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April 9th, 2012 by sara

Portland

On Saturday, we took a trip up to Portland to visit Sean’s aunt, Marie, and take the kids to OMSI, the great science museum up there.

They had an absolutely incredible Lego exhibit with huge, amazing Lego sculptures. Seriously unbelievable. After we went through, they had some areas for kids to make their own creations. Jonah (surprise) liked playing with the Lego train.

Nora worked on building a tunnel for the train to go through. She showed it to Aunt Marie.

And then we went to the special photo area to get a picture of the proud builder with her tunnel.

The next stop was upstairs to a special area set up for little kids to explore all sorts of different concepts. They both enjoyed the water area, playing with fountains, scoops, balls, and whirlpools.

Nora really liked playing with balls in the vacuum tubes and the air blowers. Watching the ball go up…

And trying to grab it out of the air.

She wanted to give Dad a turn.

Jonah showed Aunt Marie something he made with some people blocks.

Nora cut up some flubber (which she always sees Jonah playing with at school).

And Jonah got to touch a snake! He said it was not as smooth as he expected a snake to feel.

There was also a sand area with all kinds of scoops, strainers, and funnels (and trucks) to play with.

We took a little break to eat lunch before visiting a few other exhibits and returning to this fabulous room again. While we ate, Jonah told us that he wanted to live at OMSI so that he would never have to leave. We decided that Sean should just drive back to Eugene and get all the clothes and stuff we would need. Nora was eager to get back to playing and was saying, “I so excited for SCIENCE! I really like science, so just GET ME SCIENCE!” over and over. It was pretty great. We all had a super time.

Back at Aunt Marie’s house, there was a surprise for Jonah – a rug that looks just like Citizens Bank Park where the Phillies play! He has had so much fun with it back at home, setting up players on the field and running his train track around it to do all kinds of new stories.

Both kids mentioned again and again how much they enjoyed going up to the city, and they’re such good car travelers that it makes for a very pleasant trip. Somehow they didn’t even fall asleep on the way home(!), even after all that excitement. It was really nice to see Aunt Marie, and we sure look forward to our next visit to Portland!

Posted in Relatives, Trip | 2 Comments »

September 13th, 2011 by sara

Day at the Coast

About a week ago, we had some shockingly hot days here (the 90s, gasp!), so by Saturday, Sean had had enough and declared that we should head to the coast. We packed up a lunch and some toys and headed about an hour west to Florence where we found some beautiful… and cold… and windy… beaches. The first place we stopped, we just walked around for a bit and then we headed a little farther north where we found a much less windy place to eat our lunch.

And play baseball, of course!

The kids dug in the sand for a little while.

And I’m pretty sure this shovelful was the one that got dumped on Jonah’s head.

Then Nora was ready to explore the shoreline and check out the water.

So while the boys continued their ball game, Nora and I played in the (freezing!!) water. I try to be a good sport for the children, but my feet kind of wanted to die.

Then the wind kicked up quite a bit, so Sean got out the kite. The kids liked that! (It was also around this time that I accepted the reality that I should never expect to spend time on an Oregon beach without a jacket, hat, and earmuffs. It’s just the way it is.)

Nora was happily yelling at the kite to come down!

And we kept testing out our ‘deep’ hole by putting Nora in it.

After we were sufficiently chilled and windblown, we left and drove a little farther north where we got some ice cream and went for another walk along a beach trail. After heading back down to Florence for dinner, we ran into a classic car show in the old downtown there and enjoyed watching all the fancy old cars cruise by after we ate. It was a really fun way to spend the last hot day of summer!

Posted in Dad, Mom, Outdoors, Siblings, Trip | 4 Comments »

August 28th, 2011 by seans

Camping with Jonah

Jonah and I went on his first wilderness camping trip this weekend, up to Charlton Lake, near Waldo Lake, in the Deschutes National Forest of Oregon. The lake sits on a high plateau at about 5600 feet above sea-level. The nice thing about this spot is that it is very easy to get to, with about a 400 yard walk from the parking area to the lake. We both had a very nice time, and only fed a few mosquitoes while there!

Leaving the car, Jonah carried his own gear:

Arriving at camp:

Setting up the tent:

Of course, it wouldn’t be a complete day without playing some baseball:

Later, we ate dinner:

Before bed, we cleaned up:

In the tent, it’s always fun to play with your headlamp:

Finally, here are two last photos of our fun camping trip!

Posted in Dad, Outdoors, Trip | 1 Comment »

August 22nd, 2011 by sara

Playing in PA

This post is gong to be huge, but I have too many photos left from our trip, and since it’s been a month since we left on that trip, it’s time to just get them all up. Here we go…

Grandma and Grandpa got a sprinkler and pool for the kids to play in. Nora and Phoebe especially liked the water activities.

And Jonah pretty much just wanted to play baseball at all times. Grandpa was happy to join the team.

Here’s Nora enjoying the cold water from the sprinkler.

Then Grandma showed Nora how to cool down in the super hot weather by using the sprinkler to wet her face.

And since it was so hot (over 100 degrees for quite a few days), we spent time playing inside with everyone as well.

Reading with the Monkle

Uncle David provides some mealtime entertainment.

And Jonah teaches his uncles how to bat like Raul Ibanez (‘gum’ in the cheeks and all).

Nora loved climbing in and out of my childhood rocking chair.

And looking adorable with her little baby.

We also went to a couple of parks in town.

Jonah loved playing imaginary baseball on a real field.

A definite highlight of Nora’s trip was having Phoebe around to watch and play with. Even now, a month later, she still talks about Phoebe every day.

And I love these photos because it pretty perfectly sums up what it was like trying to take a picture of the three cousins together. Hilarious.

And finally, our happy travelers, all ready to go in their car seats!

Posted in Outdoors, Relatives, Trip | 2 Comments »

August 20th, 2011 by sara

Trains!

While we were in Pennsylvania, we took a day trip to the Railroad Museum in Strasburg. It was a big hit with both of the kids, because Jonah totally loves trains right now, and Nora loves whatever Jonah loves. The museum was an enormous space with dozens of huge engines and train cars to check out. Jonah was in awe.

Nora climbed on every single bench in sight.

The museum even had some fun interactive spaces for kids, and they both loved shoveling coal into the firebox.

Then we got to ride on a real steam-powered engine through the Lancaster countryside. This was a real highlight of the trip for Jonah. For days, he would randomly say, “I really liked going for that train ride!”