Neu Family Reunion: Day 1 for me....Day 4 for everyone else

After an amazing week with my family in Washington/Oregon, Cohen and I joined Jeff and his family in Bayfield, WI for the Neu Family reunion in the Apostle Islands. Everyone else arrived a few days earlier, but Cohen and I arrived late so we could be in Oregon for my grandma's 85th birthday.

We all stayed in a bunch of cottages on Lake Superior. It was lovely hanging out with family and enjoying the absolutely beautiful scenery.

For Lunch, Jeff, Cohen, and I went to check out the small charming town of Bayfield, WI with Sharon, Ben and Atticus. We had lunch at a little place called the Fat Radish. It was totally delicious! If you ever find yourself in Bayfield, WI :) you should totally check this place out. 

After our amazing lunch, we grabbed some taffy and ice cream at a little place called Sweet Sailing. Cohen has becoming a taffy fan, so he was all over helping Aunt Sharon pick some out to share with the fam. It was a lot of fun watching Cohen and Atticus walk down the street holding hands. Even cuter was watching them eat Jeff and Sharon ice cream. 

Later in the day a few of us went on a 3-hour boat tour of the Apostle Islands. I really enjoyed both the company and the view! It was a very relaxing trip and it was nice catching up with some family. Cohen seemed to really enjoy the tour too. Mostly because he loved hanging with some truly amazing cousins. He also really enjoyed eating his body weight in Cheetos!

A quick trip to Newport...Candy, Dinner at Mo's, Ice Cream, and the Beach

After the Enchanted Forest, we headed to Newport to spend the night and get in a little more beach time before heading to Minnesota. Before dinner we stopped at a little candy shop to restock on gummy sharks. Cohen sure does love those gummy sharks and Grandma A is all too willing to support his addition.

We then headed to Mo's for dinner. This was my first time at the original Mo's. The food was great and Cohen loved the little plastic shark they gave him with his lemonade. I'm not sure where he got the idea to order lemonade, but it's now his thing. Every time we sit down in a restaurant Cohen turns to the waiter/waitress and orders lemonade. Harmizzle ordered a Marion berry cobbler, which was amazing!

 

We then stopped at an ice-cream shop so Cohen could get a chocolate ice-cream cone. The Neu's loves ice cream, and Grandpa A loves chocolate ice-cream....Cohen had no chance....he was bound to love chocolate ice-cream. 

After our sweet treat, we headed to the beach. It was kind of hike down, but Cohen insisted on going down and running in the sand. He ended up with a little sand in his eye because of the wind was crazy strong, but for the most part he enjoyed himself. :) I LOVE the Oregon coast and miss it!

Another Trip to the Enchanted Forest

While in Washington we met up with a couple of my cousins and my aunt at the Enchanted Forest! We had taken Cohen there in June of 2016 and he loved it, so we thought it would be fun to go again. Now that Cohen's older he could go on more of the rides and he loved it! He went on his very first roller coaster (the Ice Mountain Bobsled). He plastered his head into my chest the whole time, but he seemed to enjoy it. He also went on the little Ferris wheel, bumper boats, and the little train. He sure loves the train. It was kind of hard that to explain to him that he couldn't go on all the rides because he wasn't tall enough. I can't wait until he's 42' tall!

It was nice spending some more time with my family!

A surprise birthday party for Grandma Olsen!

The main reason Cohen and I made the trek to Washington was to go to my grandmas 85th birthday party. It was a surprise party so she had no idea all her family were traveling from all over to be there to celebrate with her. Her birthday actually isn't until August 31st, but we had it early to accommodate many different schedules and get as many of her grandkids there as possible. Grandma Olsen also recently moved out of her house which she has lived in for over 55 years and moved into an assisted living home. It was a great way to celebrate her birthday and have a little apartment warming party!

It was so fantastic to see my cousins again (many I haven't seen in years) and meet new members of the family. Cohen had a blast hanging with Jake (son of one of my cousins) and they kept themselves entertained throughout the festivities.

The moment Cohen had been waiting for...the Anderson family Water-fight!

After an amazingly couple of days at the beach and camping, we spent Friday preparing for my grandmas 85th surprise birthday party and hanging pool side. Well, hanging out in the blow-up pool my parents bought in preparation of Cohen coming to visit.

It started out innocent enough. Cohen would splash Auntie Harmizzle....Auntie Harmizzle would splash Cohen. All in fun!

It was a bit of a slaughter at first since, Grandpa was the only one with the water gun. However, when it was empty he handed it to Cohen and then ran inside to get the second one. Grandpa was kind of cruel since he filled up the water guns with freezing cold water from inside the house. He also went in and out of the house to shield himself from the return fire.

