Oregon 2015 - Day 8 (9 & 10)

Since we were just driving to Portland we were not in a big hurry to leave Saturday morning.  This is very good because Allie and Megan finally slept in which allowed Tony and I to sleep in.

After the girls woke up and we got everyone ready and everything packed up and in the car, we left the RV park and our little cabin and started our journey northward.  The kids wanted to stop at Great Grandpa Clark's house and say good-bye (again) before we left town.  So we did.  It is always kind of sad to say good bye to my grandpa because you never really know if that will be the last time. 

After that visit and getting gas and breakfast, we officially headed on our journey.  We wanted to go to Tillimook to go to the cheese factory and have some ice cream.
It was a nice drive up the coast and so pretty.  It is so fun to go from the ocean to the forest and then back again.  I am happy to say that even with the crazy roads Josh never threw up the entire trip.  Yeah!

The factory was super busy.  The workers were only wrapping some big blocks of cheese, so it wasn't even fun to watch.  I guess seeing cheese being made so many times up close at Tony's old work made watching them not as cool.

We decided to get some food before we got ice cream and the kids were super silly waiting for it to come.  They were happy to be out of the car and they were doing a good job of driving me crazy.  I would like to say that the food was really good, but it wasn't.  We were really disappointed in the quality of food.  We had no problem still eating it all up, but we wont order food there again.

We of course got ice cream.  You HAVE to get ice cream there.  It is good ice cream, but we weren't terribly impressed with that either this time.  I think that the ice cream in Bandon was better and much cheaper.  We did have to wait in line for a really long time and that might have made our attitude a little different towards the ice cream.

Since we waited so long to get the ice cream we decided to just eat it in the car.  We (as in Tony and I) were totally ready to just get to the hotel.  The kids didn't seem to mind and all got nice and cozy in their seats with their ice cream.  Tyler was so nice and even shared his ice cream with Allie.

He really was such a good helper with Allie the whole trip.  He sat right next to her the whole time.  He would give her toys, snacks, and even fed her her bottle a few times.  Their were a couple (many) times that we had to tell him to help her because he was so focused on the show he was watching, but besides that he was super helpful.  Because of him Allie really was pretty good with all the driving.  She would cry when she was tired, but did really good.  Better then I thought she would.

Josh did really good in the car too.  He was especially good if he had the tablet and mostly good other wise.  He liked the treats and the shows.  He was good at helping Megan with her seat belt most of the time.

Megan was a big whiner most of the time.  She would drop her drinks, snacks, papers, etc and then whine about it...drove us nuts.  By the end of trip she just wanted to sit with me and whined about that.  She would get bored and want lots of treats.  She was pretty entertained by the tablet too, more then the movies.  It made me wish we had more then one tablet. 

We had a hotel right by the Portland airport.  So we had to drive through the busy traffic to get to our hotel.  I was glad to deal with it on Saturday instead of Sunday since the drive to Boise was longer then to Portland.
We checked in and then got some dinner.  After dinner we changed into our suits and went swimming.  We all love the pool and had a good time swimming.  Then it was bath and bed time.  We got up the next morning and ate breakfast before heading back onto the road.
We then drove from Portland to Boise.  We stopped and ate some lunch, but beside that we just drove.  Our hotel was in downtown Boise and it was pretty nice.  It had a super fun pool but since it was Sunday we didn't use it.  So we told the kids we would go swimming first thing the next morning.  It was a super fun pool and the perfect temperature.  We all had a good time and it made me very glad that we went swimming and didn't worry so much about just getting on the road.
After changing and eating breakfast we got on the road again.  Then we drove from Boise to Ogden where we had to pick up Tony's car.  Tyler and Allie went with Tony in his car to pick up Koda at grandma Margie's and Josh, Megan, and I went home to unpack the car.  It was such a fun trip for everyone.  We can't wait to do it all again next year!

Oregon 2015 - Day 7

We decided for breakfast on our last full day at the cabins we would go to a place just down the street from the RV park and down by the dock that has BACON painted really big on the side of their building.  We figured you couldn't go too wrong with bacon.  All the family decided to come with us and try it out.  They had a table that had chalk board paint on the top so all the kids colored on the table as we waited.  The food took a long time and wasn't all that great, so now we know.  But it was a fun experience.

