South Beach, Oregon, that is. Like it’s famous cousin, South Beach is a fairly large beach town in Oregon. And with the weather finally cooperating, it looked like we’d actually be able to enjoy the great outdoors.
Our short drive took us along the 101, again. But this time, it was smoother and much more enjoyable. After a quick stop at McDonald’s for lunch (which the boys loved), we made it to our campsite pretty early.
Our first day was still pretty dreary out, so we spent some time preparing for the nice days by shopping and cooking.
Then we got to Monday – the day we’d been waiting for. And it delivered. Damon opened the door and mini-man was instantly trying to go outside, grabbing his shoes and handing them to us.
Our site is just to a playground and as soon as we were outside, mini-man headed straight there. Mini-man enjoyed the swings and little-dude had fun playing in dirt.
Next, we loaded the kids onto the bikes and road the .25 mile to the nearby beach – which little-dude did not like.
Little-dude fell asleep while mini-man went straight to work digging in the sand. We didn’t stay long – the wind blew a lot of sand our way.
As we headed back, we found an old observation deck that was covered in sand. It turned out to be the perfect spot for us – a view of the water and the kids could play in the sand. Ironically, mini-man fell asleep just as little-dude was waking up.
The next day was another beautiful day and we took advantage. The boys played with the hose while Damon and I relaxed and had some lunch.
Soon afterwards, mini-man headed back to the playground, where he spent hours on the swing.
Unfortunately, the beautiful weather didn’t last and the temperature dropped 15 degree the next day. To prevent any cabin fever, we took the kids out for lunch and Walmart.
Walmart is becoming one of mini-mans favorite places. He knows it holds food, toys, and lots of things to explore. He’s even taken to putting things he likes into the cart – most of it stuff we’d already planned to buy (like apples) and something’s we didn’t. I like that he’s getting into shopping with us.
As you may know from previous posts, mini-man is enthralled with fish. So we were thrilled to find an aquarium just minutes from our campsite.
And it was a huge hit! The place is huge and had a lot of great exhibits. Our first stop was the shark tunnel, which had three huge tunnels that you can explore. A friend of mine told me it was the former home of Keiko the Whale.
We then explored the middle areas, home to otters, sea lions, and an open air aviary (home to puffins!!). But since it lacked fish, mini-man wanted to move on.
We finished at the entrance, which had numerous aquariums. Mini-man wondered around for hours. You know it’s been a successful outting when the kids fall asleep on the way home.
However, both kids slept too long, which led to both staying up late. And, for some reason, they took turns waking up in the middle of the night. Damon and I were exhausted the next day. So we took turns watching the kids while the other relaxed. On the plus side, I got to play my new Lego Dimensions Dr. Who expansion pack!
After another rough night, we decided to get the kids out by going back to the aquarium. I kid you not, mini-man was ready to run from the car and go straight in. He got so annoyed that the rest of us were taking it slower that he came over and grabbed our hands to lead us to the aquarium.
In the few hours we were there, I think we walked around the whole place at least four times. Mini-man just could not get enough. I love how much he loves fish at the moment.
One week done, and one to go. We accomplished a lot but we’re not done yet. Check out the rest of our stay in our next post.
Heartswell Adventures 