DARWIN is on his 12th year of teaching, currently at Springville High School teaching astronomy, geology, environmental science, and physics. He also teaches physics at UVU for a 7 week STEM summer school program for junior high students. He also teaches teenagers in our church ward. He's super busy, but still makes time to be an awesome dad and husband.
All of the fam came in (except T and R and kids--we missed you guys!) Saturday night. The girls and I were already asleep by the time they got there so we didn't see them until Sunday morning.
Day 3
Both girls ended up on our air mattress with us in the morning. They looked like beautiful sleeping angels. I love that they ended up snuggling so close to each other when Dar and I had left the room to get ready for church. Priceless. We're so lucky to have these little beauties in our lives!!
We all went to church together and then went home to pack up and get ready to drive to the OCEAN! We were all very anxious to get there.
Luckily the girls slept for part of the 3+ hour drive to Yachats. I love that Rori fell asleep holding her sunnies.
We got a quick peak at Portland on our way through
We drove through Portland down to Lincoln City, which is along the coast. When we saw the first signs of ocean mist we could hardly contain ourselves! ;)
First view of the ocean water! Woot! Woot!
We traveled down in 4 different vehicles, and some of us went one way and one car went another way, but we all met at up at a quaint seafood joint in Newport that is a must-stop for our family when in Oregon.
I'm told they have really great seafood, but because I don't eat seafood, I really love their yummy chicken strips :)
After a quick--and late--lunch we jumped back in the cars to make the final leg of our journey to "Beach House" as Aurora lovingly called our home for the next week.
Auntie George with our cute girls :)
It was getting close to bedtime but we couldn't resist a quick walk on the beach before getting settled in for the night. Aurora was thrilled to finally be at the ocean!
Day 4
Monday, August 12th was our 8th wedding anniversary! Woo-Hoo! This was the 2nd time we've spent our anniversary in Yachats with the fam and this time we had two of our own kidlets added to the party :)
Item #1 on our to-do at the ocean was to build sand castles with Aurora--she loved it!
Dar was Rori's buddy the whole trip, and I was Savy's buddy. It just worked out that way :)
Here's your first glimpse of how close our beach house really was to the ocean. The windows were a bit muggy and that wasn't acceptable for our enjoyment, so Papa went out and bought a squeegee and Dar to put his awesome window washing skills to good use again.
Georgiana had a friend, Dan, who joined us for the first couple days of our trip. He lives in Portland, and said he's determined to submerge himself in the ocean every time he gets out to the coast. If you've been to the ocean on the west coast, you know the water is not warm. We all thought he was crazy, but appreciated the entertainment :)
Here's the crew gathered to watch Dan--he's on the far right of the picture standing with Georgiana. (And just a little side note, I was standing on the grass in the yard of our beach house when I took this picture. That's how close we were to the ocean, and that sandy part is where we built sand castles with Rori. I frequently thought that if a tsunami hit while we were there that we'd be the first to go. Haha.)
Rori snuggling Aunt Andrea and Uncle Sean--SO happy to be at the OCEAN!!
Unfortunately I was the cause of getting everyone sick while we were there (except Dar, Geo, and Papa) and Savy was the first to get my cold. She and I had lots of snuggle time.
LOVE THIS!!
A shot of the ocean from the dining room table. It was high tide and our sandy area is covered in water.
The other nice thing about our location was that we had access to sandy beach and rocky beach. We love watching the waves hit the rocks, and these puffs of water always make me think of a fire-breathing dragon :)
This was a newly discovered blow hole for us on this trip; they're always fun to watch too.
Day 5
One surprising thing about the beach house was that it didn't have a bath tub. Seriously. Two showers, but no tub. Not so convenient for cleansing your kids. So, Savy got her first bath in the sink :)
We spent the morning exploring out on the rocks together. Good times. Good memories.
Dar showing Rori a couple hermit crabs he found
Sea stars!
Dar took this picture, and I couldn't believe how green this tide pool was!
After our morning of exploring, we went home for a quick lunch and then drove up to Waldport to our favorite place for crab fishing.
Savannah got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa while we went out in the boats to catch our dinner
Aurora wasn't so sure about going out in the boat, so we started putting our pots down without her and then went back to pick her up. I'm so glad she decided to join us!
We caught LOTS of crabs to start with, but had to throw most of them back because they were too small to keep
Uncle Ryan was our main man in our boat--he had the fishing license so he had to do all the work :)
Me and my girl on her first crab fishing experience. I get so happy just thinking about all the fun memories of this trip!
There's a sandbar in the bay where a bunch of seals hang out. Watching seals is always fun for me.
Our first keep-able crab! Rori felt bad for him (you can only keep males). She kept telling him, "I'm so sorry!"
Dar was the captain and driver of our little boat. He's a keeper.
Rori was a great navigator--she got to hold the map of the bay for us.
More crabs! The one on the left looked like it had eyes on its back. Silly barnacles.
(In case you're wondering, that's a skinned mink being used as bait.)
It was so fun for us to have Aurora join in on our fun family traditions.
She was pretty tired and snuggled with Dar a lot in the boat. He's such a great daddy and great for snuggling!
Precious. She kept sucking on her life jacket.
Our crew
Our other crew--They're a good looking bunch too!
Couldn't resist throwing this one in--thanks, Geo!
Between our two boats we caught 18 crabs we got to keep. We'll just say the other boat caught the majority--but we definitely caught more than one ;)
Now, that is what I call a crab feast!
