Seattle and the Oregon Coast!

We visited Seattle and the Oregon coast for 12 fun filled days from June 7th through the 18th.  We were so happy to spend time in a climate 30 degrees cooler than home!  Here is a breakdown of each day.

Day 1

We were up before dawn to catch our 6 am flight.  Good thing we were so excited!

Our first stop was the Imagine Children's Museum in Everett, Washington.

They had all sorts of hands on experimental things.

Kristin loves Scott!

The playground on top of the roof was a great use of space.

The ball tracks were my favorite thing there (and Lincoln's).

Makayla liked the farm place.

And the boys loved the water area.  Overall, a great museum!

Next, we noticed a logging company and watched them work a little.

Then we drove to Pike's Place Market where all sorts of vendors sell their goods.  We had fun looking around and snacking on jerky and cheese sticks.

We found the famous gum wall.  A lady offered us some gum to chew and contribute to the wall.

The kids zonked out on the way to the hotel.

But alas, woke up when we told them they could go swimming!

Then we were off to find a dinner place to eat.  Wild rabbits greeted us.

We found Wally's Chowder House and boy was it delicious!! We had way more food than we could eat, so we packaged it up and found some people to give it to on our way home.  We drove up to a guy changing a flat tire on a side street and offered it to him.  He gratefully took the food and shared it with his buddies.

Day 2

We headed to the Museum of Flight, a good interactive museum about airplanes.

We bought the kids a gold coin for a souvenir.  Sterling ended up losing his, but then reclaimed it at the lost and found later.  Blessings to the honest person who returned it.

We checked out a space shuttle.

And played a few games.

Monkeyed around on the skywalk.

 And found the spot where we took Makayla's picture 2 years ago.

My, how she has grown!

Looked at some more airplanes.

And played some more!

Huge museum with lots to see and do.

And Ben's doppelganger was our cashier at the gift shop.

We ate at an airplane diner down the street straight from the 70's.

And checked out a park on the way back to the hotel.

Day 3

Our first stop was tracking down the Amazon Treasure Truck, available only in Seattle.  Scott was pretty excited about this. He loves Amazon! He would have probably bought what they were selling had it not been oysters.

The highlight of the day was playing at the Pacific Science Museum.

We created some art.

Then we stopped at a popular spot where the computer calculates what you'll look like at 70 years old. Yikes!!

Next was the butterfly exhibit.

Lucky Lincoln had a butterfly friend (or two) for several minutes.

Saw the Space Needle outside.

And sprayed the targets.

The water was a big hit.

The Pacific Science Museum gave us several hours of entertainment.

We also stopped by a children's museum in Bellevue after dinner.

Then went window shopping.  Nice one, Scott!

For our last stop, we took in city lights, boats, and the ocean.

Day 4

We took an Amtrak train from Seattle to Portland; a 3.5 hour ride.

Our kids were very well behaved and the views were lovely.  The train was so spacious and a great way to travel.  The tricky part was getting a cab to and from the train stations.

We quickly visited the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) before it closed for the evening.

Then we visited VooDoo Donuts in downtown Portland.  That was quite the adventure.  Lots of unique people down there.  The actual voodoo doll donuts were stuffed with raspberry filling for a more realistic look.  The donuts were yummy, but we ended up tossing 4 after forgetting about them.

Day 5

We said goodbye to Portland and headed south towards Depoe Bay.

And we spotted the Portland Temple right off the freeway and went to take a closer look.

What a peaceful place.

Beautiful double doors.

I hope our kids remember to stay close to the temple in life.

We kept on trucking and saw a sign for an old church in Sherwood and decided to follow it.

Instead of the church, we found an old museum.  Cool story.  The lady volunteer that showed the kids how to wash clothes saw us at the airport on our way home a week later. She actually greeted us like we were old friends.  She told us that she talked about what a nice family we were all week and then she was thrilled to see us in person again.  I love nice people!

There was a car show going on too and many vendor booths.  We had a blast checking things out and eating some gourmet popcorn.

Next up was the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.

Lots to see and do there.

Even had a traveling display of a piece of the Berlin Wall.

The kids section was a favorite stop.

But outside was awesome!  They let you climb on tanks and explore.

Such a great place to visit.

Yes, indeed.  Then we traveled on to Depoe Bay.

