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!