Tillamook Tuesday

On Tuesday, we took a drive up (down?) the coast to Tillamook, home of the world's best cheese and ice cream, and therefore one of my favorite places on the planet. The views along the coast and the little lake outside Tillamook are not bad either. Not bad at all.

I was on the short list of people Theo got to spend time with his first year of life. After he was born at 25 weeks and spent his first months in the NICU, his parents were understandably choosy about who got to see the little guy. But if you know me, you know that if I have a super cute preemie nephew, I will be on the list of people who get to hold him. In fact, I will BE the list if necessary. So I was delighted to be able to take Theo on his first tour of a cheese factory, including the tasting table, which he loved. And, full disclosure, his parents were inches away taking video of the whole experience, so I had full permission to be feeding him large amounts of cheese.

This was not a candid shot, by the way. This is Jason posing for a picture of him and Dahlia eating the world's best grilled cheese. And yes, I did think it was funny he wore a bright orange cheese shirt to Tillamook.

Theo's actual parents. Whatever.

Slugbug Van full of cousin cuteness. Can you tell Mick was annoyed with all the family fun at this point? Hehe. Sometimes it's hard to be the oldest cousin.

This pic is for my friend Ashlee, who collects pictures of libraries like some people collect shot glasses. After ice cream at Tillamook, we drove to Cannon Beach. When we got there, we tried to park in the library parking lot which, ironically, became Mickey's favorite memory of the trip and Dahlia's least favorite memory of the trip. Cannon Beach was weirdly crowded for a Tuesday afternoon, and parking was at a premium. We were patiently waiting for two (significantly older) ladies to pull out of their spot, but the driver was a little nervous about the tight quarters and started yelling at Jason about arrows and directions and such. For the record, there were arrows in both directions, there was plenty of space, and even I wasn't nervous about anyone hitting anyone else's car. But... things got a little heated. I wish I had video of Jason throwing the van in park, jumping out of the car, and the kids shrieking in the background like the world was coming to an end. Embarrassed by the crying children and his wife who was laughing hysterically at an elderly lady flipping Jason the bird, Jason got back in the van and we found a little street-side parking spot far, far away. The kids were nervous the whole time we were in Cannon Beach that we would run into That Lady again, and Jason was secretly hopeful we would, but we didn't. And hopefully we never do, because I'm pretty sure Jason will remember her face until the day he dies. Perhaps longer.

Anyway... we had a lovely walk out to Haystack Rock (aka Goonies rock) and a very pleasant afternoon. 

Jason took this incredible picture of Haystack Rock, which I'm hoping to get printed large enough to go over the loveseat in our living room. Because it is perfection. And we also got one of my other favorite pics of the trip, when Jason's sister called for directions while we were trying to get a nice family picture AND HE ANSWERED. It's very modern, very 2018. And it cracks me up every time.

Can you hear me now??? Good.

Sunday in Seaside

Sunday morning, we reluctantly left Tacoma and drove to Seaside. Our reluctance didn't last for long though. We were excited to meet the Torgerson clan on the coast. We spent most of Sunday on the beach. Because why wouldn't we?

In the words of Jason's sister Holly, "We go on vacation so we can take pictures of us doing vacation things." So get ready for picture overload.

Seattle Cemetery and Temple

Is it possible to get a sunburn in Seattle? I submit to you that it is.

I love to see the temple, especially in Seattle.

Everybody smile!!!

Fun at the Splash Pad with David & Kathleen and Melanie & Jay and their kids. 

Kathleen offered to keep Dahlia as her live-in nanny, but we decided to take her with us. This time.

Sunshine in Seattle

When Jason's family decided to copy our honeymoon and take a vacation to the Oregon Coast, I decided pretty early on in the planning that our little family should add a couple of days in Seattle to the beginning of the trip. The waterfront was unthinkably under construction and closed the first time Jason and I went to Seattle, and I felt like he and the kids needed to experience one of my very favorite places in the world. Plus, it really isn't that far from Portland to Seattle and it just seems wrong to me to do one without the other. So we spent Thursday night through Sunday morning with my Favorite Aunt Patsy, and even talked my Dad into joining us for a couple of days. Yay!!!

First stop - Ivars. I like to say that I only eat fish when I can see the ocean. But, truthfully, I really only eat fish when I'm at Ivars.  

