Adventures in Oregon

This is our third year traveling to Oregon with Max....

and every year I stress and stress about it - but of course

everything ends up just perfectly (well as perfectly as it

can when you have a three year old on your hands). :)

 

(plane rides were made bearable due to copious

amounts of Ipad time)

Grandpa Jim and Grandma Sugar were the ultimate

hosts - having nearly everything we possibly needed...

from train tracks to bath toys and 10 pounds of

applesauce (which Max would love to be served

at every meal)!

 

 

We spent the week driving up and down the 101

stopping at each little beach along the way, kite flying,

searching for banana slugs, building and then smashing

sand castles, and taking in the gorgeous view from

our rental in Arch Cape.

 

(views from our lunch spot on the way to the beach)

 

Here are some pictures of our adventures....and be

prepared to plan your eventual move to Oregon.

Without fail, every time we are in Oregon, I start

trying to conceive how we might be able to move there!

 

 

 

 

  

 

All of the above pictures were taken at "our beach" -

the one down the hill from our house. Max and I decided to

venture back there on Tuesday morning...and

the views on the way down are just incredible!

I've never been to a beach surrounded by such

incredible old growth forest.  And then, to get

down to the sand, you have to scurry over

rocks and piles of driftwood.

 

  

 

 

After our morning beach session, we decided to

drive back into Cannon Beach - which is still

my absolute favorite. Coming around the bend

of 101 - you can see Haystack Rock in the distance...

and I crane my neck to see how far out the tide is.

 

I'm not even going to apologize for the insane amount

of pictures that I have from this beach!  Max was

content to build a sand castle with Grandpa Jim,

while Papa Rob and I explored the rock!

 

  

The tide was really far out so lots of tide pools

were present.  We could see the giant green

anemones...mussel shells, crabs, and even fish!

 

 

 

 

We left the beach to wander around town....grab some lunch...

and hit the candy store. I grabbed some jelly belly's in my

favorite flavors (chocolate pudding and buttered popcorn).

Max was enthralled with the idea of the jelly beans but

never actually wanted to try them.  The highlight of our

town visit was the kite shop though!  We purchased

a neon green kite that looked like an octopus!

With kite in hand we drove to a different beach - called

"Hug Point".  None of us had every been there...and it did

not disappoint.  More exposed tide pools, rugged cliff sides,

beach combing, and of course, kite flying!

 

The real highlight was Grandpa Jim discovering

a purple star fish in the tide pool! Ahh!  So cool!

 

On Wednesday morning - we decided to head back

to the northern end of Cannon Beach and visit Ecola

State park. Ecola has some amazing view points and

perfectly captures the real beauty of the Oregon Coast....

let me show you what I mean in pictures...

 

 

  

  

 

 

Our next stop was Indian Beach (which is actually

located within Ecola State Park).  It was another

beautiful beach surrounded by more cliffs, lush green

forests, waterfalls, and more tidepools!

 The runoff from the waterfall created this

stream running down to the ocean...and it was filled

with rocks. Max happily filled bucket after bucket

with rocks for his sand castle.  Later, he also

added some fancy feathers!

On the way back from Indian Beach, Max fell

asleep in the car.  We were trying to figure out a good

spot for lunch...trying to keep it casual and fast...so we

ended up back at Mo's. Max slept for about 40 minutes

in the car and I carried him in when the food came.

He woke up abruptly and was sort of grumpy -- but

nothing that another beach trip couldn't cure!

 

This time we were at Short Sand Beach.

It was about a half mile hike to get down to the

beach...and I know you're probably sick of hearing

me say this - but.....it was just beautiful!!

Who minds walking when the views are this good.  

 

 

 

 When we made it down to the beach...we dropped our

stuff and I headed out to do some beach combing.

The beach here was wide...and full of mostly rocks....but

I loved every minute.

 

  

  

It probably seems like this trip was go, go, go..but

 I have to say it was so relaxing to dip my toes

in the icy cold water, walk and walk on the flat

beaches, and hang with Max while he created his

sand castle masterpieces.

 

Grandpa Jim was the ultimate tour guide the whole

time - driving us to and fro - soaking up our reactions

to everything - playing sand castle builder extraordinaire....

and trying out fish tacos at every restaurant.