Pretty soon both Cohen and Auntie Harmizzle had the super soakers, but that didn't deter Grandpa and Grandma! They had the little water guns that you just suck up water really quickly. It didn't have a lot of volume, but the quick reload made Grandpa and Grandma very formidable foes. Cohen was having the time of his life!

Then something that happened that no one expected.... (See pictures below)

1. Cohen and Auntie Harmizzle were putting up a good fight!

2. Cohen appeared to be covering Auntie Harmizzle while he reloaded her gun.

3. However, in a surprise move he handed his super soaker over to Grandpa!

4. He then returned to Auntie Harmizzle and asked her to give him the second (now fully loaded) super soaker. 

5. It appeared that he was going to take Grandpa on all on his own....

6. But then he quickly ran to the other side of the pool and yelled, "Come on Grandpa!....Let's get Auntie Harmizzle! My little Benedict Arnold asked Auntie Harmizzle to fill up his gun and then used it against her! It was absolutely HILARIOUS!

Seaside + Long Beach + Campfire = Perfect Summer Day

After a surprisingly restful night's sleep, we headed to Seaside to go to the outlet malls and out to lunch. We ended up at Pig'n Pancake, which historically has been a family favorite of ours, but this time it was a total let down. The service was horrible and they messed up Grandma's order....TWICE! I think we will need to find a new favorite Seaside restaurant.

We then walked toward the beach and stopped at the carousel for a quick ride and then to a shop to buy Cohen his first kite! We only spent a few minutes flying the kite in Seaside. We deiced to head back to Long Beach to hang out on the beach since we could drive the truck on the sand and therefore don't have to walk to long distance to the water!

Long Beach was basically empty, which was totally nice. Cohen only flew the kite for a few minutes and then handed it to Grandma, so he could dig in the sand. Grandma just tied the kite to her chair. Of course, it ended up flying off, but luckily it didn't get far and Auntie Harmizzle could retrieve it. It was a lovely couple of hours at the beach with the fam!

After a great beach trip, we headed home to build a camp fire. Cohen had been asking nonstop about when we would be building a fire to make smores! The timing was perfect cause when we tried to start the barbecue to make burgers, we realized we were out of fuel, so we ended up cooking everything over the fire. Auntie Harmizzle didn't believe it could be done, but it could! Both the burgers and the corn were delicious.

We quickly moved on to dessert. Cohen opted in to eating a deconstructed smore and seemed to quite enjoy it. Grandma made a smore with a reese's peanut butter cup which looked divine! I will log that one away for next time I do smores!

We then moved on to making Fire Pies (a creation of our friend Kelly. aka Mele). Basically, you take biscuit dough and wrap it around an aluminum foil ball on a stick and cook it over the file. Kari then put pie filling and whipped cream on top. I decided to give it a try but instead of putting pie filling in it I put fresh peaches. It was delicious! It took a while to cook the dough, but it was totally worth it!

Oh, and we drug these two water guns to the beach (on Cohen's insistence) and didn't even use them once. Just posed with them :) Luckily, they got a lot of use when we got home and Grandpa started an epic watertight.

Cohen first "camping" trip and a day at the beach!

I know some might argue that this wasn't a "real" camping trip, but it was for us! :) My parents own a small lot of property in Long Beach, so we brought their travel trailer down and spent a couple days. Cohen, Auntie Harmizzle, and I slept in a tent while Grandma and Grandpa (Anderson) slept in the trailer. I was worried about the tent being a disaster, but we totally were comfortable out there and Cohen LOVED it!.

Cohen was such a big helper setting up camp. He helped Auntie Harmizzle with the tent and helped Grandpa Anderson carry all the firewood. Cohen took it upon himself to decide if we had enough firewood. He kept telling Grandpa we needed more. :)

After setting up camp we spent some time at the beach. This was such an experience for me (because I have been away for so long). I couldn't believe that they actually let people drive out onto the beach! It was amazedly convenient so we didn't have to lug the chairs and toys for miles. I also couldn't believe how cold it was! Cohen and I had just gone to the beach in New Jersey where the water was so much warmer and it was hot!

Grandma and Auntie Harmizle were so amazing and got down and dirty in the sand with Cohen!

A quick stop in Astoria, Oregon for lunch at Bowpicker's!

On our way to Long Beach for a two day camping trip, we stopped in Astoria for lunch and a little walk around the docks. Cohen learned what an anchor was and quickly became a fan of them and enjoyed easily spotting them on the rest of our beach adventures. We didn't go into the Columbia River Maritime Museum, but I kind of regret not taking Cohen. I think he would have loved it! I will next time!

Cohen did get to hop inside the museum and the hurricane simulator (luckily, a lady let Cohen join her son in it).

We grabbed a large order of fish and chips at Bowpicker's. The line was amazingly long, but we do so enjoy the fish! Dad doesn't get the big deal :)