"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." Abraham Lincoln

Showing posts with label Vacations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacations. Show all posts

30 June 2015

HOGS Vacation June 2015


Hale Oregon Getaway Shindig 2015

The Hale family got together for a reunion in Lincoln City, Oregon June 18-24, 2015. We stayed at the historic, eclectic Anchor Inn. We all had rooms inside this old B&B and had our meals together in the dining room. Each family took one day of meals and cooked breakfast and dinner for the family.


The girls and I started out on our road trip on the morning of June 17 and stopped at Twin Falls, Idaho for lunch. We were able to stretch our legs and see the beautiful falls. Continuing on I-84 we saw the the Boise Temple and stopped in Pendleton, Oregon for the night. The girls especially loved swimming in the pool and eating breakfast. Max and Ashley crept in to sleep in our hotel room after the girls had fallen asleep and we all continued on in the morning.

Twin Falls


Boise Temple



Playing in the pool at the Holiday Inn Express in Pendleton, OR


 Multnomah Falls in Oregon is a beautiful area in the Columbia River Gorge and we stopped there for lunch and Max and Ashley walked with the girls onto the bridge! Then we finished the trip on toward the ocean.




When we finally made it to Lincoln City we were welcomed by most of the family that had been arriving at different times through the day. Then we explored the Anchor Inn.... at first we were overwhelmed by all of the eclectic bric-a-brac and it made Evelyn nervous but we decided to share a room with Grandma Kari and by bedtime we were all settled in. In the morning the cousins wandered down to our room and watched Lady and the Tramp until the rest of the house began to stir and breakfast started.

The Gorman (Our room)

The Living Room upstairs

The Lillian (Aaron's room)

The Dining Room



At dinnertime Aaron made it! He had to work at the hospital in California that first day but was able to drive up and share the rest of the trip with us!



The family surprised us with a "money salad" for our upcoming wedding

The Pacific Coast Aquarium in Newport

The aquarium was great! The kids loved seeing all of the creatures and it was a beautiful day. 

Sophia the pufferfish, Aaron the scuba diver and Evelyn the octopus

We volunteered to take Wren to the aquarium with us

Sophia watching the eel

Jellyfish


Evelyn loved the puffins
Evelyn took this picture of the puffin






We loved hanging out at the beach. There was a nice area just down the road from the Anchor Inn and we called it Seal Beach because of all of the harbor seals that were hanging out on the rocks. We flew kites, played horseshoes played in the sand and water and enjoyed the sea air.








Devil's Punchbowl

We loved exploring the tide pools and it was fun to have the entire family together. We saw starfish, anemones, urchins, sea cucumbers and played in the caves and tide.









Depoe Bay

It was fun spotting the whales in the ocean! We would look and catch a glimpse of water shooting up from the blowhole and then the back sink into the deep. We ate ice cream and walked around the shops and bought souveniers.





Goodbye HOGS 


14 June 2015

Vacation Prep

When Aaron got his work schedule for June we were excited that he had time off for Oregon, but because he has to work the first day of the trip he will be driving up from California and I will be driving the girls from Utah alone! A lot of planning has already gone into planning a solo-parent, 14-hour road trip and there is still much to do! The girls have been with their dad for the past few days which has really freed me up to plan and shop for supplies. Today I put together our beach bags and car ride entertainment.

Beach Bag Essentials:

Towels
Sheet (makes a good ground cover; lightweight and sand brushes off easily) 
Swim suits & rash guards
Cover-ups
Sunscreen
Lip protectant
Flip flops
Sunglasses & Hats
Reusable waterbottles
Book/magazine

First aid kit in a clear make-up bag (bandaids, neosporin, ibuprofin, tweezers, aloe, itch spray for bug bites, etc.) 

Powerbars
Hair clip (can double as a comb)
Shell bags
Baby powder (cleans away sand easily)

Sand toys in a mesh laundry bag (easy to transport and shake sand out)  

Snacks

Car Ride Entertainment:

Art Case (I glued a dry erase board to the lid of a shallow Rubbermaid container) filled with paper, markers, crayons, glue sticks, activity books (word searches, paint with water, color books) and washi tape 

Media Box (we went to the library and checked out a bunch of new books, DVDs, and books on CD) also, headphones, Where's Waldo, a giant encyclopedia of dogs, and laminated maps of each leg of our journey marked with stops and attractions (we will be stopping at a couple waterfalls, nature reserves and parks to eat and get wiggles out)  and their travel journals

Fun Bag includes pipe cleaners, stickers, puzzles and Legos and playdough (to use on a cookie sheet), 2 travel games, and painters tape (to build a tape wall down the middle of the backseat from ceiling to floor, then tear down at the next rest stop)

Snacks

10 May 2015

Interview Trip

Aaron drove to Utah to interview in Salt Lake for an RN job. He spent a few days in town with us before heading back to work. While the girls were in school we went to some antique shops and then we ate dinner at Hu Hot and went bowling.