I also taught Mason's preschool co-op for the first time a few days before St. Patrick's Day. We practiced counting gold coins as we tossed them into leprechaun hats, dug for gold in bins of split green peas, ate leprechaun muffins. and made fruit loop rainbows. Mason was thrilled to finally have all of his friends come to our house and was a good helper.
I just liked the light in our living room before Church one day so I took these funny shots of my handsome 4-year-old!
Spring Break was the last week of March and we had a lot of fun being together and doing simple things. We took the boys to a Lego store in Canby that I had recently heard about. The store was holding a free scavenger hunt for Spring Break and both boys earned Lego surfboards by completing the hunt. We also let them each build and take home a mini-figure. They loved it and Spencer really wants to go back.
We shot hoops and ran around the Church gym for awhile one afternoon. Mason had a great time racing everyone on his scooter. Spencer and Alan played several games of knock-out and Spencer left bummed that he lost every time. Haha!
We like to visit a new city in Oregon every Spring Break. Astoria is in the very northwest corner of Oregon and is right on the mouth of the Columbia River. That area is well-known as the place Lewis and Clark ended their voyage to the Pacific Ocean so there are lots of cool historical sites and forts to visit. Astoria wasn't totally new to us, but Spencer was only one the last time we went so we thought it would be fun to go back.
We began our exploring at Ft. Stevens on the Columbia river. The fort is hidden behind a bluff so soldiers could stop enemy ships from entering the Columbia. The boys liked climbing the ladders and steps and exploring the empty rooms and lookout towers. It was just raining lightly when we first arrived, but a heavy rain sent us hurrying back to our car sooner than we really wanted.
Since the rest of the day promised lots more rain we chose an indoor activity next. We drove across the 3-mile long bridge to Washington to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Spencer studied all about the Lewis and Clark expedition in 4th grade, but I really didn't know too much about it since I didn't grow up in Oregon. The Interpretive Center had lots of reading that didn't interest Mason much (haha!), but Alan let him run around while Spencer and I read. I learned a lot of cool things - mainly that I would have never cut it as an explorer! Those guys were tough!
We found a local pizza joint with good reviews for dinner that night. The wait was long, but the pizza was yummy and everyone left much happier than they were when we arrived! ;)
Our two main requirements for hotels are free breakfast and a pool so we made sure to leave plenty of time for swimming in the evening. It was noisy and crowded, but still very fun!
These two love watching cartoons while I get ready in the morning. I think this was the first time they ever shared a bed and it went well besides a little cover-hogging. :)
The view from our hotel window was unique:
After a big breakfast, we headed up to the Astoria Column. The column is located on top of a hill in town. There are 165 winding steps inside of the column and the platform at the top gives a 360 degree view of the area. It was a beautiful morning for views! The clouds were very low the last time we visited in 2009 and we couldn't see anything. These pictures don't do the beauty of the NW justice at all.
We had planned to visit a replica of a Lewis and Clark fort after the column but after driving there, we decided it was too similar to the Interpretive Center and that the boys would probably enjoy running around at the fun playground we passed on the way much more. We chose right! The rain held off, it was semi-warm, and they had a fabulous time running around for an hour or so. Hooray for free fun!
We decided to take the longer, more scenic route along the coast back home. We ate a picnic lunch in our car and then spent some time looking for souvenirs for the boys in Cannon Beach. Mason picked out a rubber snake and Spencer got a small, glass turtle. The weather was warmer and drier just that little ways south of Astoria so we wound up walking on the beach for a bit too. Mason wasn't supposed to get wet, but I should have known that was asking too much. That kid truly loves the beach and I'm excited for more fun summer beach days!
No trip to the coast is complete without a stop for ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. This was our first time going since they re-designed the whole thing. It's much bigger now and more visitor friendly. Still crowded and delicious!
We were all pretty tired by the time we got home, but it was a fun mini-vacation and I'm really glad we went.
The next day was the State Geography Bee in Monmouth (about an hour south of us). Spencer had qualified to participate by winning his school Geo Bee and then scoring in the top 100 in the State on an online test. This competition was for 4th-8th graders so we figured the competition would be stiff and we were right. The questions were super difficult and Spencer was disappointed with his performance. Darwin and Debbie as well as Spencer's awesome teacher from last year came to support him. We were all just proud of him for making it as far as he did. There is SO much to know about geography and hopefully Spencer will continue to have an interest in it so he can compete again next year. (He was NOT at all happy about having his picture taken!)
The last Saturday of Spring Break was sunny and hot so Alan tackled the big project of cutting down and removing a dying tree from our backyard. Thankfully, a neighbor let him borrow a chain saw. Alan definitely wouldn't have finished that project in one day with his little hand saw! Mason played outside for awhile and then I took him to his favorite park when Alan and Spencer recycled a load of branches. We love the truck park!