When we got to the beach house, he said,

"the only rule for this vacation, is, there is

no rules! We can do whatever".

And he totally just rolled with it...Max

falling asleep in the car, meltdowns over

applesauce, demands for popsicles and to

be carried, and my request to visit the Tillamook

Cheese Factory. :)

 

After loading everything up in the car Thursday

morning - we drove about thirty minutes over

to the town of Tillamook. And we got to see their

whole factory and the cheese being sealed up....

and then we sampled all different kinds of cheeses

(which is exactly as great as it sounds).

 

 

 

 

 

Our final stop was the Blue Heron Farm -

 

It was totally kid friendly - with cut outs galore,

a petting zoo, friendly chickens, tractors, LLAMAS,

and even ice cream!

 

 

 

 

 (can you believe we found another llama??)

 

Before we knew it - we were back in Portland!

We spent the afternoon hanging out with

Max's cousin Brooklyn, having our last delicious

dinner, and repacking our bags (which consisted

of me trying to figure out how to get a whole

bag of driftwood home).

 



 

By the end of the trip, we were exhausted, but glowing.

My heart was full of new beach memories...time spent with

my buddy Brooklyn, and of course Grandpa Jim and

Grandma Sugar.

We miss you already, Oregon.

xoxo

Carrie And Candice Adventuring

You may remember last August when we went to Oregon for

my dear friend Candice's wedding.  (If not, check here). Since that

time, Candice and I have been counting the days until our

return.  It's so hard to have a best friend live on a totally

different coast.  Every time I think about calling her...I

realize that she's not even off work yet! But, despite the

differences, we have been able to remain close (thanks to

snail mail, snapchat, Instagram, and the good ole telephone).

 
(ripped this pic of Facebook of the last time we
were together!)
 

So, with our impending trip to Oregon, we had been

texting about different things we could do...and my only

real instructions for the day were to Rob. It went something

like this, "Rob, this is my only day with my best friend,

so please don't call or expect me home at any certain time,

and only text me cute pictures of Max".  haha! I just

wanted to be able to give her my undivided attention

and love. Thankfully, even though it's been nearly a year,

we were able to pick right back up where we left off.

I'm so grateful for friendships that truly stand the

the passage of time (and time zones!).

(text messages leading up to our reunion!)

 

To begin the day, my crew (Grandpa Jim, Max, and Rob)

dropped me off in Wilsonville. This is actually very

convenient as the town where Grandpa Jim and

Grandma Sugar live is only about 15 minutes from there.

Candice came down to greet me and we had the biggest

hug!  Such a great feeling!  I got to meet their

new doggy, Cannon, who was the sweetest!!

We loved on him for a little while and then

headed out to buy dog food and visit the school where

she works.

 

I knew Candice loved her job in Oregon, but after

visiting the job site - I can totally see why.

The Early Childhood buildings at Mentor Graphics

were totally perfect.  The set up, journaling for parents,

pictures, quotes, furniture...you name it - they do

everything with their children in mind.

I loved all the natural things incorporated into their

classrooms and intentional time spent outdoors.

I got so many new ideas and was

completely inspired to go back to my own classroom

in Columbus!  It was also such a proud moment for me. 

Candice and I were introduced through her boyfriend (at the time)

and she worked alongside me in ZooKids for a long time.

So, to see her in her own space was sort of surreal. 

I know she's doing amazing things!

(in front of Candice's work place!)

 

From the school site, we popped over to see

Candice's mom Heather.  I got to know Heather

quickly during the wedding prep and we bonded

over prepping the Barn and making flower arrangements!

They have an adorable property (with potential land for

Candice and Taylor!) and her garden was

something I can only aspire too!

We ate lunch at an adorable little spot (Christa's Café)

and got the same exact things and headed off to

see Taylor! Taylor is managing one of the Columbia
stores that is part of a huge outlet mall. This outlet
mall was unreal - like huge and so nice.
Of course, I also had to do a little

shopping. Taylor was so kind to lend us his discount

on top of all of the other discounts that were happening.

I got some really cute stuff for all of us!

