Oregon Trip

Later in June we went to the Newport, Oregon to visit Ray's parents. We decided to take the "scenic route" to get there and stopped at Fort Clatsop and Tillamook Cheese Factory.

         
                                                  Pictures with Sacajawea at Fort Clatsop

The kids thought Tillamook cheese factory was pretty neat. I had never been there before and was impressed with how interactive and fun it was. It was actually under a remodel and the grand opening was for the next week, so only a portion of the exhibit was open, but we still had fun.

After we got to Newport, Grandpa Miller called his friend that said he would take up clamming. It was fun to dig the clams out, but a different story when it came to cleaning the meat out.....I now have to desire to ever do that again. And it doesn't help that no one in my family even likes clams. 

 Grandma was not thrilled to have to be doing this process. Needless to say, we didn't finish all the buckets we brought home, but Grandpa took them up the mountain for the racoons to eat instead.

Grandma's back yard was full of wild flowers and the girls were in heaven!

A family favorite to go to is the Newport Aquarium. 

 The Yaquina Head light house

 The tide pools were a fun adventure!

The beach is something we try to go to every day we are in Oregon. Abby will frequently ask throughout the year if we can go to the beach, it's definitely a favorite place for her! 

 These pictures are of the beach at the South Jetty, and this beach is my favorite. It's a little bit of a walk to get there, but it's worth it to be out of the wind and have it warmer. The kids also like to climb and explore the rocks while we're at the jetty.

Another favorite spot is Rigatta Park in Lincoln City. We like to go shopping at the outlet malls and then go play at the park. The kids were having fun trying to fit all 5 of them on the spinning toy and then have an adult spin them until they start to fly off. It was way funny to watch them and they were entertained for a long time as well.

This time we went to Seal Rock beach. This beach was quite a bit colder, but that didn't slow the kids down!

We also went to the Hatfield Marine Science Center. It's a kid friendly, hands-on museum and it was a hit!

Ray and I also went fishing with a friend of Grandpa Miller's. It was definitely a different experience deep sea fishing than what I'm used to. I was an amazing outing and the fish were fun to catch! (Ray may or may not have gotten sea sick and threw up over the edge of the boat....)

 Ling Cod have some mean teeth!

 Newport bridge

We caught a crab while fishing too. Logan thought it was cool.