Easter

Easter morning the kids got their baskets. Wahoo, an Army man!


And Carson got a golden egg with pay dirt in it that Travis got for him at some Gold show at the fairgrounds he went to with Avery a while back.


Emmett the bunny loved his "carrot."


And was pretending to eat it.


So Carson did too but apparently he didn't get the memo about it being pretend.


We colored eggs. (Yes, my gigantic 3 year old still sits in a high chair because we still only have four chairs!)






After church we had an Easter egg hunt. This was the very last egg found!


The kids had an Easter egg hunt at Papa and Grandma's later that evening after Easter dinner but there was just one big prize egg for each kid and then they had little baskets inside. Each of the kiddos each got a souvenir from Papa and Grandma's trip to the Grand Canyon too. The girls got cute pink cowboy hats and the boys each received a different wooden gun that shoots rubber bands. That was a a big hit! I wish I had a picture of them to hand, but I don't and can't go take one now because I've no idea where they are at the moment.


Happy Easter!

Hanger Sculpture

This is the hanger sculpture I found in Avery's closet last night.

Cape Meares, The Octopus Tree And The Lighthouse

After we left the beach we drove up to Cape Meares to check out the Octopus Tree.


On the path to the Octopus Tree. Carson and Emmett are doing superhero poses.


Whoa, that is one cool tree!


The sign with the fascinating info on this mystery tree.


Just past the Octopus Tree is another view of the coastline and Three Arches Rocks.


Can you imagine owning one of those two homes up on the cliffs?


One more stop at the tree on the way out.


Then we went to visit the lighthouse. The red in the distance is part of the light.


We had to pause for a look up the north side of the coastline.


Cape Meares Lighthouse




We walked back to the parking lot along the other path that overlooks the coast to the south


Which allows for another shot of Three Arches Rocks.


Then it was really time to leave... Until we spotted some Great Blue Heron all over in Netarts Bay and Travis stopped so I could take some pictures.




When the one I was stalking finally flew away I scrambled out of the brush and we were finally headed home. What an outstanding day!

Beach Fun For Easter

We were invited to meet up with friends for a fun day on the beach the day before Easter. First we met at Tillamook Cheese Factory. Before we found our friends and ate lunch together at the factory, we hit the Tillamook bus...



And the farmer and the cow...



And watched them make cheese in the factory...


Big blocks of cheese there.


And some of the boys found the bus again before we left for the beach.


We went to Oceanside and it was a beautiful day!




What is it with kids and throwing rocks in the water... or maybe it's just my kid.


There were a LOT of flies on the beach that day. Emmett was not a fan.


Carson loved the dog of one of our friends there. Emmett steered clear.






Avery likes to dig trenches and fill them with water... and then gets frustrated that the water always disappears.


Then it was time to set up the Easter eggs! This beach has a cool feature where the rock point that juts out into the water has had a tunnel blasted through it to the beach on the other side. So while the men watched the kids, we hauled the eggs through the tunnel to the other side and set them up. The other side was really rocky with lots of log debris which was great for hiding eggs.


It's hard to see, but there's a blue egg on the rock wall in the upper right corner of this picture. There were something like 300 eggs, so there was a long stretch of them!




The kids are ready! All those boys and just the one girl.


Go!






The lovely Laura on the left who invited us.








With all those eggs, all the kids got a great haul! Carson found one of the three $5 bills available!

Then we went back to the other side for more beach fun.




Flies on the castle




Flies on Emmett... Flies everywhere!




Who wouldn't like a hole to lay in?


Carson (and Avery) like to pretend to be dogs on the beach.


Carson found the hole too.


What a great day at the beach! I'm so glad we could have such fun with friends and that they invited us along! After we left the beach we made another stop that I'll post about next.