Newport: Day TWO...Newport Pier, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Sea Hag

On day two in Newport we went for a quick walk on the Newport Pier. There were a lot of people fishing and crabbing, which was really entertaining for Cohen. He loved going up to everyone and asking them a million questions. He's such a social little guy.














After the pier, we met a friend of ours (Amy) at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Cohen loves aquariums. This one had an amazing underwater tunnel that allowed us to see some great sharks. Cohen really got into it, which is always fun.

We then headed to the Sea Hag (Depoe Bay) for lunch. I had a crab louie that looked like a crab. It was fun :) Really I just got it for the amazing shrimp and crab on it! It was a great lunch catching up with Amy.

We took a few pictures after lunch. I LOVE Depoe Bay! It's just so beautiful.

 

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!

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 :)

Big Wheel Bike, Blueberries, and Trains!

Last week Cohen I headed out to the Pacific Northwest to visit family and go to my grandmas 85th surprise birthday celebration. It was a wonderful visit, but very very busy. It was nonstop go go go since the moment our plane landed.

For the first morning, before we left for camping for two days, Grandpa Anderson gave Cohen his big wheel bike. He has been talking about a bike for months now, so Cohen was thrilled beyond reason! He rode around the house (it totally reminded me of the Bobby's World Intro), but I think he had the most fun riding outside and in the garage.

After a quick ride on the bike he ran down to grab some blueberries with Grandma and then headed up to Grandpas shop to see the much-anticipated train display. My dad has been working for months on his model train set in anticipation of Cohen coming. Cohen was so happy to watch Grandpa run his trains.

Grandpa also gave Cohen a very special present, a train. This is just not any old train, it's the first train my dad (Grandpa) had (given to him from his dad...my grandpa)

Washington Trip January 2017: Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

After Burgerville we headed to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge for a little walk. I lived in La Center for over 5 years and never once went to this park. It was so fun taking Cohen and walking around. There was a big bridge at the very beginning that went over some train tracks. Since Cohen is obsessed with trains, we spent some time there waiting for a train. Luckily a really long train with some oil cars went by when we were leaving. Cohen was one happy little guy.

While walking my dad would walk ahead and hide behind a tree. Cohen would then say, "Where's Grandpa" and then go and try and find him by walking around the tree. It was really cute and I think both Grandpa and Cohen enjoyed it.

You will notice that Cohen has a sticker on on his forehead. My cousin Jamie gave him a Good Dinosaur book for Christmas and it had a bunch of stickers in it. Cohen LOVES dinosaurs and decided to put one of the stickers from the book on his forehead. Well, it was on there for over 24 hours. He bathed and slept with it on and refused to take it off. We luckily go most of it off on the second day in the second bath. Kids are so much fun!