Birthday Princess

Our baby turned 4 today. We can't believe it. It seems fitting to celebrate her birthday at the place she was born. We are staying right down the street from our old house. Our friends, who we have shared to many birthdays to count, came and we had a lovely taco dinner and a great cake. Lily had a great birthday and a fab cake. We love you Lily!

Road trip day 4-5

Friday morning was a very lazy morning. After a nice breakfast we made it over to Tillamook for some great, great ice cream. What can get better than that. We drove past a fruit stand and stopped. We got to sample some fruit and veggies and ended up buying lots of fabulous Oregon raspberries and blackberries. I had forgotten what they actually taste like. So sweet and yummy.

We went back to the house and headed out to the beach. Again the crazy kids went in the water. This time they were in their suits. Adam learned how to fly a kite and spent the whole time doing that. When you walked on the sand it made a squawking sound. I kept looking around for seagulls.

That night we made smores and the kids had a slumber party in one room. The adults took on "The Newlywed Game". That was pretty funny. Damon and I lost the game. I guess we don't know each other as well as we think.

Saturday morning we cleaned the house and then headed out to Seaside. We did some shopping (tax free! whoo hoo!!) We went to the beach, walked the promenade, rode on the carousel and got some salt water taffy.

It is hard being back in Oregon at our favorite time to be here. Damon keeps asking if we should move back. It is really beautiful here and so simple. It isn't some booming metropolis, but it is very comfy.

We decided we couldn't wait any longer to see Harry Potter. We left the kids, went to dinner and then hit the movies. I haven't passed judgement on the movie yet. I am on the fence with it. It is great to be back with friends. We haven't stopped laughing since we have been here.

Still on the Road

Day 2 and Day 3 of this crazy road trip went relatively smoothly. After our night in San Jose we headed into the Bay area and hit downtown San Francisco. The missions that we saw on day 2 were further apart in location and style.

Mission Dolores was a simple mission was a really cool cemetary. The Basilica next to the mission was absolutely amazing. They had stained glass windows depicting every mission. Pope John Paul II spoke there once. Lily didn't want to go inside because it was to dark and scary. Another comment that came across was, "Why are there so many pictures of Christ with blood all over him." All of our kids aren't used to seeing Christ depicted that way. The bummer about San Fran was leaving the city on the Golden Gate Bridge and not being able to see it at all due to fog. Maybe next time.

On our way out of San Francisco we were driving up this one street that kept getting steeper and steeper. When we finally reached the top we all started screaming like we were on a roller coaster. My sister was on the other walkie talkie and was a few cars away from us. She asked why we were all screaming, then about 20 seconds later we heard their car all screaming as they descended the road down. I can't even imagine driving a stick shift in that town.

Mission San Rafael was cool because we had a docent that gave us a tour of the place as well as lots of history. It was a nice mission, but very simple. Lily thought the chapel was cool because it was pink. She is such a girl.

The Sonoma Mission was out in the middle of nowhere. We also took a slight detour. I blame google maps for that. It only took us 10 minutes to correct that problem. The mission isn't owned by the church, but is a state park. It seemed pretty true to form and again very simple. They had barracks across the street, but after the water fight my sister and I got into we opted to go to the Ben & Jerry's store with the kids. My parents and Damon went to the barracks.

On our way to Medford, Oregon we stopped in Redding, CA. We have stopped in this town more times than I want to remember in all kinds of weather. We have even eaten at the Denny's before. We got to the hotel in Medford and went swimming. We are all getting pretty sick of being in the car. We had a nice leisurely morning and then headed out to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast. That drive wasn't to bad. Everything turned green and we couldn't tell which way we were going in the forest. Julie called and asked where we were and we told her, "the middle of nowhere with lots of trees." Here response was, "Welcome to Oregon." After a 20 mintue mistake, again from not so clear directions from google, that took 50 minutes to correct, we made it to the beach house.

It is said that "it's not in the destination you reach, but the journey to get there." When we stopped in Salem, OR to get gas we also stopped at McDonald's. What's a road trip without them. So we ate there and this picture is along those lines of the journey. As well as playing in the play land for a half hour. My dad would have never approved of this growing up.

We headed down to the beach, which is hard to call a beach because it smells like pine and there are pine trees instead of palm trees. The water temp is usually around 50*F, but that didn't stop Noah and Mallory who got all wet in their normal clothes. We were just happy that it was sunny. Our beach house is in the forest, but then you cross the street and go down a little slope and then you are at the beach.

Stay tuned for more.

And We Are Off!

