Newport, Oregon

PICTURES TO BE ADDED SOON>> AFTER I GO THROUGH ALL OF THEM!

We just got back from 7 days in Newport. As mentioned in a previous post, we started at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and then on Monday we met Peter, George, their son Isaac (7), Niece Ashley (10) and nephew Chris (11) in Newport, OR. This is the first year we have been blessed with Isaac being with us.

It was quite a crew and the kids had their moments, but I must say that overall we were quite proud of all 6 of them. They played well most of the time, and are just a joy to watch have new experiences. We really enjoy all 3 of their "kids" and it makes for great memories.

We rented a house "on the beach". Unfortunately, it was a gorgeous view, but was actually across Hwy 101, so "on the beach" was not quite true. Fortunately, we were staying right on a bunch of tide pools, so the first day we took the kiddos and explored. Many of us fell on our rears and got soaked (it was sweatshirt weather the whole week until Saturday), but it was all in the name of a good exploration. There were many sea stars, star fish, anenomes (sp??), baby crabs, barnacles, and more. The kids had a blast going from rock to rock looking for things, and Calvin tried to continue his clamming expedition (unsuccessfully).

The second night Cal, Peter and George headed off to waste money at the casino, while the kids and I watched a movie.

The next day, we moved on to Whale Watching. It was a 90min trip on a big boat and $24ad and $12ch. Colby was immediately not happy about this great idea. He just cant handle not hving his feet on solid ground real well, but he toughed it out (with some bribery). We got to get really close to 2 blue whales and even were close enough to see the barnacles on them. It was really an awesome thing. The boat was a rocking so many people started to get queasy, but it was pretty exciting.

After exclaiming he never wanted to do that again, colby was ok and we moved on to checking out the Sea Lions at the docks and then headed off to go crabbing. The kids were pulling up the pots faster than Cal could get bait in them, but they enjoyed it and pulled in a couple of dungeoness crabs as well as a few red rock. They also walked the dock and saw what others were bringing in. Each of the kids held their crab and tossed it back in, except Ash who chickened out this year.

It was also about this point that Ashley, Isaac, and Chris started calling Cal Papa. I guess they decided it was just easier. He loved it.

Thursday we headed off to hit the lighthouses we had yet to see and Seal Cave. Seal cave was a "yup, good to see once." type of place. It's the largest (I think) natural cave. They know the seals have been using since I think it was 1880 as a living and breeding grounds. You have to take an elevator down to get there. No flashes were allowed so there was not really any good pictures...but then we headed to the lighthouse in Umpqua (there are 9 lighthouses on the Oregon Coast, this was the 5th or 6th one we've seen). The lighthouse is actually surrounded by Coast Guard Family Housing and sand dunes.

After the lighthouse, we had passed some natural sand dunes that run 50miles on the Oregon Coast and decided to go check those out. Cal remembered passing a place that had sand surfing out front, so we decided to go see what that was about...... little did we know we were in for the best part of the trip according to the kids.

Sand surfing. Snow boarding on, well, sand. What a kick! Kinda slow unless you find the right hill, but of course, our kids found the right hill. Mom was nervous since we had no helmets, but no one was wearing them. From oldest to youngest- Peter was a pro. He was the best of all of us and had it down immediately. Cal, well, I love him..but balance on ski or boards is just not his forte, but he did have his own cheering section from neighboring boarders. George was all gung ho day 1, but day 2 when we returned he became a big chicken. Suzanne shouldnt talk about chickens because she'd start going and promptly sit on her rear in fear of falling, but had a blast and has decided to try snow boarding. Chris had some serious issues with staying on his feet on day 1, but by the end of day 2 he succeeded in the whole hill. Ashley is a ditto to Chris, though found when she was tired of walking the board up the hill, she could leave it at the bottom and just roll down (quickly followed by other tired children). Conner was pretty darn good (I know I know, I'm biased). He had a couple of pretty good wipeouts but also has decided to try snow boarding. Isaac got the wipeout award. Woah boy that boy ate some sand.

I'm sure they are still cleaning it out of his ears! He also got pretty good with the balance. Colby quickly found his own way (remember the solid ground thing) and used his board as a sled. He thought this was pretty darn cool. And last but not least was Caden, leading the pack down the crazy hills and freaking us out.. until we realized his center of gravity WAS much lower to the ground than the rest of us. He had a total blast. Day 1 (late in the evening) was so much fun that we decided to return for more fun on Friday. Man we were beat though!

We were going to do more crabbing with the Zepcias but ran out of time and bonfired on the beach for the final night. I must say- 6 kids, including Colby and Caden, and no burns during hotdog or smore making. Pretty darn cool! I love beach bonfires! The kids did too.

Peter and George and their kiddos left on Saturday (the first sunny day of course), headed back for Cali, and will be sorely missed. We just zoned with our kiddos and packed up our stuff. We tried crabbing one more time but the wind was ferocious and the dock was packed, so we decided to pack it in. On Sunday, another sunny day, we hit some shops, the casino, and the arcade before we headed for home.

We are all beat, but fun was had by all. Between Gig Harbor and Newport, we have sand coming out of everything, a camera that no longer functions well and needs to see the dr, and kids that are still over tired 2 days later. But we look forward to doing both again next year!

Unfortunately we got home to Calvins brand new Playstation 3 being stolen from our house, nothing else, and the police believing it was someone we knew. It's really frustrated, angered us, and made us feel violated, but there is nothing we can do at this point. So for now, we'll look at the pictures of the time with friends we consider family and focus on the good.