Iconic pictures under the Ivars sign.

When you eat fish and chips at Ivars on the waterfront, you have to eat outside and feed the seagulls at least half of your chips. It's just what you do. I was so glad Mick and Dahlia enjoyed this tradition.

I could stare at this view for days and days. But... there were other things to do and certainly other things go eat. So we had to keep moving.

Next stop - Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. They've moved locations around the corner, but even for a purist like myself, it hasn't changed the experience. They still have the totem poles, the huge assortment of colored rocks you purchase by the bag, the fortune teller machine, and the most charming collection of things you never know you needed all crammed into one small space. I don't even know how to describe it, you just have to go explore.

My Dad paid to play the pipe organ and Jason somehow captured the exact moment the organ started to play. Hence, the startled look on my face.

Mickey had one very important item on his Seattle "to do" list - visit the first ever Starbucks. For a kid who doesn't drink coffee, he's kind of obsessed with Starbucks. So we hunted down the original Starbucks at Pike Place Market. 

And while we didn't wait in the forever long line to get a drink at THE Starbucks, we did cross the street to another Starbucks so Mickey could have his treat.

I love all the fresh flowers at Pike Place and I always wish I was on my way to my wedding or something so I could pick up a beautiful bouquet for a ridiculously cheap price. But, since I wasn't, I did make Dahlia pose by the dahlias. Classic.

Also classic - the fish throwing guys at Pike Place. I think this was one of Jason's highlights of the trip. He never talks to strangers, ever, but he made an exception and asked for a picture with The Fish Guy. And I'm so glad he did because what a great shot! Coming soon to a Christmas card near you....

After the market, we made a quick stop for waffle cones (because it really was sunny and warm that whole day in Seattle and ice cream became kind of a must) and took a ferry ride . Such spectacular views of the Seattle skyline and Mount Rainier. I love to be on the water. We rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island and then turned around and rode the ferry back.

It's pretty tempting to get straight back on when you arrive back at the Seattle waterfront and just repeat. But we were all getting a little tired by this point, so we took the train back to our car and ate dinner at another classic Seattle favorite, Denny's. Then back to Tacoma, where Jason and the kids watched America Ninja Warrior and the World Poker Tournament on TV with Patsy and Hal, while I sat down and promptly fell asleep. (Seriously, who watches poker on TV?) Pretty much a perfect day.

Multnomah Falls

When you quit one job, take an amazing 10 day vacation, and then start a new job immediately upon your return, one thing you fall woefully behind on is blogging your vacation pics. But, in a show of good faith, here is Day One of our Pacific Northwest vacation.

After flying into Portland and hopping into our rented minivan, it took me about 10 seconds to switch into "Vacation Mode" and convince myself that Multnomah Falls is pretty much on the way from Portland to Seattle. Which, technically, I'm told is not true.

But it felt true. Jason and I stopped there on our honeymoon and he'd mentioned several times that he wanted to come back with the kids someday. Today was the day!!! So we drove to Multnomah Falls "on the way" and walked up to the bridge. Unfortunately, the higher portions were closed due to fire damage. (We were so far into Vacation Mode at this point that we thought we wanted to hike the mile to the top. That's funny.) So instead of continuing our walk, we bought some delicious fudge --spoiler alert: our best of the trip-- and perused the gift shop before continuing our drive to Seattle.

We stopped for dinner that night at a Jack in the Box that was conveniently located next to a prison and had the ambiance to prove it. Good thing Multnomah Falls had been as amazing as promised, or the kids might have been seriously questioning my vacation judgement by this point. And we were all still a little delirious from the blueberry cheesecake fudge. Which really was incredible.

PS - Mickey commandeered my phone for much of this trip. He has a great eye for photography and captured some pretty awesome shots. He told me I'd have a lot more followers on social media if I let him take all of my photos so my posts "had good pictures." He's probably right. Which is one reason why I will continue to post my own photos. 

Hummingbird Haven

I need to (quickly) learn all there is to know about hummingbird eggs. First, how do I have the patience not to take the nest down to see if there are eggs in there? I think there has to be - this little lady keeps returning. The only thing I can say for sure is that we don't have a hummingbird feeder. And the nest is very intricate.