Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Columbus Day

Thank you Christopher Columbus for discovering America and giving us a day off to celebrate! We too felt like explorers because we went on one last hike of the season before the rain starts. Yesterday Nate had the day off of work, and although Ty should have gone to school we pulled him out so he could be with the family. We headed down to Cascade Head and took two cars. We parked one at the top of the mountain and one at the bottom. Here we are all packed in the car ready for the hike:

The hike we did was called:
It was a 3 mile hike downhill. It started off hiking through green dense forest. I sure miss the fall colors around here, it would have been neat to see oranges, yellows and reds! But everything here is GREEN! It too is beautiful, love it!

I carried Caleb in my pack. Mara walked most of the way but when she needed a rest she rode in the backpack on daddy's back, but we still needed someone to carry our backpack: TY!
What a strong kid! He carried this heavy pack the entire 3 mile hike! What a great hiker!


Caleb started off on my back, but once we got to the open grassy area it was windy and a bit chilly. So I moved him to my front and zipped him in my jacket. He was so snuggly warm he slept the entire hike! He missed it all!
Little Sweetie just loves hiking!

Once we got through the forest it opened up to a spectacular view of the ocean. We could see all the way down the coast to Lincoln City, and the estuary to the west.

We hiked along this grassy knoll and somewhere in the middle of the grass we sat down and enjoyed our picnic lunch. Yes, it was very windy and a little chilly. But we could still see the sunshine and it was a nice day.


What's Mara so happy about? Caterpillars! We saw nine caterpillars along the trail. They were bright orange and black and Mara loved picking them up and holing them in her hand!





Ty loved looking through his binoculars along the hike! We were able to see (even without binoculars) elk and a red tailed hawk.
Amazing view!

Where's Ty? Hiking in the grass!
The pictures don't do justice for what we saw! It would have been even better had we had blue skies and more sunshine. But we can't complain it was still good weather.

The end of the hike was through more trees and green ferns.

Good bye hike! It was a fun day!


A little clip or our hiking buddy:

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Another day in Paradise!

Lunch at Taco Bell $4
A ride on the carousel $1.50
An ice-cream cone $1
A beautiful sunny day at Seaside playing with friends PRICELESS!

The weather here in Tillamook is absolutely GORGEOUS! Blue skies, sunshine, perfect temperatures. It truely is a blessing. I know the rain is coming and it will feel like it will never end!

Friday Jaclyn and I decided we would go on an adventure north to Seaside. Although it's only an hour away my family has never been there before but I've always wanted to go. So we loaded up her 8-passenger van and headed on our way!

We grabbed lunch at Taco Bell and found a fun little park to have a picnic and play.

Our boys--chillin out and eatin some lunch!

We tried getting a picture of all six kids--that's a joke!

Everyone had a fun time being together!

We've got our buckets in one hand and our buddy's hand! We are ready to play!

Who wants to go on a carousel ride?
Mara chose the bunny to ride!

Kennedy chose the seahorse and Ty is riding the ostrich! Hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

We couldn't pass up an ice-cream cone! Tillamook ice-cream! Yum! It's our favorite!

Next stop: THE BEACH!

Madi's ready! She's got all the gear!

There is something really cool about Seaside beach...I don't know if it's the beautiful view, or the touristy attractions...maybe it's the swing-set right on the beach, or maybe everything about it makes it such a great place! But how awesome is that to have swings right on the beach?


The little boys didn't do so well in the sand! They just wanted to eat it and rub it in their eyes! Thank goodness for the swings--they loved that!

Life doesn't get any better than this! What a wonderful day we had being with our friends, playing at the beach, eating yummy ice-cream, laughing and giggling..... oh the memories! I'm grateful for days like these to remember and cherish!