Aquarium, Newport, and Seal Rock

On our last day with the Brandts we drove up to Newport to go the aquarium.

It was a very rainy morning. Sam was nearly as wet as the sea otter.

The kids could have stayed at the touch tide pool all day. Perfect combo for Sam, combining his love of animals and his extreme tactileness. (Is that a word?) Liam said it's too bad we can't get Sam a tide pool for his birthday!

We found a kitchy little street nearby with a restaurant for lunch, then spent some time taking touristy pictures!

This picture cracks me up every time I look at it:

On the way back to Yachats, we stopped at Seal Rock Beach, which was our favorite beach of the trip. True to the name, we even saw some seals swimming around.

Notice Declan in the above picture. Apparently he thought it would be a great idea to jump off that 8 foot rock onto more hard rock, and just hopped up unharmed afterwards. Thinking about Declan as a 15 year old gives me serious anxiety.

Tenderfoot Ratchford never took off his shoes on the beach, which turned out to be a problem when we reached this little stream. Thank heavens for Spidey skills.

The Brandts. It was so fun to hang out with these guys.

I love them so much.

I call this picture "Happy Dog." Nacho was in heaven.

Oregon

The kids got a long spring break this year, so we took advantage and headed to the Oregon coast to spend time with lots of people we love. We left Friday morning and got to Eugene Saturday afternoon, where we hooked up with my sister Quincy and her family and headed out to Yachats. Here was our little beach home for three nights.

Just can't beat that view, even with stormy weather.

Tracy wasted no time in building us a very cozy fire. It was perfect for a cold, rainy day.

We did have lots of rain while we were there, but plenty of sun, too. We spent every sunny moment outside. This little trail behind our house went down to the beach.

Exploring the shore near Cape Perpetua.

We did some hiking, too, which was one of my very favorite parts of the trip. The only thing that can rival being on the beach is being in a forest near the beach. Must be what heaven is like. This hike was near Cape Perpetua and led us to a very old, very huge spruce tree. I wish someone would figure out to bottle the smell here.

The crazy Ratchford kids could not be kept out of that water any longer. Swimsuits went on and they spent a surprisingly long time playing in the waves while the grownups stood by, dry and layered with jackets and still cold from the wind.

We really need to figure out a way to get our little water babies to a beach where the temperature reaches at least 70. I can't imagine the fun they'd have on a hot, Caribbean beach if they have this much fun on a freezing one!

Chowing down on some delicious dutch oven pineapple upside down cake, courtesy of Uncle Tracy.