Luckybeans

We are home. It was a bit of a sad holiday, really. Not terribly holiday-ish. All of us fell ill except for Ai Ana. And while there were certainly good moments

(ferry rides and beautiful views), quite a lot of time was spent more like this:

 

Instead of like this:

Yesterday was the first day in two weeks I was up and out of bed all day. I could not decide whether to be grateful that I was ill over the holidays and therefore did not miss school, or to be perturbed due to such a rotten holiday. Hmm.

In any case, we are back. A new semester begins on Monday. Onward ho...

Yaquina Bay Beach and Dunes

Last Sunday was incredibly warm and sunny for an end of October day. There was almost no wind, blue sky, and bright sun. We ran around on the beach in shirt sleeves. That sentence is really worth repeating, but I'll spare you.

So we went down and were off...

Wait, someone had to be called back to be tucked up, and jackets and shoes had to be deposited because it was too hot. It was too hot! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I will try to control myself.

So yes, rocks were scrambled over.

Happy dances were made in the waves.

 

Talks were had (although I was not privy to them).

And dunes were scrambled over.

(I think this one is my favourite).

Ana even documented Simon and I. Take note, this is a rarity.

And of course we had to get a few shots of all three of them together. I'm not sure what Simon came up and did behind while I took that second photo, but I suspect it may have been the children's first experience being mooned. Ahem. 

And since we're now in dicey territory anyway, I may as well record this for posterity. Bella had two unfortunate incidents with dog poop in quick succession, and was feeling (understandably) miserable. Then everyone else found something interesting and cool in the sand. Poor Bella. She perked up when she found the edge of a pallet, though, and excitedly dug it up only to find this:

Proof that God has a sense of humour indeed. I laugh every time I see this. And so does she.

 

 

Step Back

It is common knowledge that Isabella adores history. Adores it. She has gained family fame for blissfully stating (at the age of seven or eight), "Waves of joy wash over me when I hear the words 'Ancient Greece'". Lately, I have been wondering what it would be like for her to live in Europe or China, where history is so accessible and real. A recent art trip had her come home, animatedly telling me the story of how the sketches on display had been saved during WW2 by hiding them in frames. Her classmates were bored to a stupor, but she came alive.

We do not have castles and old homes, fields full of remains and ancient battle scenes. Nothing like this.

But we take what we can get. Earlier in the summer, Ana and Asher and I visited Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and vowed to return with Bella. It is carefully presented as it would have been in the 1860's or so, and so cosy we all felt we could have moved right in.

We could almost hear the thudding of children's feet on the stairs, smell the smoke and bread from the old cookstove. Easy to imagine what it might have been like then, easy to see how Bella can slip so effortlessly into times past.

There are those of us who live with eyes set forward, the dreamers and the planners. Those with eyes wide open for today, the ones who take action and appreciate now. I think there are fewer of us who look backwards, but they are no less valuable. They remind us where we have been, and how we have become who we are. We are fortunate to have one of those around.

After spending time inside, we off course had to go back outside. We went to Agate Beach, where we ran around and poked at things.

We also made giant long lines of kelp tied together by perfecting our hitch knots. Who knew?

 

Afternoon at Yaquina Head

The problem with a weekend like we just had is that one runs out of descriptors for places: they are all fantastic, magical. wonderful, awe-inspiring. Etc. Can we simply carry on assuming that such adjectives are implied here? It certainly saves the verbosity...

So. So. After a morning at Hatfield Marine, we headed up to Yaquina Head with a picnic lunch to be gulped down so we could scramble to the tide pools just in time for low tide.

These are, so far, our favourite tide pools on the Oregon Coast. We have yet to disappointed. Our day at Yaquina Head was the coldest and windiest of the weekend. But that did not keep us from enjoying the (insert favored superlative/descriptor here) geography of the head land. It's volcanic rock and cobbled beach really do speak for themselves:

I do want to point out that there are seal pups in the following picture (white blobs on the rocks), and if you look very closely you can see the mama seals' heads bobbing in the water in the one after that (black dots in the water).

These craggy rocks are important nesting sites for sea birds, and the beach was littered with their bodies washed ashore. We thought this pelican was particularly interesting:

After taking as much damp and wind as we could, we went back up and toured the lighthouse. We'd been here before, but it wasn't busy, so why not.

A few displays from the inside.

Looking up, glassbits in the floor and inside the fresnel lens, and coming down.

A full and enjoyable (if brisk) afternoon.

Part the Second

Friday saw us up and out the door with bellies full of porridge to visit a place of dreams. Surely every child has at some point pined to be a marine biologist. In Newport, OSU actually opened a visitor's center so that all those starry-eyed children (and adults. Ahem) could come traipsing through their open doors to touch and play and poke and ask and see and learn. Hatfield Marine Science Center is, indeed, a wonderful place to spend some time (we took over two hours):

It is ever so much more than yellow submarines (although that is a grand way to begin). There are many thoughtful interactive displays that cover everything from fossils to harnessing energy from the ocean, tidal patterns and the effects of the forest industry on salmon runs, old dissection kits to cartography equipment, fractals (Bella's reading up on those) to how to tell a fish's age by counting the rings on its ear bone.

There is so much to see, we became overwhelmed after a certain point, and had to retreat to their wonderful touch tank tidal pools.

One of the best things about the center is the people who are there-- they are all either students or volunteers, and are so enthusiastic about what they do. The women at the touch tanks and feeding the fish both went out of their way to ask and answer questions, involve the children, and share what they knew and enjoyed. At one point, the woman from the fish feeding came running up to us to let us know that Ursula the octopus was out! She usually sleeps on Friday, but she was showing off! The woman even went  into the back to bring out some octopus eggs to show us as we learned more about these amazing creatures from her.

She was charming, that Ursula. 