After breakfast we walked to a little shop across the street from the restaurant.  They had fun things and Megan found a stuffed crab that she liked.  I guess after crabbing so thinks they are pretty cool.
After that we headed back to the cabins where the kids decided to do some more racing.  Tyler did pretty good last night against the older cousins so he wanted to see if he could bet them or at least come close.

Tyler did pretty good against most of the kids, but Conner was just too fast for him.  He kept trying to win and kept racing, so I was proud of him for not giving up.  All the kids had fun racing.  Even us old adults raced each other.  I beat my mom, but that's all.  We were mainly going for fun and a little exercise.

There is a really nice candy store in Coos Bay that we found last time we were there and we knew we wanted to go back.  They have tons of samples of their products out for you to taste.  If you want to try something that's not out then they will get some out and give you a taste.  We knew we wanted to pick up something for grandma Margie so it was fun taste testing to decide what to get.

After we went to the candy store we decided to go visit my grandpa one more time.  We weren't sure what else we'd be doing that day so we didn't want to miss out on saying our good-byes.  Great grandpa Clark didn't want to get up to take the picture so we all just piled in around him.  He doesn't say much, but his heart is big and I know that he loves me and my family.  He has been such an amazing example to me in my life.  It was great spending time with him this trip.
We had a bunch of empty bottles that we tried to recycle but apparently you have to go to a certain place that has a machine, so we decided not to worry about it and just leave the bottles for the clean up crew at the cabin.
Earlier in the day I asked the kids what they wanted to do on our last day here and Tyler said he wanted to go to the beach.  Josh said he wanted to stay in the cabin and play the tablet all day...hmmm, he may have an addiction problem.

Josh did end up staying at the cabins with my mom while we all went to breakfast.  My mom didn't want to go out to breakfast and Josh really wanted to stay and play the tablet.  I fed him before we left and then he got to hang out with grandma in her cabin.
Tyler got his wish to go to the beach.  After our morning adventures we came back to the cabins and the kids quickly got ready to go.  Josh is the only one who put on his swim suit.  They others said that they were just going to play in the sand...famous last words.
I stayed back at the cabin with Allie because I thought that she would go down for a nap.  I gave her a bottle but then she just wanted down to play.  She ended up playing the whole time the rest of the family was at the beach.
Tony said that Josh was fearless in the ocean.  He wold go out just as far as the older kids and just let the waves knock him down.  He had a wonderful time playing in the sand and ocean.  I am sure it was much better then the tablet. 
Megan was playing in the sand with her cousins when they decided to bury themselves in the sand.  I got this picture of Megan on my phone from Julie, it is pretty darn cute.  She was super dirty when she came back from the beach, well they all were.  Tyler was pretty wet and dirty too.  Should've worn swim suits.
Tonight was the last night of going to Dairy Queen each night with my siblings.  It has been fun to take a half an hour at the end of night just visiting with each other over ice cream.  It is only a half an hour because we leave at 9:30 and they close at 10.  I didn't get ice cream every night, especially the nights we had ice cream other places.  It was fun just spending that time with each other.  What a fun tradition.  I can't believe it's already over.  Time to pack up and head out tomorrow.  I sure hope we get to come back next year, this has been great.

Oregon 2015 - Day 6: Part 2

Awe, crabbing at the docks...a family tradition.  Not so much for my current little family, but definitely my Clark family. Kevin and Boyd went down to the dock and we had planned on meeting them there after Allie's nap.  Well, Allie (and Tony) slept for like 3 hours, so Megan and I went without them.  The boys didn't want to go because they were playing with some of the cousins at the cabins.
Megan was pretty scared of the crabs at first.  She didn't want to be anywhere near them, but yet she was super intrigued by them.
Megan loved hanging out on the dock with Averee.  I think it made her feel big hanging out with some of the bigger cousins.  We watched the guys pull the nets up about a dozen times maybe before we headed back to the cabin.  They caught 6 crabs that they were able to keep (they have to be male and big enough to keep).
My dad took Bills family out in the boat to go crabbing and they caught over 30 crab.  So we had plenty of fresh crab for the crab feast that we had at grandpa's house.

