Ultimate Spring Break Extravaganza 2010!!!

I may have missed updating last weekend but this blog should make up for it, at least in terms of length.

I can't remember the last time I took a week off from work. Maybe last summer? Anyway, Spring Break seemed like the perfect time and Yaya's beach house, the perfect place. It also doesn't hurt that there's a Mo's just down the road.

Mason's favorite beach time past time is rock climbing. We arrived Saturday afternoon and though the clouds started to come in, the weather was still nice enough for a quick walk.
Sunday we headed north to Seaside, getting there just in time for some lunch on Main St.

After lunch we had to hit the games. Mason only wanted to play car games. His legs are a little short for the pedals so he needed a little help on the accelerator. He did his own steering though.

He was up for some air hockey with this sister in addition to car games. Mason won.

Siena got to play a lot of games too, though sometimes she just had to look on while Mason kept at it.

We had moments of windiness by the water.

You many be inclined to think of Seaside as nothing but a tourist town, but that is wrong. About January 1, 1806, a group of men from the Lewis and Clark Expedition built a salt-making cairn at the present site of Seaside. In honor of this, the city of Seaside has this Lewis and Clark statue at its "turnaround" - also the turnaround for Lewis and Clark's team.

Mason is going through a bit of a "I don't want my picture taken phase", possibly a result of me taking his picture so many times for this blog. I can still catch him in action from time to time though.

On the way back, we decided to veer off Hwy 101 at Tillamook and take the three capes loop. The first stop was Cape Meares.

There are some nice views to be had here.

The lighthouse was first lit in 1890. When it was built, the lighthouse complex included two keeper's houses, two oil houses, and two cisterns. Later additions included an 1895 workroom attached to the tower and a 1934 garage. In 1963, the lighthouse was deactivated and replaced by a newer tower. The two keeper's houses were subsequently demolished in 1968.

The lighthouse is still closed for winter but we were able to walk down to it and catch a family photo in front of it. As you can see, it isn't the tallest lighthouse but based on its location, it doesn't have to be.

The kids took a break on the hike back to the car.

The kids and daddy across from the bench.

Siena has a tendency to get carsick on windy roads. The three capes loop was just such a road. It probably didn't help that we stopped for dinner midway and coaxed her into eating. Sure enough, a few minutes after getting back on 101, Siena threw up. We took her coat and pants off and gave her my coat to use to keep warm. Then we rolled down all the windows (in a torrential downpoar) and did our best to not think about the smell. Siena plugged her nose the whole way back.

Mason had a different odor control strategy. He used his race car to block the smell. After some carpet cleaner to clean up the car (that's the best we could find in the condo) and some air freshner, the car was good to go after a couple of days.

We weren't off and running quite as early on Monday but we were still busy and active. It was so nice and sunny that we went down on the beach to play after breakfast. Siena even ditched her shoes.

Mason worked hard on a sand castle.

Siena gathered water.

We headed south on this day toward Newport and stopped at some of the scenic points along the way. This is Cape Foulweather. Cape Foulweather is a basalt outcropping 500 feet above the ocean. The cape is notable as the first promontory on the northwest coast of New Albion (as the area was then known) to be sighted and named by Captain James Cook, while on his third voyage around the world. Luckily, no foulweather for us on this day though.

And the view from Cape Foulweather is pretty incredible. This is a south look with Devil's Punchbowl below.

Speaking of Devil's Punchbowl, that's where we had our picnic lunch.

The tide was out so we roamed around the tide pools. We got to see small fish, anemone, and starfish.

There was a little stream we had to manuver to and from the tide pools. This bridge wasn't there on our way there. Mason and I got soaked shoes as a result of some poor rock jumping. Must balance to get across...

Now its on to Newport Bay for some crabbing! Here's Siena on the front of our crabbing boat. No, I didn't make her do the "I'm the king of the world" pose.

Embarking on our version of Deadliest Catch. Mason is being camera-shy again. He was actually quite excited to be out on the boat. We got to see a lot of seals and sea lions while out there.

The pots are loaded with bait and ready to go. Luis and I want to invest in a couple of our own to chuck off the dock by Mo's. We also heard that cans of Alpo dogfood work great for bait.

And something you don't see every day, a boat stranded on a sandbar. The skipper and crew were hiding below waiting for the tide to come back in. Clearly recreational boaters.

Mason inspects the bin of too small crabs, from a distance of course.

Luis isn't afraid to get a closer look though.

We may not have caught a ton in the way of crab, but we did catch the biggest sea star I've ever seen. This is its underside. See the hand sizes next to it for scale. The kids all got to touch it. They thought it was pretty cool.

We ended up with a ration for our family of 2 dungeneous crab and about 8 red rock crab. The red rocks are smaller but since they eat things in the bay and do some unwanted damage, all of those can be kept and consumed.

It was pretty late by the time we got back to shore and got our crab cleaned so we headed across the street and had dinner at Mo's. Mo's are named after their original owner Mohava "Mo" Niemi, who was once described as "the stuff of legend in Newport".

Mo's first opened on the Newport bay front in 1946 as "Freddie & Mo's"—a 24 hour restaurant that served the local loggers and fisherman such fare as spaghetti and steaks. In the following years Mo's served more and more seafood, the clam chowder recipe evolved over time as the cooks would vie with each other to produce a better version.

The original Newport Mo's has an unusual front wall for a restaurant. One day a customer accidentally left her car in forward gear instead of reverse while leaving and crashed through the front wall. Mo consoled the woman, saying, "Well, we'll just put in a garage door so we can open it and you can drive in anytime if that's what you want to do". On warm sunny days the door is opened transforming Mo's into a sidewalk cafe. The door itself, pictured at right, remains basically unchanged since its installation and features a picture on its interior showing a woman driving her car through the door, an alarmed look on her face. This garage door is on the opposite side of the wall behind Luis in this picture.

On Tuesday, we went back down to Newport and went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which is Oregon's largest aquarium. Here's the kids at the entrance to the outdoor portion of the aquarium. As you can see, its another beautiful day at the beach.

Siena and a bird...

Jaws!!!

Luis and the kids at the touch pool. Mason isn't too shy about touching sea stars after this week.

After the aquarium, we had to stop off at Jamba, our favorite hippie shop at Newport's bayfront. The kids got down and jammed on the store's percussions.

At some point Tuesday afternoon, Mason took over as family photographer and caught this shot of me.

We drove home on Wednesday and ate some of our crab for dinner Wednesday night.

These are the smaller red rock crab. They may be small, but they were sure tasty!

We took the rest of the week at a slower pace. The kids went up to my parents for the night on Thursday and Luis and I went to see the Blind Side. GREAT movie!

I also spent Thursday in extreme spring cleaning mode. I got the kids toys all sorted, organized, and old stuff boxed up for Goodwill.

Yesterday was the annual Easter egg hunt at Jose's work. Luis took the kids down for some tromping in the grass. Here's Siena with her cousin Andre.

Must find candy. Must find candy.

Hummm...must find candy.

In other important family news, Luis and I are head to head in this year's March Madness Tourney. As of today, we're either going to finish me first and Luis third or vice versa, depending on who wins next week's Duke vs. West Virginia matchup. Go West Virginia!!