Our Trip to Astoria

We decided to go to Astoria for Thanksgiving break this year. Brent has always wanted to go there because of the Goonies, and even though it was going to be cold over Thanksgiving break, we decided to go for it. We went Wednesday and came home Saturday night.

We first went to the OMSI in Portland and saw the special exhibit. A man creates artwork using real fish, reptiles, insects, etc. 

 After the OMSI we went to Chick Fil-A and it tasted so good! Audrey got the giggles there.
Ava: "This is Audrey and she loves mommy."

 Ava: "Audrey learned how to laugh in October."

 We went to our hotel in Portland and the kids were so excited to eat popcorn and watch TV in bed.

 On Thanksgiving we drove from Portland to Astoria. I was worried what we were going to do for finding restaurants that were open and not super expensive. Luckily there was a Safeway in town and so for lunch I had left over Chick Fil-A nuggets and the kids had corn dogs from Safeway. You can tell from this picture that they were so excited about this, haha! I so appreciate this age when they are so easy to please.
Coen: "I'm happy we had hot dogs."

 While on our trip, Brent brought some of the movies that were filmed in Astoria so that we could appreciate a lot of the sights. This is the school in Kindergarten Cop.

We found the Goonie house, which was super exciting for Brent. Brent and I walked up the lane really quickly to snap a couple pictures. You're not supposed to drive up there with your car and overwhelm the neighborhood.

 We went for a drive and ended up at Cannon Beach right at sunset. This is the beach that has the iconic haystack rock.

 Coen: "I love beach."

 There was a man at the beach writing "Happy Thanksgiving" in beautiful writing using a rake.

 It was so beautiful, we kept taking pictures!

 We decided we did not want to pay so much money for a Thanksgiving buffet, and make the kids be on their best behavior (since only the fancy restaurants were open for Thanksgiving). So we went back to the Safeway and each person chose one thing to have for dinner. The kids had frozen dinners consisting of macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. Happy Thanksgiving to us!

Ava: "This is on Thanksgiving night and we didn't have any turkey. I liked it because we watched Goonies."
Coen: "I love baby."

On Friday morning we went up the Astoria column. It was a beautiful clear day- they said you could see 100 miles in any direction. The column has a 164 step spiral staircase inside and I did it with Audrey in the carrier on me. I got about 25 steps up and wondered what I was thinking- I hate heights, and I had a baby strapped to me! I kept going though and the view was so beautiful at the top.

Coen: "I love throwing down the paper airplanes." 

Ava: "I like the column because it shows a lot of people who saved America." (She paid more attention to the outside than I did)

 We bought little wooden planes to throw off the top of the column.

 After we threw them off the top and watched them glide all over, Brent ran down the steps, collected the planes, and came back up so we could throw them again. Then he did it again. He wanted to keep doing it, but the kids and I were cold and we wanted to get back down to the ground! Brent is kind of amazing like that- running up and down the column three times like it's nothing!

 We went to the film museum next, which is pretty tiny inside. It was a little tricky for me on this trip since I nurse Audrey so often, so there was a lot of nursing in the car.

Beautiful Astoria- Brent kept saying over and over "I LOVE Astoria!!!"

 We went to a little cafe to get some lunch- I had to get some yummy fresh salmon!

 This is the house in Free Willy. We saw a lot of deer walking around the neighborhood here.

 Our breakfast at the hotel was really good each morning.

 When we got to the hotel the first day, Brent put in Kindergarten Cop and started it from where we were at. The couple are at a restaurant and Brent paused it and said, we are right there! We looked out the view from our room and it was exactly what was on screen. We looked it up online, and sure enough that scene was filmed right in our hotel, at the restaurant beneath our room.

Brent was excited to find a video rental store. The kids watched Moana while they waited.

 The spot where Free Willy jumps over the rocks:

 A shipwreck from 115 years ago:

 We drove to Seaside and ate lunch and went to this candy store.
Ava: "We got a lot of candy there."

 We drove around the beautiful protected forrest. Coen and Brent got out for a little hike while I fed Audrey in the car.

Coen: "I loved going by the water."

When I moved the car to a parking lot, we came upon all of these beautiful elk!

 We went to get a closer look at Haystack rock:

 There weren't a ton of people on the beach, and then we came upon Brent's friend from his program at the U of O. What are the chances?