I think this is a place we will return to in order to spend many more hours exploring. It will certainly take care of any grumpy walruses you may have in your family, cheering them right up.

I think that's all for now. I have a pie in the oven, and five children expected shortly. More on our afternoon at Yaquina Head coming up!

 

 

 

To-ing

We had a wonderful weekend at the Coast. This morning we woke up to frosted windows and crisp grass-- it is hard to believe we were running on the beach in shirt sleeves only two days ago. The weather was a gift indeed.

The route we take from here to there is winding and lovely. On our way out we stopped by the children's school for their parent-teacher interviews, so we paused for a picnic and a walk in the sunny autumn woods on our way. The forest is a magical place for me, and I am so grateful that it is someplace that we can all enjoy as a family, as well.

I like to meander and inspect small things. Asher likes to offer treasures to be photographed. 

They all like catching the leaves Daddy shakes down from the trees.

Simon and I were struck this trip by how grown Ana has become. Traces of childhood still cling to her, yes, but more and more she is moving into someone new and different.

Bella not quite so much. Yet.

We picked apples from old trees and picnicked by the empty farm house. Then it was back into the car and another hour until we reached this:

Ocean!

We took off along the sand, each moving away and reconverging.

Daddy helped Asher get sorted out. He didn't stay very dry, however.

Bella and Asher kept finding jellyfish (they did not sting). The problem with stopping to inspect so many jellyfish is that your other sister may take advantage of the situation and stuff one down the back of your trousers. In which case you are obliged to walk home like this:

There are many more pictures from the weekend. As I sort through them, I will continue to update here!

 

 

Why hello there.

We had a whirl-wind trip to Northern California to celebrate the wedding of my sister-in-law's sister. Hmmm. I hope you can follow that. We got to meet her extended family who made the trip over from France, helped with flower arrangements, danced ourselves crazy, hiked through the redwoods... It was good. I am so grateful for the ever-expanding circles of family we have been blessed with. Even when the language is difficult (my French is non-existant), the desire to want to know one another and the strength of hearts never fails to astonish me. We left so much richer than we arrived. It also served as a strong reminder to me that these people we connect with, the individuals weaving their ways in and out of our lives, are truly the most precious aspect of our existence on this planet. I am not the best of people person's, so I do need to be reminded of this fact. 

I didn't take my camera up to the wedding, but I did get some shots in the redwoods:

Meanwhile, Simon is home for four brief days between trips, so we are soaking up as much time with him as we possibly can. 

 

 

Sea Side

It is nearly mid-July and we had not made it to the coast yet. This was a sorry state of affairs, so we rallied and headed out to day. Actually, Bella ended up going to a friend's instead, but she is forgiven as her friend is about to move cross-country. So my salty companions were Ana and Asher. And they are good companions, indeed.

Asher had decided that he really wanted to try his wheel-less skate board on the dunes. So a boy and his board headed out into the sand...

Unsure of what to do, he at last realised that he must become one with the sand and let whatever may come, come.

We hunted up and down the shore, finding things that we documented for Daddy:

a rock with a face, a rainbow of rocks, kelp to twirl, a shell with a hole in it, a shell with a rainbow in it, a rock with lots of holes in it, a bit of dead something, a feather with mist drops clinging to it, a crab claw, a periwinkle shell, a bit of polished orange shell, a seagull skull (we brought that home).

I tried to take pictures of Ana, but she only made this growly-exasperated sort of face at me:

Nevermind.

We also found a beautiful fallen birch tree, half-buried in the sand, the holes that fed sapsuckers still clear, it's trunk showing signs of both moss and kelp.

The photos are not perhaps as spectacular as they might have been due to dirty lens issues. This normally does not bother me, as I would rather simply document than worry about the lens. But I do wish this photo hadn't been mucked up:

Ah well. The good news is that the camera seems to be just fine now after the splash from the creek, although the macro lens does not work any longer.

In any case, it was a  good, good day. And oh, I will sleep well tonight.

 

 

Ahem.

So last week at the creek, my camera got splashed. I am still not sure what is wrong with it. Sometimes it seems fine, other times not. And I can not tell if it is an issue with the body or the lens. I was hoping for a body issue as I would like to update, but I think it is a lens one. Which is terrible, as it was my favourite lens, the one I use 90% of the time.

In any case, all of this to say that yesterday I attempted to take photos with my iPhone. It didn't work out so well. But we had a good day anyway.

We went berry picking (over five flats), and found baby birds in the brambles. Bella appears to have two arms in one of these photos; i Phone magic? Also, strange colours/ exposures?

Then we went to the farm and had lunch and played with cousins and built fairy houses in the woods.

(Not so good photos of fairy houses in the woods).

It was all good and we even managed to get home to freeze and jam berries.  Whoot.

Tonight I have three girls in the house, but two of them aren't mine. And one little boy. And oh yes. We had a lovely Holy Day. But I gave up on the i Phone photos.

Around Here

We have been working on our summer to do list. We can add new idea cards to our wall whenever we have them.

In the meantime, we set to work: enjoying goodness from our own garden (and heading down to the farmer's market this morning).

Wearing paper beads.

Mixing up vinegar, a dash of dish soap, a drop of colouring, and a spoon of baking soda (idea from here). The dish soap truly makes all the difference. Asher sat and played on the tray for over an hour. (I sort of assumed it goes without saying, but don't really eat it).

The wild roses are in bloom. They smell like nothing else, except perhaps a bit of heaven. Ana wanted to make rose jelly, so we stopped by the roadside and picked some petals to try it. The most amazing part is when you add the lemon juice, it suddenly becomes brilliantly pink again! It is luscious and fragrant, and we plan on picking more rose petals soon, soon, soon!

We have also been to the bookstores and the library. We do not believe in boredom.