Our Trip // November 29: Our Last Day

Saturday was our last day in Lincoln City with Dad and Tanya and the rest of the family. We had so much fun being in Oregon and adding the beach to it was even better. :) Not to mention the killer good turkey Tanya made for us for Thanksgiving on Thursday! Way to go Stom! ;)

That morning Dad made breakfast. I think he felt guilty for all the cereal eating going on. But we didn't mind, and breakfast was fantastic. :) Thanks, Dad!

The kids playing with the Aunties.

The normal gathering around the table for a Cole Card game.
(One of the two photos of me the whole trip.)

Grandma Cole brought a Gingerbread House Kit with her and we got to put it together. Here are some photos. :)

Yeah. So we're kind of anal when it comes to "fun holiday activities". We took over, lol.
(Oh WOW, the 2nd photo of me.)

All above photos and captions, directly on photos, done by Sherry! Thanks!
The kids "helping" with house decorating. (Note the full cheeks.)

Daddy's got the walls and roof up!

Look how far a little construction experience can get you! ;)

More icing.

The kids ready to help decorate with Gma Tanya. :)

Sweet boy doing some roof detail.

All the cups of candy! The kids were in heaven, lol.

Almost done!

We're done! Duncan offered Papa's plastic trains from
one of his dominoes games. How generous of him. :D

Then, of course, they begin the destroying process.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. :) And best of all - I didn't have to feel guilty about not buying and doing a house of our own! Wahoo! Thanks Gma Cole!

I would end by saying "More tomorrow!" but that's all my photos! I hope you've enjoyed trekking through our Portland visit in photos and that those of you who were in them enjoyed having us visit and share our Thanksgiving vacation with you. :)

More... next year? :)

Our Trip // November 28: Down At The Beach

On the 28th, Liv woke up and hopped into bed with Gma Cole. :) Grandma Sherry caught it on her camera - along with, of course, Liv's retelling of her dream! Bahaha, ohhh Liv and her dreams...

Photos and captions by Grandma Sherry. (Thanks!)

This child has the most vivid dreams and nightmares, it absolutely cracks me up. Just like the black toilets... oh wow - imagine how excited she was to go potty at the stop in Idaho on the way home. The toilet seat was BLACK. I thought she was going to ask for a DIAPER by the look on her face.

As far as the "burned up train", ever since her preschool took her to the Sandy Fire Department and showed all the kids the items that had been burnt and caused fires, she's become very... NERVOUS about everything.

"Mom, don't leave that pan on the stove."
"Mom is our iron plugged out?"
"Mom did you put the toaster away?"
"Mom, I can't get my dishes, the fire station says I need to stay three feet away from the stove."

Yeah... my kitchen isn't even 3 feet WIDE.

It's been fun.

Later that day we headed down to the beach, again. :)

Liv & Maddie playing on the beach.

Finally getting her hands dirty.

Duncan and his (not seen) plastic spoon, taking samples of sand. :)

The tide was crazy and we were seated back by the rocks, but of course it ended up coming and washing over Liv's "castle" she made. She, Miss Drama Queen, was upset but we explained that just how it works when you're on the beach. "That's just life," as Olivia likes to say.

Duncan was very interested by the tide. He knew he didn't want to get wet, but when they were close to the water and the tide started zooming towards him, he'd just stand there. Maddie kept grabbing him and Liv and running from the tide.

Finally, he started to understand. I caught him standing behind us by the rocks saying, "Yes me safe by the rocks!"

Livy exploring.

Eventually the non-handicapped persons in our family, aka the one's that aren't pregnant and can walk more than five feet without bring on contractions, went on a walk. Click on this photo to see it full size and you'll have a wonderful shot of my son pulling up his pants. This is a common practice, not just daily, but basically every few minutes. ENJOY.

After the kiddos left. Enjoying the silence.