We drove home Saturday evening. Coen slept the whole way since we gave him dramamine, and then he was up til like midnight when we got home. Audrey was so good the whole trip, but she cried some of the way home. I had been a little nervous to go on the trip since Audrey needs to nurse so much, and I can't eat a lot of food at restaurants, but it all turned out great. And the kids have been make believing that they are "going to Astoria" since we've been home, which makes it all so worth it!

November 2019- Cher visits for Coen's 4th birthday

The day after Halloween, Coen wanted to dress up and go trick or treating again.

Later, he told me he had a surprise for me and then turned around looking like this. I couldn't stop laughing.

We went to the park and Coen looked so handsome so I had to take his picture. He is too scared to go down the slides still at the park.

Coen really wanted to wear his skunk blanket to church.

Audrey is quite the popular girl at church. There are always people requesting to hold her.

Perfect little baby face!

Audrey spits up quite a bit depending on what I eat.

While I was cooking dinner Audrey was being fussy and Ava was actually helpful and held her for me. I had to take a picture to remember the moment- a child old enough that she can help me!

Trying on a kitty jacket:

Cher came to visit from Friday to Tuesday, to meet baby Audrey. We had fun talking, admiring the baby, watching movies, planning Coen's birthday party, and just being together.

After church Cher took some pictures for us! I didn't want to go far away, so once the baby go fed and changed we ran outside and took some pictures in our backyard and on our street.

On Sunday we went for a drive by our house and we ended up on a dead-end road that ran into a reservoir. We got out and took a walk on the path and it was so beautiful!

We caught the views right at sunset.

We decided next time we'll have to take our family pictures here!

Since there was no school on Coen's birthday, I decided a couple days before to go ahead and do a birthday party right on that day so that Cher could help me with it. It was a Toy Story 4 party. The kids made their own Forky, 

played Toy Story Bingo, 

ate cake, and watched the Forky part from the movie. It was a success and Coen loved everything! 

At 4 years old, Coen is extremely smart and observant. He knows all of his letters and also numbers 1-10. He can sound out most letters and wants to read and get homework like Ava. He talks very distinctly and has the cutest lisp. He is very organized and still likes things to be in their place. He is a clean boy and usually does not get food on his shirt or face while eating. He is starting to be a little pickier and although he loves pizza, he doesn't like to see the red sauce on it or else he won't eat it. He likes to play with legos and puzzles. He wakes up a lot in the night with nightmares (like 4 times a week still). His preschool teacher says he is a little leader in his class and all of the kids adore him. He has become so much more of a stinker in the last 6 months, but we still love our adorable boy!

Cher helped the kids paint pumpkins, which they had been begging to do for a long time.

Audrey started sitting up when propped:

Audrey falls asleep when I take her on a walk in the carrier like this.

Brent got Disney+ and everyone was so excited to check it out on Friday night! We watched the new Lady & the Tramp.

Big girl sitting in her bumbo. She actually only lasts about 3 minutes in here before she starts crying.

Ava wrote this list of things after church all on her own. Sometimes she can be so difficult, but then she goes and does sweet things like this. The note says "I love Jesis. Jesis cradid the erath (created the earth). I can be gud. I can prey. I love my famly. I can reyspet the chrch. I can go to chrch. I can be nisr to be gudr."

My cute little working buddy

I got our Christmas cards printed pretty early this year.

Coen got a bad cough that lasted for weeks. Audrey got a cold and looked so sick, but she still wasn't even fussy She just slept extra.

I don't remember why he was crying, but sometimes it's hard to be four years old.

This was what the kids' room looked like for several days- I always felt a few steps behind in everything and couldn't keep up with housework.

Audrey started holding her bottle a little bit.

Ava didn't have school on a Friday, but Coen did, so we had some girl time and painted our nails.

Ava decided to make these during fun time and I thought the kids looked like they belonged in a Wes Anderson movie.

I made a scavenger hunt for the kids and they were so excited about the whole thing. Here they are as I'm reading them a clue.

At the park it was chilly, but Audrey just sat in her car seat so happily.

The kids love playing with Audrey

We went to see Frozen II and in my humble opinion, the story was so convoluted. It's not saying much, but I was confused the whole time.

Matching in pink for church.

Audrey got too big for her swaddle so we got her this sleep suit that is basically like the poor kid in a Christmas Story that can't put his arms down. She can't startle herself that way! She sleeps anywhere from 6-8 hours in it.

These pajamas have unicorns on the toes and Audrey kicks her feet and watches them, totally entertained!

We went to Astoria for Thanksgiving break, but that will get its own post because I took so many pictures :)