The real highlight of the day (other than seeing

my best friend!) was hitting up the Lavender Festival

in Newburg. The festival was full of really cute

vendors who were selling any kind of lavender

product you could possibly want. From lavender

wreaths, to soap, to bath salts, and lotion bars....

we saw it all!  The smell was just incredible!

The festival promised actual "nearby" lavender

fields though..so we adventured up the mountains.

I say adventured because I can barely read a map

and we were each running on less than 20% battery

for our phones so the using the GPS wasn't really an

option....I'm so glad we preserved though because

we landed at Wayward Farms!

And rows and rows of beautiful lavender!

Truly, the sight of all this lavender was really

just astounding. I have one lavender plant in my

yard and even though it's huge - this pales in

comparison. As you exit your car, you

can smell the fragrant lavender and

practically hear all the bees buzzing around

to pollinate it. We frolicked around and took

each other's pictures like a couple of weirdo's

but I didn't even care because LAVENDER

FIELDS AND BEST FRIENDS forever.

After nearly exhausting our camera battery

for all the pictures, we ventured through their

little festival and even went through the
"wish wagon".  It was as creepy as it sounds.

Though, the wish fairy had a super cool

bubble contraption that I hope Candice is able

to recreate for her classroom.

On our way back down the mountain - all of the

stars aligned again and we drove by a field

FULL OF LLAMAS.  Crazy, right?  Here we

are in the middle of Oregon and my recent obsession

with all things llama/alpaca related - and we happen

to just see about 50 (?) llamas just grazing in the field.

We pulled into this little market attached somehow to

llama farm - and even though they close at 5 and the

car clock reads 4:59, we hurry over to the fence.

A possibly drunk woman wanders out and just

pours (and pours) llama food into our hands and

we get to feed two of the most adorable llamas!

These two llamas (Pierre and Bonzi) were

so handsome and friendly!  As long as

we had food, they were happy to

nuzzle our hands over and over!

My life might just be complete.  I think

Candice did a great job capturing my complete

euphoria in this moment. Can you even top that?

I don't know?

We ended the evening with an Italian dinner and

frozen yogurt...all the while talking life, our husbands,

preschool, Max, her future children, possible move

to Oregon....and generally just being the bestest of

friends. I love that I was able to have this

day with you Candice (a faithful blog reader)...

and I can't for our Palm Springs trip :)

xoxo

p.s. stay tuned for the rest of our Oregon adventure to be blogged!

Max and Mama Day

Not too long ago - our babysitter needed a day off

during the week, so Max and Mama were able to

spend a whole Thursday together. It was so lovely!

We actually slept until about 8:00 in the morning

which is usually totally unheard of. After we watched

some of his favorite shows (Blaze and Team Umizoomi) -

we headed outside to cut some flowers to

bring inside. Hostas, daisies, lavender, and coneflower.

We did a little stamping in his new art book.

He stamped lots of hippos and said, "do you like

it mommy"? and I said, "yes". And he said, "I knew

you would". Not only adorable but kept him occupied

for quite a bit of time.

The true highlight of the day was hitting up

Highlands Park Aquatic Center.

Auntie Stacy actually told us about this place

and it so truly wonderful!

Even though we aren't residents...I was

happy to pay the non resident fee ($8 a person). 

They had a zero entry toddler pool complete with

a slide.  I was so proud of Max for going down

the slide because it had water that sprayed in your

face toward the top. Once he got the hang of it....

he wanted to go down again and again. 

On top of the toddler pool, they have two adult

pools, splash pad, spray pad, and HUGE snack bar.

We rotated between all of them....I couldn't believe

how much better Max was about all the spraying.





At the mandatory "break time" - we ate our lunch and

hit up the snack bar. It was like the holy grail of food. 

Max got a bomb pop the size of his head for $1.25 (so cheap!)

and I got a soft pretzel and diet doctor pepper (no one

ever has that from the fountain so color me

impressed). The amount of options at this

stand were nothing short of amazing. 

We spent almost three hours there and I cannot wait

to go back again! Between the slide...the jumps and more

jumps off the side of the "big pool", and running between

all the fountains, we were both tired. Max napped

like a total champ and I lounged around some more

on our deck. It was such a special day. 

xoxo