The happy crab eaters, minus Aurora and Savy. Unfortunately Rori takes after me and my distaste for seafood. I seriously had to cram myself in the corner to get this shot of everyone. Good times.
The aftermath of the feast
Savy wore her festive crab outfit for the occasion :)
Rori cracks me up.
Luckily the girls slept for part of the 3+ hour drive to Yachats. I love that Rori fell asleep holding her sunnies.
We got a quick peak at Portland on our way through
We drove through Portland down to Lincoln City, which is along the coast. When we saw the first signs of ocean mist we could hardly contain ourselves! ;)
First view of the ocean water! Woot! Woot!
We traveled down in 4 different vehicles, and some of us went one way and one car went another way, but we all met at up at a quaint seafood joint in Newport that is a must-stop for our family when in Oregon.
I'm told they have really great seafood, but because I don't eat seafood, I really love their yummy chicken strips :)
After a quick--and late--lunch we jumped back in the cars to make the final leg of our journey to "Beach House" as Aurora lovingly called our home for the next week.
Auntie George with our cute girls :)
It was getting close to bedtime but we couldn't resist a quick walk on the beach before getting settled in for the night. Aurora was thrilled to finally be at the ocean!
Day 4
Monday, August 12th was our 8th wedding anniversary! Woo-Hoo! This was the 2nd time we've spent our anniversary in Yachats with the fam and this time we had two of our own kidlets added to the party :)
Item #1 on our to-do at the ocean was to build sand castles with Aurora--she loved it!
Dar was Rori's buddy the whole trip, and I was Savy's buddy. It just worked out that way :)
Here's your first glimpse of how close our beach house really was to the ocean. The windows were a bit muggy and that wasn't acceptable for our enjoyment, so Papa went out and bought a squeegee and Dar to put his awesome window washing skills to good use again.
Georgiana had a friend, Dan, who joined us for the first couple days of our trip. He lives in Portland, and said he's determined to submerge himself in the ocean every time he gets out to the coast. If you've been to the ocean on the west coast, you know the water is not warm. We all thought he was crazy, but appreciated the entertainment :)
Here's the crew gathered to watch Dan--he's on the far right of the picture standing with Georgiana. (And just a little side note, I was standing on the grass in the yard of our beach house when I took this picture. That's how close we were to the ocean, and that sandy part is where we built sand castles with Rori. I frequently thought that if a tsunami hit while we were there that we'd be the first to go. Haha.)
Rori snuggling Aunt Andrea and Uncle Sean--SO happy to be at the OCEAN!!
Unfortunately I was the cause of getting everyone sick while we were there (except Dar, Geo, and Papa) and Savy was the first to get my cold. She and I had lots of snuggle time.
LOVE THIS!!
A shot of the ocean from the dining room table. It was high tide and our sandy area is covered in water.
The other nice thing about our location was that we had access to sandy beach and rocky beach. We love watching the waves hit the rocks, and these puffs of water always make me think of a fire-breathing dragon :)
This was a newly discovered blow hole for us on this trip; they're always fun to watch too.
Day 5
One surprising thing about the beach house was that it didn't have a bath tub. Seriously. Two showers, but no tub. Not so convenient for cleansing your kids. So, Savy got her first bath in the sink :)
We spent the morning exploring out on the rocks together. Good times. Good memories.
Dar showing Rori a couple hermit crabs he found
Sea stars!
Dar took this picture, and I couldn't believe how green this tide pool was!
After our morning of exploring, we went home for a quick lunch and then drove up to Waldport to our favorite place for crab fishing.
Savannah got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa while we went out in the boats to catch our dinner
Aurora wasn't so sure about going out in the boat, so we started putting our pots down without her and then went back to pick her up. I'm so glad she decided to join us!
We caught LOTS of crabs to start with, but had to throw most of them back because they were too small to keep
Uncle Ryan was our main man in our boat--he had the fishing license so he had to do all the work :)
Me and my girl on her first crab fishing experience. I get so happy just thinking about all the fun memories of this trip!
There's a sandbar in the bay where a bunch of seals hang out. Watching seals is always fun for me.
Our first keep-able crab! Rori felt bad for him (you can only keep males). She kept telling him, "I'm so sorry!"
Dar was the captain and driver of our little boat. He's a keeper.
Rori was a great navigator--she got to hold the map of the bay for us.
More crabs! The one on the left looked like it had eyes on its back. Silly barnacles.
(In case you're wondering, that's a skinned mink being used as bait.)
It was so fun for us to have Aurora join in on our fun family traditions.
She was pretty tired and snuggled with Dar a lot in the boat. He's such a great daddy and great for snuggling!
Precious. She kept sucking on her life jacket.
Our crew
Our other crew--They're a good looking bunch too!
Couldn't resist throwing this one in--thanks, Geo!
Between our two boats we caught 18 crabs we got to keep. We'll just say the other boat caught the majority--but we definitely caught more than one ;)
Now, that is what I call a crab feast!
The happy crab eaters, minus Aurora and Savy. Unfortunately Rori takes after me and my distaste for seafood. I seriously had to cram myself in the corner to get this shot of everyone. Good times.
The aftermath of the feast
Savy wore her festive crab outfit for the occasion :)
Rori cracks me up.
One thing Dar and I learned on this trip is that vacationing with kids is definitely not as relaxing, and the Oregon coast didn't seem quite as glamorous to me this time as it did last time, but there's definitely something magical about vacationing with your kids and creating memories together. I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world!
More to come later!...
2 comments:
Love this post!:0)
So fun, what great family memories! How did you get a skinned mink........
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