Adventures with Aundray

My 13 yr old nephew, Aundray,  flew out from Wisconsin for a visit.  The day he arrived, I took lots of pictures of our adventures in Portland, then later on that day my phone got replaced and the photos didn't sync so....  no pics of the fabulous food cart village we visited :(

When we pulled into town we took him to see the ocean:

The following day was our day off so we went up to Seaside where Aundray promptly decided to take a swim:

I was a mean aunt and made him put sunscreen on his shaved head (tried to make it look like seagull crap):

The previous day we found an abandoned skim board down at the beach so we brought it to Seaside to try it out.  We quickly found out why it was abandoned -it was so warped it didn't work at all!  But it was hilarious watching the boys try:

We visited the candy shop and Aundray got a chocolate covered "twinkie" (they hadn't made a comeback yet, so it was a knock-off Twinkie)

We stopped by Cannon Beach and showed Aundray the sights of the Goonies movie.  Then Aundray started climbing this big rock on the beach:

While wandering the beach we stumbled upon this neat design (much bigger and more spectacular than captured on film):

We went south to Florence to the Sand Dunes one weekend.  We took a bigger buggy tour of the dunes.  We wanted to do the faster "sand rails", but it was very windy and cold that day and we didn't want to be full of sand, as we had other stops and activities planned:

Obviously taken before we left (we weren't little icicles yet)

The Dunes were amazing but it was so cold out there and part of the ride was along the beach.  We will be going back again to do the faster rides, but only on a day when it is warmer!

We also stopped at the Darlingtonia State Natural Area and admired the bog/fen with the amazing cobra lillies.  We just missed the blooming, so next year Skott and I will have to get down to see them sooner.

Aundray and Skott practicing their "tree hugging" skills:

We stopped by A&W to get Aundray some food.  I hadn't been to one since I was a kid and had fond memories of the one in Salmon.  We were happy to see they had deep fried cheese curds (something we hadn't had since we left Wisconsin).  Not as good as Culvers, but still pretty tasty! And the root beer was just as good as I remembered!

Aundray built structures while we waited for our food

Skott and Aundray fight over a cheese curd

We also went hiking on the "Hobbit Trail".  We intended to do it on the way down to the Dunes, but missed the little pull-out area at the trail head.  We found it after several tries on the way back, and man, was it worth it!

right before it opens up to the beach

some hippies we met on the trail took this picture :)

We visited the Sunday Farmers Market in Lincoln City.  On the walk there, Aundray posed next to the worlds shortest river:

Aundray's idea of a "treat" at the market was buying a gigantic sweet onion and eating it.... raw.  Let me tell you, 13 yr old boy-eating-raw-onion-farts are something I NEVER want to smell in my life EVER again!

Got AJ some fresh smoked salmon jerky at the fish market Barnacle Bills:

We went crabbing at the bay one day.  Unfortunately, got totally skunked.  We enjoyed a bonfire and doing a little beachcombing.  Aundray attempted to dig for clams but all he found was a sand shrimp

We doggie-sat Bella for a couple days, and another time Paul, Jen and Bella came over for drinks and playing games in the backyard.  Bella LOVED Aundray :)

and Aundray was really sweet to climb into Fucie's kennel with him when he got sad and felt neglected:

And this is what you eat after you losing a wager on a game of croquet to a red-bearded Englishman:

A Tums, ham, and cheese sandwich

(this is actually what he ate LATER, after losing the bet and having to do a shot of hot sauce and ????)

We took a lot of walks on the beach:

and naps with Fucie on the couch:

We went out beachcombing early one morning during a super low tide.  Discovered quick sand.
And Aundray found a great piece of sea glass.

The last week of Aundray's visit, we were joined by Heidi, Ryan, and Ayla.  We had a busy, fun-filled week.
We went crabbing at the bay again, caught three this time:

Crab legs!

We took a day trip to Newport and went to the Hatfield Marine Science Center:

touch tanks

a tsunami simulator.
Build your lego house and see if it will survive

Posing with a piece of the dock from Japan
that washed up on the beach near Newport.  Tsunami debri

Wave Energy buoy (alternative energy)

We also visited a lighthouse and toured their gardens:

Another day we went north to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Oceanside beach:

so many choices!

pretending he got run over

Ayla LOVED Fucie and Aundray was really sweet to sit and hold Fucie in his lap so Ayla could "hold Fucies paw".  Adorable!

We tried to eat at Local Ocean the day we were in Newport but there was 1 1/2 hr wait.  We decided to come back the next day.  Aundray was a trooper and for the small price of a bag of beef jerky and a bag of potato chips, he agreed to watch Ayla while we went to lunch. When we left them, Ayla was excitedly feeding Aundray chips:

We took Ayla and Aundray to the park at the lake in town one afternoon.  Good to help burn some energy off.

There he goes!