We have started on our 2876 mile road trip. We have completed about 500 of it so far. We left this morning at 5am and only got stuck in moderate traffic. After going about two hours, Lily starts gagging and Noah starts complaining about his tummy hurting. Everyone got Dramamine and everyone settled back down. We had a minor set back with traffic in L.A. We new it was coming so it wasn't that big of a deal. After the San Angeles Forest one feels like they are in the middle of nowhere.

In the middle of nowhere we saw many things. We saw thousands of cows, lots of fields on growing things, aqua ducts, two lakes, one brush fire and lots of trucks hauling things like tomatoes, apples, garlic and my personal favorite, onions. One could smell that truck before you can see it.

We arrived in Santa Cruz around 12:15pm and ate lunch. I didn't get a great impression from the people in Santa Cruz. Not very friendly, hippyish, very plain looking and definite supports of the current head Socialist. The mission there was small and simple. It fit the town perfectly. While we were there we were able to meet up with my parents and the Mortensen's.

We headed up to Santa Clara next. That mission is much grander and ornate. It had a beautiful rose garden and this extraordinary chapel. The kids got really excited because they saw a real live Padre.

Our last stop was the mission in San Jose. This mission resembled what was originally there and had the feel of a mission. It was built in the late 1700's. This mission also had a really old cemetery on the side of it.

We learned that the Spaniards started the missions to teach the locals, mostly different Indian tribes, their customs, culture and religion. They wanted them to be self-reliant (which is great), but wanted their support for the motherland (Spain). Very interesting.

We finished up the evening at Applebee's for dinner. The kids all ate for $.99. What a bargain. They thought they had died and gone to heaven when the desserts came out. We got back to the hotel and swam to burn off all the extra sugar and now everyone is tucked in and snoring.

Next up...San Francisco, San Rafael and Solano.

La Fiesta!

We have a Spanish Program at our school and every year they put on a big party. Well, due to budget issues and a not so great superintendent our Spanish program is being cut. We made a special effort to get to the party tonight.






We ate tacos and quesadillas and for a treat we bought some freshly made churros. The kids helped make the decorations in their Spanish classes. They had dances displaying all sorts of dance styles from different Spanish countries. Lily enjoyed the Carnival dancers the best. She wanted to get up on stage and dance with them. She settled for a picture.










Adam is very sad to see the Spanish program go. His teacher this year, Senorita Montiel, also taught Noah and has known Lily since she was a baby. We said goodbye to her as we left. She would never laugh when I would try to speak Spanish to her.






We had a fun night, but the best part was that I didn't have to make dinner. Yippie.

Day in the Sun

We were in the sun a lot on Wednesday. Lily and I met my sister, her kids, and my parents in Oceanside for a little fun in the sun. It was a beautiful day. The water was a tad bit cold, but other than that a great day. Right after we left the beach we went straight to the pool for swim lessons. A had a very tired little girl by the end of the night. She slept for 12 straight hours. I think we might be repeating this habit more often this summer. We love the beach!

My family has an inside joke about digging trenches when you camp. We were at the beach during high tide and my parents dug a trench around our beach setup to keep the high tide out. They are so funny. It did work though. The tide never got the blanket!

4th of July Fun!

We had a busy and fun weekend celebrating our Nation's birthday. We are so blessed to be a part of this nation where we have freedom. We are very grateful for our founding fathers who took a chance and committed treason to form a new country. I can't even imagine what a risk that was for them and their families. It was a leap of faith and the Lord blessed them for it and the United States was born. I can't say I am proud of what the nation has become, or its people for that matter, but I am proud of what it was founded upon and am happy to live here.

On Friday July 3rd Damon and I were able to go to the symphony downtown. It was the summer pops and they were performing a "Stars & Stripes Spectacular." We were treated to lots of patriotic melodies as well as some American classics. At the end they played "Stars & Stripes Forever" and launched fireworks off from a boat in the harbor. It was great. We had dinner in Seaport village. We really enjoy our downtown area. We walked the Embarcadaro path and saw the Midway Museum all lit up in patriotic colors.

On the 4th of July we started the day off with sourdough waffles for breakfast. We met up with the Shoff's for some pool time fun. We came back here for a BBQ and the Afualo relay races. The kids had a balloon toss and then the adults did. The food was great, the company was great and the kids behaved. Always a plus. The kids even did a little program. The flag cake, as always, was fabulous.

After the kitchen was clean and the kids were in bed we put in "National Treasure". We felt like that would be an appropriate movie to watch. I fell asleep 25 minutes into the movie. Apparently I had had a busy day. Happy Birthday America!