Sunday July 25th 1015
On Sunday we headed South. Nate's brother Andrew and his wife Jenna were in Lincoln so we stopped and picked them up.
Our first stop was the Oregon Aquarium. The kids loved it. They ran from exhibit to exhibit.
One of H's favorites was the jellyfish tank. We had to literally pull him away from it.
Checking out the tide pools.
The touching pool was the all time highlight of the visit. We spent at least an hour in this room alone. the kids LOVED touching all the sea creatures.
They were so curious and loved learning about all the different anemone and urchins.
Another highlight was the puffin birds exhibit. The birds were so interactive. They were completely aware that they were surrounded by people and loved getting a reaction out of splashing the kids and making all kinds of sounds.
The shark tank was pretty cool to walk through.
My overall thoughts of the Aquarium experience were different than I expected. I thought my kids would love the big whales, sea lions and sharks. What they couldn't enough of were the small creatures that they had never seen before. It was so fun to watch them experience life under the ocean for the first time.
For lunch we stopped at the South Beach Market. Poor Jenni hates seafood but she was a champ and went along with it.
This place was highly recommended by locals and travelers. We knew it had to be good because it was packed and the line was out the door.
I got the halibut that was amazing. Randy ordered the crab sandwich and clam chowder. Brad was the only brave one of our kids and ordered shrimp. It was all amazing.
They had huge pots of crabs boiling. They kids were totally entertained by the atmosphere.
Our next stop was devil's punch bowl. The Lamonyon's in our ward used to live in Oregon and highly recommended seeing it. Most people go at high tide. From up top the bowl swirls around in the cove. Nancy recommended going at low tide so you could explore inside the cove. She was right!!! It was amazing and beautiful. Nothing like anything I had ever seen.
Visiting the aquarium first was perfect since the kids learned how to pick up crabs and how to touch sea life properly. They weren't afraid to touch or pick anything up. They were low tide pool heaven.
I can't even describe how amazing it all was. I never want to forget how overwhelmed I felt as I watched my kids experience the ocean. They ran from pool to pool touching urchins, tickling anemone and chasing crabs,
Searching for creatures hidden in the cracks.
Trying to drag the seaweed back to the ocean without any luck.
On the way back to the beach house we stopped at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse
After exploring the visitor's center we watched the ocean. There were a bunch of sea lions on the rocks and we could see them from a spotting scope.
After being patient we spotted a whale breaching the surface. We were so excited! It was so fun to watch. I barely got a glimpse of it with the camera.
H and carter used their pretend binoculars to whale watch. It was cute.
On the way home we stopped at Beverly Beach State Park. They had a campground there that was so amazing. It was right off the beach. It's on my bucket list to drag the trailer and camp there one day.
We made it back to the beach house just in time to witness this beautiful sunset.
Gorgeous!
We made dinner at the beach house. We cooked the artichokes we picked up at a roadside stand. Andrew works at a Cattle Ranch and brought these giant steaks to share. It was all delicious.
After dinner we ate ice cream we bought from the Tillimok factory.
Such a great day!
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