Labor Day Weekend: part 2

Monday. Labor day. i.e. Paid holiday!! Gotta love that!

So for several days Sean and I had been tossing around the idea of going to the coast, maybe the aquarium, or Portland and finally decided Sunday night we should just go to the coast. But then we stayed up way late with family and then talking with Tory and then Ethan was up fairly early and I just thought, "That's it. I'm done. I am WAY too tired to go to the coast today!" But Sean got up and going and hopped in the shower and next thing I knew we were all getting ready for a day at the coast! Tory came with us and we decided right away that we would do dinner on the way back at the famous Gingerbread restaurant because Sean and I have never been. First stop was for gas and then by Veneta we decided we were all hungry and stopped and grabbed lunch at the DQ to eat on the way. We continued on to Florence and decided to keep going. We were hoping to go exploring in some tide pools, but we didn't check the tide tables before we left (or got going for that matter) and we just missed low tide. Oh well. We stopped at Strawberry Hill (one of Tory's favorite locations) and wandered around the beach and rocks, letting Ethan just climb and explore and be a kid. He loved it!

Beautiful day at the coast.

Playing in the sand.

Love the view!

I know it looks like it, but no, they are not holding hands... look closer!

Next we continued on North, driving through Yachats and then Waldport and on up to Newport. Destination: Yaquina Head. This is where I had really wanted to see the tide pools... next time I'll be sure to check the tide charts. We still had fun, though. Mommy and Ethan... hurry and take the picture!

The boys.

Yaquina head is a cobblestone beach - very different but pretty cool. And the sound! Waves crashing on the shore and flowing back into the ocean. Awesome. When we first got down to the beach we found this log with cobblestones carefully lined on top (in ascending, then descending size order). Of course, Ethan promptly made it his duty to clear the log of the stones! Ethan had fun picking up handfuls of the small cobblestones, waiting for a wave and then tossing them in.

But the FLIES!! Oh, the flies. Drove. Me. cRaZy. They were everywhere! And you didn't dare stand still for more than 2 seconds (like I had to so we could take a picture and document the grossness). I count about 40 on me in that picture. Finally we decided the flies were too much, plus some heavy, gray fogged had rolled in (which you can see in the pictures) and we went to downtown Newport. It was such a gorgeous day (other than the fog we had at Yaquina Head)! We went out onto the pier to watch and listen to the sun-bathing sea lions. They have quite a loud bark! Ethan got such a kick out of it and was not-too-happy when we left (shorts naps in the car will do that to a toddler)! We strolled past the small shops and decided a stop for salt water taffy in one of the old-time candy shops was a must.

And then it was time to head home. We did stop at the Gingerbread Restaurant. What a nightmare that turned out to be - not because of the food or the service, but because of our over-tired Ethan. Oh, what a headache! But the food was good - Sean and I just had burgers and fries and then the three of us attacked a divine slice of lemon meringue pie!