Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Oceans and Faces and Bears, Oh My!

The last weekend in July we headed down to Bandon, Oregon for a mini vacation. We stopped at Coquille River Lighthouse and took a tour. It isn't a very big lighthouse but it's always fun to go inside. It sits on a jetty overlooking the harbor and ocean.

M walked out to the end of the jetty while the girls and I walked around on the beach before heading to the other side of the jetty and walking on the boardwalk.
On the boardwalk there were several wooden carvings of sea creatures. Here are a few of our favorites.
I like the turtle's smile.
A pretty spiral in front of the harbor.
We went over to Face Rock Scenic Viewpoint and played around. The rock formations were pretty cool looking and the girls had a great time running up and down the sand hills.
We spent the night at Bandon Inn which is a quaint little place with the sweetest employees. Our room was cozy and comfy with a great view of the town and harbor below us. We ate at a very tasty but upscale restaurant for dinner. I was worried how the kids would act but they behaved pretty well. At one point L burped pretty loudly and then said excuse me, it was kind of embarrassing until the table of people sitting next to us started snickering.
The next day we walked around the town for a while checking out the cute little stores. There were a couple of sculptures made out of garbage someone had collected. They were pretty cool looking and a good reminder not to litter.
We headed to Wild Life Game Park Safari where we were able to feed peacocks, deer, sheep and goats. Both of the girls found peacock feathers they were able to bring home with them.
We also got to pet a bobcat, brown bear, tiger, and caracal, all babies of course. The girls were giddy with excitement about petting them. It was really cool holding these little wild creatures.
Bob the bobcat.
L's favorite was the tiger.
The brown bear was big but only a few months old.
The caracal was very pretty.
The girls also got to pet an albino skunk which was kind of musky, some ferrets which K really enjoyed holding and a beautiful red fox.
M's favorite animal display was the tiger cage. He stood over there for easily twenty minutes snapping pictures of the snow tiger and tiger together.
After seeing all the animals we headed back to town and ate lunch at a cute little pizzeria. While we waited for our food, the girls played air hockey and I played on my phone while M took pictures.
If you haven't been to Bandon, Oregon, then you really need to plan a trip next summer. It is a great little sleepy town with lots of fun things to see and do. Definitely stay at Bandon Inn, you won't be disappointed!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Friends Make Everything Better

In July we took a trip down to California to visit our closest friends whom we hadn't seen in a year. We stayed in their lovely home and they took us to some fun places for entertainment. We started out with swimming at their Grandma's. Such a pretty property and we love the pool.


Ben had some tickets for a baseball game at Raley Field. The kids weren't too interested but it was fun eating ball park food and hearing the fans. We left after an hour or so.
On Friday after a tasty pancake breakfast made by Emy, she and I headed to Wacky Tacky with the kids to play for a couple of hours. It was a very fun place full of slides, ball pits, bouncy balls, areas to climb and more. The kids had a blast! I think their favorite thing was the slide, they went back again and again.
That evening we went on a double date with Ben and Emy. It has been years since we have done that with them and  it was so much fun. We went to Don Quioxtes for dinner and saw Man of Steel at the movie theater. The kids had  a fun night with the babysitter, a sweet girl from Em's ward.
The girls loved jumping on the trampoline and it was fun seeing our two 5 year olds play so well together. K took over mothering Noni and hardly left her side. She loved playing with her.
On Saturday we packed up and headed home after taking a few pictures with our friends. It's always sad when we have to say goodbye. Can't wait until our next visit.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Red White & Blue

We invited our friends over for our annual Independence Day BBQ. The kids played in the pool and on the slip and slide while the adults visited. It was the last time we would be with the H family before they moved to Idaho.

After eating and playing we set off fireworks. Some of them were quite loud but they were so pretty.
A little too loud.