Trip to Lincoln City, OR

A couple of weeks ago, Elvin's parents flew up from California on Friday morning and we headed off to the Oregon coast for the weekend.

We timed the 2.5 hour drive pretty well--Karina slept most of the way, and Eliana, well, talked most of the way.  =)

By the time we got to Lincoln City, it was time to eat lunch.  While we were waiting for the food to arrive, Elvin's dad whipped out his iPhone and Eliana became an expert user within 30 seconds.

After lunch, we headed off to the beach.  Even though it was in the high sixties and windy, the girls ended up loving the beach.  All Karina wanted to do was walk on the sand and into the water.  Emily thought it was way too cold to put her feet in the water for long, to Elvin got to do the honors.

This particular beach had a very shallow sandy river running out into the ocean.  This was perfect for wading and made the water not so cold.

In the end, we had to drag Karina back to the car--she didn't want to leave!

Eliana also had lots of fun.  We forgot to bring beach toys.  But a quick trip to the dollar store solved that problem.  Eliana enjoyed building castles.

When it was time to eat dinner, we had a hard time convincing Eliana to leave as well.

We got a sleeping bag for Eliana just for this trip.  Guess what color it is?  Pink, of course!  Eliana loved the "bed" we made for her in the corner of the room--it was merely a comforter folded in half.  As this was her first time sleeping in a sleeping bag, it took some getting used to for her.  She rolls around in her sleep quite a bit but we could tell she felt constrained at times.

The next day, we drove about 45 minutes down highway 101 to Newport, where the Oregon Coast Aquarium is.  The last time we had visited this Aquarium, Eliana was one and a half and Karina hadn't been born yet!

Eliana enjoyed looking for the sharks...

She also enjoyed playing on the statues of different sea animals. 

Meanwhile, Karina stayed in the stroller stuffing her face.  Elvin's parents were time and time again amazed at her appettite.

Eliana also got to touch thing in the tide pools.  She stroked the sea anemone for a long time, but refused to touch the starfish.

During the drive back, everyone took a nap!

We headed back out to the beach...as you can see from the picture below, our hotel was right on the beach, which made it really convenient for us.

Once again, Karina LOVED walking around in the wet sand.

Eliana liked finding rocks and throwing them into the water.

Yeh-yeh helped a bit.

Here's a video of Eliana enjoying the water...

We're not sure what this look is, but it sure makes her seem older than 3 years of age!

Here are the beginnings of a sand castle.  For a three year old, a sand castle is a mound of sand with sticks and other beach debris sticking out the top.

Eventually, lots of sticks, shells, and seaweed got added to the castle as decoration.  You'll notice in the picture, Karina always likes to sit down with her legs crossed for some reason...

Things got really fun for Eliana when we started using a blanket as a sled.  She enjoyed being dragged on the beach.

The next morning, we ate a quick breakfast, and then...

Back to the beach!  That's all Eliana really wanted to do...  And another castle got built.

Before leaving, we stopped by the local outlet mall.  What shoes did Eliana pick out?  Pink sparkly ones, of course!

And we made it back home that evening. The girls had a fun-filled weekend and seemed to enjoy it.  Karina also passed a very important milestone while in Lincoln City--she took her first steps.  She had been cruising for a long time and decided that she would make the leap...