Bits n' Pieces

A boy and his dog.

Zane does Pilates. I feel like that sometimes too.

The neighbor girl was wearing a winter hat (not sure why, since it was 70 degrees out), so Zane had to go get mine. The boots were his own special touch.

Zane is very into trains, or choo-choo, as he calls them. At any given moment he'll point and say choo choo and we have to figure out if he wants the toy, the book, or the cartoon. Luckily the cartoon is only on on Sunday mornings :)  He has also taught himself to jump and is very proud of his new skill.

We had some special visitors today! Uncle Matt and Aunt Audrey were celebrating their 1st anniversary in Vancouver and came down to say 'Hi'. Aunt Audrey is the best at blowing bubbles!

 Uncle Matt is hilarious.

Pics a la Mom

Zane tries out neighbor Jack's Strider bike. These sweet little rides are so cool! They don't have pedals and instead allow the kids to learn to balance on their own by scooting along with their feet. When they get good enough there are pegs to rest their feet on and coast. Jack and another neighbor boy have them and they can really get going. We've got our eyes on one for Zane's second birthday...shhhhhh!

 Bouncing on Rody, the inflatable donkey. The weight limit is 400lb according to the instructions so come on over if you want to bounce.

 Touching the urchins at the aquarium. They were more spiny and less slimy than I expected...that's a good thing.

 Playing with the otter.

 AHHHHHHHH!! This was a close call!

 Yachats beach.

 Everyone plays in the sand.

Aquarium & Yachats

While my mom was here last week we decided to take a vacation within her vacation. We found a small house in Yachats (pronounced "Ya-Hots"), about 3 hours away on the Oregon coast. That's a big stretch in the car for the little one so we stopped off in Newport at the aquarium on the way. It was fantastic!! They have a bunch of outdoor displays as well as the indoor tanks. Zane saw gigantic jellyfish and starfish, touched an urchin (he was not impressed), ran through tunnels of fish, yelled at the Puffins, and had a staring contest with a giant crab.

Outside was set up like a series of caves and each animal had it's own area. We saw seals, otters, and an octopus. Here Zane and Granmama check out the lounging seals.

 Zane and Granmama crawled (literally) into a bubble in a fish tank and looked out at us!

Then it was off to Yachats! Our little house had a great front porch where we spent most of our time staring at the ocean and watching Zane mow the deck.

Ma-moo on the deck.

We tried a beach called Smelt Sands but it was too rocky and there was no beach for Zane to run, but the view was nice.

 Running! This is more like it.

The Iowa girl gets to splash in the ocean. Virgil is not one to be left out.

Zane liked the idea of walking in the water, but didn't like the waves splashing on his feet. Luckily the tide was low when we got there and we had lots of shallow water to explore.

Mom and I stepped out during one of Z's naps and we thought Shirley's would surely have everything our little tourist hearts desired (my mom's name is Shirley). Um, no. I'm sure they make a killing on people who aren't ready for the chilly evenings though...their sweatshirt prices were a bit lofty. We bought a magnet.

 

This is how we "calmed down" in the evenings. This boy is a sucker for a pile of pillows.

So many cool beach photos from our 3 days! A huge mosaic was necessary. We have mossy rocks, lots of toe dipping in the water, confused deer on the beach, wet dog, wet baby, bold crows, big waves, and lots of good times.

This was the first working phone booth I'd seen in a very long time. It was $1 for 4 minutes.

"Ma-Moo"

We just said good bye to Granmama, who came and spent a fun filled 9 days with us! FINALLY she was lucky and got some great weather while she was visiting from Iowa. We spent a lot of time hanging out in the front yard while Zane mowed the lawn with his new "ma-moo" (aka bubble lawnmower).

We took a stroll over to Columbia Park over the weekend to help one of his buddies celebrate his 1st birthday. It was great to have Mom there to "NOT be at the party with me." Kid parties are funny because the kids are all over the place and only regroup for cake!

 The majority of our time was spent at the playground.

 Zane is in to everything...rocks, dirt, water, "dip" (anything he can dip food into, which inevitably ends up all over him), so the baths are frequent these days.

 Afternoon snacks with Granmama.

 Ma-moo in boots.

No visit is complete without a trip to Rogue Brewery in the Pearl. Zane enjoyed dipping his grilled cheese and chips into his Jell-O. He was generous enough to share with everyone. Yum!

We got some 85 degree days so it was water time in the backyard! He filled bowls, dumped water on himself, and liked watching the water arc out of the hose.

Shirtless ma-moo.

Stay tuned for photos from our trip to the Newport Aquarium and the coastal town of Yachats!