So after the docks, Megan and I went back to the cabins.  Allie had woken up by then and we were all pretty hungry for some late lunch.  We met up with Julie's family at a burger and fries place.  It was ok food.  The kids had fun eating with their cousins.
After we ate we went back to the cabins to hang out before the big crab feast.  When it was time we drove over to grandpa's house and the party was in full swing.  A good friend of the family, Dorthy, that lives in Coos Bay came and brought the sister missionaries who live in her house, so that was a fun surprise.
They had other side dishes that people ate with the crab and then we all just hung out.  Josh is the only kid, besides Allie, that I could get to stand by the crab for a picture.  None of them would try and eat it.  Can't blame them.
The kids ran around grandpa's yard and played in the sand rail.  It was the perfect weather and we all had a great night.  What a fun crabbing day.

Oregon 2015 - Day 6: Part 1

This morning was all about the beach.

Tyler digging a big hole like a dog.  He kept throwing the sand back on his siblings...silly dog.

Allie figured out that she liked the sand. 

We already knew Megan loves the sand.  This girl could play for hours in the sand.

Tony enjoying the sand himself.  He wanted to figure out a way to take a bunch of it home.

Josh is saying, "Hi Mom."

I love this picture of my 4 children playing in the sand at this beautiful beach.  We were practically by ourselves.

Josh and Allie building something special together in the sand.  I am pretty sure Josh would build it and Allie would destroy it.

I love this picture of Allie crawling in the sand.  You can see her little crawling trail behind her...adorable!

Even dirty Allie is adorable.  This pretty much ruined her pants, but it was well worth it.

Allie going to join her brothers by the ocean.  Gosh the ocean/beach is beautiful!

Oregon 2015 - Day 5

This morning my dad had planned to take our little family on a sand dune ride.  He had taken the other sibling's family last year and wanted our family to get the experience.  When I say "take" I mean that my dad paid for a professional to take us on the sand dunes in their sand buggy.

We met him at the sand dune place where we got all ready to go on our ride.  Since they only sit up to 4 people, plus the driver, we were just going to have Megan and Allie stay in the car with my mom and Teagan while we went on our ride.  Megan did not want to be left out and said she really wanted to go with mommy.  So we separated and Tony and the boys did the first ride for a half an hour and then Megan and I did the ride after them.

Since we were taking turns my parents left and Megan, Allie, and I hung out in the car while we waited for the boys.  Megan did sit in a sand buggy and pretended to drive it.  She thought that was pretty fun.
After the boys got back it was our turn.  We got our helmets on and away we went.  Our driver took us up over some really big hills and then back down the other side.  He told us some really interesting things about the sand dunes, like that the wind moves the dunes and hills so every time he comes out they are different.  It was really interesting.  He didn't do anything too wild.  Pretty much just up and down some hills and then back to the cars.  It was a good first experience with the sand dunes and made us excited about doing some more riding on the dunes when the kids are all older, much older.
After we were all done with our ride we drove back into Coos Bay and stopped at Walmart for a few things.  Then we dropped off our things and got back into the car where we drove back to Bandon.
Bandon was one of the cities that we drove threw to get to Gold Beach for the speed boat ride.  It is where my dad thought a McDonald's would be.  We thought that the town looked super cute and that it would be a fun place to get lunch and to walk around.

So while the rest of our family went to Bruce's cabin we went to check out Bandon.  It is only about 30 minutes away from where we were staying.  Once there we drove around looking for a place to eat lunch.  We decided to eat at a Mexican place by the boardwalk.  The food was good enough to fill us up.  Not great but not bad.
After lunch we put Allie in the stroller and checked out a bunch of the local stores that they had.  We did buy some treats at the candy store, but that is about it.

After all the shopping we went to the water.  They had a really cute boardwalk area with all these ocean animals carved out of wood.  The kids loved running from animal to animal trying to be the first ones on it.

After we had walk the whole boardwalk and found all the animals we decided to head back to our cabin.  Bandon did have a really yummy creamery in their town, but we were still full from lunch.  We did stop at the creamery on the way back from Gold Beach the day before.  Their ice cream was really good and they gave you a lot of it for not very much money.  We were very impressed with their ice cream and will definitely go again next time.  We were not however impressed with their cheese.  They had some really weird flavors of cheese that they make in their little cheese room.  We will stick with the ice cream for sure. 

After we got back the rest of the family was still at Bruce's cabin so we all just hung out in our cabin.  The kids were being silly in the loft area and kept throwing down their stuffed animals.  We have such silly kids.
Then this evening we just let all the kids play outside in the forest and we all sat around chatting, enjoying the cooler weather.  It has been such a fun relaxing trip so far.  Good times are definitely being had by all.