SEE THE HELICOPTER? Yeah, Cam was excited over the Helicopter. We definitely needed a telephoto lens for this shot, lol.

Mmm, yummy. Blech.

Duncan concentrating.

Such fun on the beach. :)

More Tomorrow!

Our Trip // November 27: Lincoln City

Wednesday night, the 26th, I was able to attend a Baby "Sprinkle" thrown by Jaimie & Mandy for me! It was so much fun to see everyone again and to just sit and talk together. :) I had a fantastic time. Thanks again ladies! I wish I would have brought my camera... grr...

Thursday morning we headed out to Lincoln City and began our second leg of the trip. Dad rented a beach house for everyone again, the same one we had had two years previous at Thanksgiving, and we had a blast.

Grandma Sherry had Cameron help her, Tanya, and Tessa open a can of cheese. Can meaning BARREL of cheese, like Costco size, LOL. My pregnant self stood back, I've never been one for liquefied cheese and while pregnant I tend to take two steps further away. My son on the other hand (of course) fell in love with it. Here are some shots from Grandma Sherry of my children gobbling it up. :)

Photos by Grandma Sherry
And yes, surprise surprise, D loved the spicy cheese.

We then headed out to the beach on our own a little later. It was drizzling (Oregon Coast, mind you, not California) and we got half a million good shots of the ocean and surrounding beach.

It was absolutely beautiful. Being able to take a trip to Oregon and see both my trees and my ocean was wonderful. I'm so glad Dad was able to get the house for Thanksgiving and that we could all be there to spend time together.

Back at the beach house the children were being lovely. Cam took these shots of the fighting duo.




Ahh, peaceful.

More tomorrow!

Our Trip // November 24-25: Piano Keys and Curlers

On Monday the 24th we did a lot of catching up, playing, the kids got to see new toys at Grammy's, new clothes Grammy had made, sneak more candy from Pa's stash, the list was endless. With lots of repeats of sneaking candy. :)

That morning the kids discovered the piano again and I took photos:



They had a lot of fun at Grammy's with that piano and Livy even learned to play "Thumbs On Vacation", tiny hands and all. :) Don't worry Liv, Mommy still has to jump her octaves, no stretching here. :)

The next day, Tuesday, we stayed home again and Grammy showed Olivia the idea she had for decorating cookies. I think that was a lounge day for Duncan, he was obsessed with the copy of Disney's Hercules that Pa had out by the VCR in their family room. The child was stuck to it and loved to try and say his name, it was very entertaining.

Duncan entranced.

"Oh, hi Mom. Me watch Erk-a-leez."

Snowman (and woman) COOKIES!

Olivia and Grandma had such a fun time making these. They got out just about anything they could think of to create the snow people. Even black licorice (yuck!) which Olivia and Duncan both seem to love. Gma is immensely happy that this (obviously defective, lol) trait has passed down to her great grandchildren.

Olivia, in her new Grammy-made apron, carefully constructing another one.

This one cracks me up, Unibrow Snowman, haha. :)

Like the annoyed smirk? I think I was bothering her with my
acute interest in her eye-popping, unibrow-ed snowman. :)

Olivia's other favorite hobby at Gma's house was hanging around the kitchen waiting for Grammy to finish cooking or baking something. Once she did, Olivia was deemed the person to run around with little bits for everyone to taste. It began with Grammy telling her to go ask people, "Are you a quality control person?" She'd ask, the person would say yes and eat thier little bite, and give feedback. Olivia always refused to announce the feedback to the chef, she was having too much fun asking!

By the second day of this game Olivia had developed it not only into the QC game, but the "Samples" game. Perhaps you would understand why if you went grocery shopping with us on Saturdays back home. First up is "The Sample Store" (Sam's Club), then "The Cookie Store" (Macey's), and then "The Market pause canwelookforsamplesandgetsuckers?" (Ream's Marketplace).

All in all, it was a great time and we all miss it already. :)

More tomorrow!