We were thrilled to see our ocean views from the condo!

And noticed some sea lions around the corner.

Day 6

We visited the Pacific Ocean and enjoyed nature.

We marveled at the sand between our toes.

And flew kites.

The boys visited a hut.

And we marveled some more.

And wrapped up beach time by building a sandcastle.

After we made some dinner, we played tennis.

And visited the Devil's Punchbowl, though it wasn't very active at the time.

Finally, we watched the waves roll in from our balcony.

Day 7

Our first half of the day was spent at the Pirate Stores.

We gave the kids each $30 to spend for souvenirs however they pleased over the whole trip.  They could spend it as fast or slow as they chose, or save it for cash at home.  The pirate stores are neat because it's a flea market with different vendors' things with rare and unique items to find.

The kids got to pick 2 treasures on the way out.

We stopped for 'linner' (what we dubbed a late lunch that usually takes the place of dinner too) at Mo's seafood shack.  The atmosphere was pretty cool there.

Then we rented our crab net and set out to find some crabs close by the Newport bridge.  We used frozen mink as our bait and threw in the trap.

We did catch some crabs.

And a jellyfish.

The lady next to us caught a starfish.

This picture was pretty accurate: Sterling playing with his helicopter, Makayla enjoying the moment, and Lincoln playing his tablet games.

Patience is a virtue when you go crabbing.  We were there probably 3-4 hours and didn't catch enough for dinner.  So, we ended up gifting our crabs to a young couple on the dock too.  Still a good day.

Day 8

We spent the first part of the day at the Hatfield Marine Visitor's Center in Newport.  Lots of pretty fish and hands on displays.  The last picture is a type of fish that blends in with grass and looks exactly like a weed.

Then we explored the coastline.

We hiked down to get closer.

As we stood posed for a picture, a giant wave splashed all over us!

We were soaked to the bone and I was grumpy with Scott; blaming him for not warning us.  Normally I don't mind being wet, but it was a cold day.  Not a good combination.

The kids handled being wet much better than myself.

There was so much beauty around us.

Scott found a hermit crab.

Next up, we hiked up to the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

We had dinner at Scott's favorite restaurant, a sit down Pizza Hut.  Then we played some games there.

And stopped for a frozen chocolate dipped banana in Florence before heading north.

After one final stop to the coast, we headed home.

The boys were pretty tired from our adventures!

Day 9

We headed north today.

Stopped at a little shop in the middle of nowhere and the kids bought marbles.

Then we arrived at Tillamook Cheese factory.

We went upstairs and watched the cheese being made.  Lincoln did not want to leave.

And tasted some savory samples.

Then we took a little break and went on a steam engine train ride.

The views were amazing!

We stopped at a small town and the kids got to play for a bit.

Then we got back on for the ride back.

A scenic experience even though the train went extra slow.

We headed back to Tillamook for lunch.

Across the street was a golf course.

We had a great time mini golfing.  Especially since we had the whole course to ourselves!

We found  Cape Meares Lighthouse.

And the Octopus Tree.

The views were pretty good.

And we googled Munson Creek Falls and were able to find it just in time before dark.

Gorgeous hike!

Silly and cute pictures!  Perfect ending to the day.

Day 10

We started off at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse visitor's center.

Then we checked out the lighthouse.  It was on a steep cliff.

We headed back to Aquarium Village and walked around.

We found some bounce houses and our kids were thrilled!

We found a local dive for dinner.

Then we played at a park in Newport.

Then we drove back to our condo and watched the sun go down.

What a beautiful evening!

And even better, we ended the night with a game of pool and ping pong.

Day 11

Whales entertained us right from our balcony.

We explored a property listed for sale.

At Alder Houses, we watched a guy create a glass pitcher.

Then we took a picture of Lincoln in Lincoln City.

After eating at a local diner, we window shopped.  Then we visited an arcade.

We opted to visit the ocean one last time.

A great way to spend the evening.

We built a big sandcastle. And the ocean inched closer until the tide swept it away.

And we bid farewell to the ocean.

Day 12

We dropped off the rental car and took the shuttle to the airport.  The shuttle leaked water from the ceiling as it was raining and a vent was open.

Makayla looked at some of her treasures on the flight home.

Goodbye Oregon!

Till we meet again!