Jr. Rose Festival Parade

Last week was the Rose Festival here in Portland. We have never really taken part in the festivities during Rose Festival week.  It is usually raining and we usually have too many things going on.

This year, Tyler got a chance to walk in the Jr. Rose Festival Parade with her PE teacher and a group of PE students on unicycles, stilts, pogo sticks etc...  I didn't really want to go because it meant driving her myself downtown on a parade day, but I gave into my guilt and went with her.  

It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.  The parade route was about a mile long and she chose to walk on stilts (although she has been practicing on the unicycle and could probably have done it.)  She had to hop off a few times to catch up since stilts are a little slow going next to a unicycle. We got some good exercise and had fun hanging out with good friends on a beautiful day.

Despite the one hour ride home in post parade traffic, I might consider doing it again one year... Maybe.

Lincoln City

Memorial Day weekend we usually head out to the coast for at least a day.  This year I decided we needed an entire weekend and some new scenery.  So we booked a room right on the beach for two nights in Lincoln City.  The weather was not perfect, but it was not raining and I'll take what I can get. 

As soon as we got checked into our hotel, we went down and took a walk on the beach.  We walked down to explore the tide pools and climb around on the rocks.

Lincoln City is well know for it's glass blowers and beautiful glass floats.  They are hidden on the beach every year from October through May for some lucky beachcombers to find.  We started out looking along the rocks in hopes to find one, but did not have the patience for it.

We just had fun exploring the tide pools and combing the beach for treasures.
Why are you wearing sneakers on the beach, Luke?!

After a swim in the pool and some dinner, we just chilled out in our room before bed.
The next day, we thought it might be fun to try a glass blowing class. There are lots of glass studios in town and a place where you can learn to make your own glass float.  If we could not find one on the beach, we would just make our own. The class was full so we found another glass place where you could make your own fused glass art.

It was fun to watch the kids come up with their own creations.  They turned out so pretty! Next they will be fired and the glass will fuse together and we can go back and pick them up the next day.

Next we drove down the coast a few miles to Devil's Punchbowl.  Devil's Punchbowl is a rock formation that looks like a punch bowl when viewed from above.  We opted to walk down the trail to the beach and explore it from below.  The tide was out so we were able to go right inside the cave.

There are lots of tide pools to explore here too.

Hannah hitches a ride back up the trail.

We stopped for pizza on our way back and hit the candy store for some salt water taffy and a few antique stores. When we got back to our hotel, we went back out on the beach to fly a kite.

And collect some rocks.

And throw some rocks.

But it was a bit chilly and it was not long before we gave it up in exchange for a swim in the pool.

The next morning the sun was shining and it looked like it might be a really nice day.  Tyler and I took a quick walk on the beach.

But it was time to pack it up and head for home.
Happy Memorial Day! and Happy Birthday to Me.