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!

Plants Plants Plants!

Totally unrelated to plants, but wanted to show an update of our neurotic wheelie pug:  

He has developed an OCD condition of licking his front legs until he has made sores.  So now we have to bandage and wrap his legs every day.  I went with the red bandages, to match his superhero diapers of course! ha!  But he is getting around better in his wheels and has figured out how to back himself up and turn around quite well.  Now only if we could teach him to take those door frames a little wider....

But, back to the title of this blog:  Plants!

We have lived in Oregon almost two years and have used our tent once that entire time.  Due to rain and wind, we would prefer to yurt or cabin tent here on the coast.  So we decided to free up some space in the garage and sell our tent and screen house.  A guy contacted me to see if I would consider a trade.  Turns out he owns a native plants nursery!  Perfect!  I made my "wish list" and we met them in Newport.

Here's the back of the car on our way down:

 and here it is after the trade:

So excited! Oh, did I mention he forgot tags for them?  Put my plant ID skills to test for sure!

I want to rip out all the "grass" in the front lawn and have it full of plants, strawberries, herbs, etc.
Here we are, starting to plan

I have to do a post once it's all done.  It's definitely slow-going between work, exercise, and doing things with Aundray.

Happy Anniversary!

For our 14 year anniversary this year we decided to go here:

We love markets!  The energy, the people watching, the wandering, the new foods....  And Pikes Market in Seattle has always held a special place in our hearts.  We don't see the "touristy" side of it like others do, instead, it holds a lot of memories of days spent mingling in and among the crowds, hearing the various street musicians, and being inspired.

Our first day we were a little tired and the drive up there reminded us how much we hate big city traffic.  But once we got to our hotel, we parked the car and walked EVERYWHERE the rest of the trip.  It was quite invigorating, not to mention a way to make a (small) dent in the amount of calories we were consuming.  The hardest thing for me was the amount of homeless people and to watch out for "teams" as we were walking to and from our hotel (we were about 1.3 miles away).
Every day we walked by this bush:

I loved the color!
We enjoyed Middle Eastern food our first afternoon (can't remember the name of our dish but the saffron rice was to die for):

and a cup of espresso in an amazing French bakery

For dinner we hit up Pikes Brewery:

Where we saw these antique beer crates (notice the locations): 

The next few days we spent exploring various parts of downtown Seattle.  I loved coming around a corner and seeing art like this:

that was found in this courtyard next to an antique printing shop

Or wandering down these stairs toward the waterfront

and seeing this

and these all along the water

We stumbled upon the most AMAZING shop for breakfast with the friendliest staff and it became our breakfast stop

Loved sitting outside, eating crumpets and tea, and watching the city come awake.

We walked south along the waterfront one afternoon.  We found a small market in this square

and I treated myself to a pint of blueberries and a pint of raspberries, both of which I ate that day:)

We stopped and had coffee at a waterfall park:

 
                                               

We had a late lunch at the most amazing brewery, located near Safeco Field.  Calamari, Salmon Po'Boy, and the biggest hummus plate I have ever seen in my life!  I had a delicious dragonfruit cocktail, and Skott had a drink called "The Fix" (coffee and beer)

A big shout out to "Elysian" brewing company- great food, great beers, and excellent service (despite it being a game day).

We had dinner one night (by this point, the days are melting together, but judging by my outfit, it must have been the same day) at a place called "Zig Zag".  We sat outside and in one of the buildings near us, an orchestra/band was rehearsing.  So we were treated to live music for about an hour.  We sat and talked and laughed and had a great time.  We had their wood-fired pizzas:  one was a four cheese, and the other was a sweet potato with spiced pumpkin seeds.  Both were amazing!

The morning of our final day we walked to a sculpture park (after having crumpets, of course).  The park is 9 acres and it was raining, so we didn't take time to explore all the trails.