Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Oh Oregon
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| The boys love having their own suitcases and backpacks. | <><><><><><><><><><><><>
The Oregon coast just seems to get more beautiful each year. We packed in a lot of adventures on our latest trip, including many trips to the beach. The morning after we arrived, we made a beeline for the beach with Kjell's brother Tryg even though it was cloudy and cold. Marcus and I splashed in the water for quite a while and Marcus caught his first wave on the boogie board! Mike and Melissa Smith and their kids later joined us for some playing in the sand. On our way back to the car, the kids rode in the choo-choo train.
Thursday, we headed to Tillamook where we visted the Air Museum and the Tillamook Cheese Factory. The museum is housed in a former military blimp hangar, called "Hangar B", which is the largest clear-span wooden structure in the world. Tillamook Air Museum has been described as "one of the country's top private World War II aircraft collections". At the cheese factory we observed the machinery, ate Tillamook ice cream cones, and sampled the cheese. Mmmmmm!
Friday we headed to Ecola State Park to enjoy the gorgeous views and go on a short hike to Indian Beach. The hike was a mile and a half, which both Marcus and Holden did on their own. The kids loved splashing in the tidepools and climbing on the rocks at Indian Beach. After a long nap, we went to the Smiths for dinner and s'mores.
Tillamook Head was on the agenda for Saturday morning. Our trip coincided with our friends Debbie and Brandon Rowley who were visiting the Oregon Coast from Washington. We all went hiking together (but first Kjell and I went to garage sales with the kids...I found lots of puzzles and micro machines). The hike was gorgeous and a wonderful time to be with our friends, except that I forgot that it was so long! Still, Ellie (5) and Marcus (5) did the entire hike by themselves and entertained us with their antics ("no cutting", "that's my stick", "let's tackle our dads", etc.). The hike was 5.5 miles long - Tryg carried Holden, Kjell carried Wether and Brandon carried baby Tommy. That night Kjell and I went on a date while Grandma and Uncle Tryg watched the boys. We went boogie boarding in the ocean, ate a nice dinner, and took a stroll in Seaside.
When I woke up Sunday morning I found Wether sitting on Grandpa's lap stealing his breakfast, which seemed to be their daily routine. We went to church and had Grandma take quite a few family photos at the beach and in the backyard. Kjell visited his Great Aunt Erna and Great Uncle Perry.
On our last full day we went to the beach in the morning with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Tryg. That evening we went into Seaside with Aunt Emma-Kate, baby cousin Desmond, and Uncle Tryg. Marcus and Holden went on the carousel, bumper cars, and swings at the beach. They also shared their first Elephant Ear. That night we packed and had a short night sleep since we left at 3am for the airport!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Our Front Yard
One thing keeping me busy this summer is the landscaping of our front yard. So far we've torn up the concrete, had the gas/utility lines marked, rough graded, dug trenches for the sprinklers, and begun to lay the pavers. We still need to install sprinklers, add topsoil, lay sod and plant vegetation.
The boys have enjoyed the noise, machinery and mess. It seems the moment they step outside they are covered in dust. They are very well-trained in using the back door and taking their shoes off (I'm still working on Kjell). Wether begs to go outside all day everyday. Eventually I let him outside where he becomes filthy within minutes playing with sticks, muds, puddles, sand, gravel, and dirt. I spray him down with the hose before he's allowed back inside (he doesn't mind) and then he immediately cries to go back outside. We visit our neighbors the Whites often and admire their grass, shade, plants, general lack of chaos, etc.
One reason we decided to lay pavers in place of colored stamped concrete (besides the obvious aesthetic appeal) was because I found beautiful tumbled pavers on KSL for a fraction of the price. In May, Kjell and his brother drove two dump trucks about an hour south to pick up the pavers. I drove down later with our trailer to pick up the last bunch. The kids have been playing on these huge mounds of pavers in our side yard all summer, delighting in building roads and castles. Still, now that the pavers are being laid, there are not enough! The price to buy more is astronomical but we were able to find a close match at a more reasonable price. Let's hope it all comes together in the end.
