is delicious.  We go for the ice cream.
We did walk around upstairs where you can see them producing cheese.  Tony felt right at home and told us all about the different machines and equipment.
After we had our cheese samples we got our ice cream...yummers.  We pretty much had ice cream for dinner that night and we had no problem with that at all.  I had a chocolate peanut butter and utterly chocolate.  They were both very good.
After our ice cream was gone we walked around the store they had.  Josh wanted more cheese so Tony took the kids back through the cheese sampling line.  All three kids really like cheese.  We ended up only buying one meat stick and then headed on our way once more all the way to Beaverton to where our next hotel was located.
That night Tony went to play basketball with Nate's ward and Margie went to watch.  So I stayed back with the kids.  They were pretty wild at first and happy to be out of the car.  We had a busy and super fun day.