Photos: Marcus watching the graders remove debris and level the yard. This fascinated him for over an hour each night. Also, Kjell rented a bobcat to dig trenches for the sprinkler pipes underneath where the pavers were to be installed. When asked why we had several emergency vehicles in our cul-de-sac, Kjell told them he had struck a vein of natural gas. Whoops.
The boys have enjoyed the noise, machinery and mess. It seems the moment they step outside they are covered in dust. They are very well-trained in using the back door and taking their shoes off (I'm still working on Kjell). Wether begs to go outside all day everyday. Eventually I let him outside where he becomes filthy within minutes playing with sticks, muds, puddles, sand, gravel, and dirt. I spray him down with the hose before he's allowed back inside (he doesn't mind) and then he immediately cries to go back outside. We visit our neighbors the Whites often and admire their grass, shade, plants, general lack of chaos, etc.
One reason we decided to lay pavers in place of colored stamped concrete (besides the obvious aesthetic appeal) was because I found beautiful tumbled pavers on KSL for a fraction of the price. In May, Kjell and his brother drove two dump trucks about an hour south to pick up the pavers. I drove down later with our trailer to pick up the last bunch. The kids have been playing on these huge mounds of pavers in our side yard all summer, delighting in building roads and castles. Still, now that the pavers are being laid, there are not enough! The price to buy more is astronomical but we were able to find a close match at a more reasonable price. Let's hope it all comes together in the end.
Photos: Marcus watching the graders remove debris and level the yard. This fascinated him for over an hour each night. Also, Kjell rented a bobcat to dig trenches for the sprinkler pipes underneath where the pavers were to be installed. When asked why we had several emergency vehicles in our cul-de-sac, Kjell told them he had struck a vein of natural gas. Whoops.
7 Year Itch
Today is our 7th Anniversary! We celebrated with a 
short getaway to Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument and St. George, Utah. We left Friday morning for Escalante (leaving the kids in Pam's very capable hands) where we hiked Lick Wash around noon for about 4 hours. Besides the ranger who took our picture, we didn't see one person for the entire hike or in the park for that matter. Afterward we headed to St. George, the only route taking us through Zion National Park (they charged us $25 just to drive through and there was a lot of construction). Still, the car ride gave Kjell and I plenty of alone time to talk, laugh, read aloud, set goals and do crossword puzzles. That evening we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and watched a movie at the hotel.
short getaway to Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument and St. George, Utah. We left Friday morning for Escalante (leaving the kids in Pam's very capable hands) where we hiked Lick Wash around noon for about 4 hours. Besides the ranger who took our picture, we didn't see one person for the entire hike or in the park for that matter. Afterward we headed to St. George, the only route taking us through Zion National Park (they charged us $25 just to drive through and there was a lot of construction). Still, the car ride gave Kjell and I plenty of alone time to talk, laugh, read aloud, set goals and do crossword puzzles. That evening we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and watched a movie at the hotel.Saturday morning we drove over half of St. George in search of garage sales. It was a lot of fun and we ended up with a car full of treasures (everything from cookbooks, Battleship, a Christmas sign, and a huge water jug). Next we checked out Tuacahn, an outdoor amphitheatre, and then headed up the road to Snow Canyon State Park. Our short hike revealed petrified sand dunes and ancient lava flows. Our next stop was a tour of Brigham Young's house near the St. George temple, where he lived for several winters during the 1870s. The weather did not cooperate for lounging at the pool but I still swam in the large hot tub while the wind and storm clouds rolled in. After shopping at the outlets (no great finds) we caught a showing of Inception and ate a late dinner.
This morning we drove home to 3 happy kids who were nothing but entertained for 2 days straight including, but not limited to, playing at Andrew and Rachel's house, the playground, Bridal Veil Falls, and 7 Peaks. I made them lay down before church and we could barely wake them up an hour later. One thousand thank yous to my dear friend Pam. The kids miss you.
After 7 years, there is no itching going on in our home. Any man buys me a crossword puzzle book and does them with me, takes me garage sale-ing, and doesn't utter a complaint after 30 miles on dirt roads to go on a remote hike is definitely a keeper. Here's to many more years together.
Photos: Kjell and Olivia at Lick Wash trailhead, ancient petroglyphs, Lick Wash, Kjell hiking to Lost Spire Hoodoo, viewpoint at Snow Canyon State Park.
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