I know what you're all thinking. Easter? Its the middle of June! I know, I know. I've been a little busy lately and at least I am getting around to catching up the blog! I want to keep my posts in order so I will try to get back to the present quickly.
My family spent Easter weekend in Charleston and Isle of Palms, SC. Here are a few of the pictures that my sister and I took while we were there.
Kellan helping mommy pack :)
Mommy didn't want to make the kitchen a mess before we left on our trip so we had pizza at Little Italy the night before :)
We left the next morning and Kellan was a great traveler as usual, although we did have a few of these moments. When he is upset it usually means he is about to fall asleep or he is hungry.
Stopping for lunch at Chik-Fil-A. The line in the drive-thru was LONG so we let Kellan "drive" for a few minutes. This has been one of his favorite things to do for several months now.
Apparently I didn't take any more pictures for the rest of our first day. We stayed in a really nice house in a resort community in Isle of Palms. My parents were already there when we arrived and my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece got there pretty soon after. We spent the rest of the day talking, getting the cars unpacked, and eating dinner out before we all crashed after the long drive. The next morning, a restaurant inside the resort was having a special breakfast buffet with the Easter Bunny. We saw a lot of this Easter Bunny over the next few days.
Kellan and daddy with the Easter Bunny
Uncle Shannon and Owen
Aunt Jessie and Eden
Mommy and Kellan with his Easter egg
Mimi wanted to get a belly shot but it was kind of difficult to show it while holding a toddler...there is baby brother in there!
We spent the rest of the day walking around Charleston. All of us had been before so we took our time going shopping at the market and taking the kids to the fountains, Rainbow Row, and walking down to the Battery. I guess that I have been to Charleston too many times because I didn't make a very good attempt at taking pictures of very many landmarks...luckily my sister is always good about getting someone to take a family picture.
The whole family at the Pineapple Fountain :)
Daddy and Kellan watching some dolphins out in the water.
Rainbow Row
Cobblestone streets
Fort Sumter statue at the Battery
Cannons at the Battery
We ate a late lunch/early dinner at Southend Brewery because my mom told us that we had to be back at our house before 6:00 p.m.
Crossing the Cooper River Bridge back to the Isle of Palms
As soon as we pulled up in the driveway a white pick-up truck with the Easter Bunny riding in the back stopped in front of our house! Mimi had ordered Easter baskets to be delivered to the kids and of course we had to take advantage of another photo opportunity with the bunny :)
Kellan wasn't too sure about that bunny...
After the Easter Bunny left we all went to the beach for a little while. It was pretty windy and chilly so we got the kids all bundled up. They had a blast and the cold didn't phase them at all.
All this boy wanted to do was RUN!
No time for pictures mommy...I've got to GO!
These two look like they are deep in conversation...
Owen could spend hours on the beach with just a shovel and a bucket...Kellan could spend hours just watching. He loves his big cousin.
Eden showed us all how she can stand and take a couple of steps all by herself.
Eden tried to give Kellan a hug but he didn't have time to stand still for that...such a boy.
He ran and ran and ran...
Oh how I love this sweet face :)
On our way back from the beach Michael wanted to drive around and check out the rest of the neighborhood and golf course. While we were out Michael spotted an alligator hanging out in some one's back yard. It took quite a bit of convincing before I believed that that guy was real.
Kellan and Eden sharing a popcorn snack back at the house before bed.
The next day was Easter and the kids all dug into their goodies.
Kellan got 3 new Spot books, a Spot video, Easter eggs, a bucket of sand and water toys and boxes of his favorite snack, raisins.
Daddy reading some of Kellan's new books. Owen loves to listen to a good book too.
Kellan got some goodies from Aunt Jessie too...bath crayons, a onsie, shutter shades, and a pair of shark shoes :)
We had to rush to get ready to make it to the community Easter Egg Hunt that morning. It was a little drizzly but the kids braved the rain and cold to collect lots of eggs. This was Kellan's first Easter Egg Hunt and at first he wasn't really sure what to do. He would pick up one egg and just wanted to stop and play with it. He didn't understand that he was supposed to get lots of eggs so mommy had to help.
Family photo with the Easter Bunny again...I told you that we saw quite a bit of him over the weekend.
We had several other adventures but I'm going to put up separate posts for each of those...be on the lookout, they will be coming soon!
Thursday morning we spent exploring Newport, Oregon. They have a beautiful town on the bay with lots of cute shops, restaurants, and seafood markets.
These sea lions were sleeping right beside the dock. We heard them barking the night before but couldn't see them...Thursday morning, there they were!
Kellan and daddy on the dock
Mommy and Kellan on the docks...it was a foggy morning. There is a really pretty bridge but its hard to see.
A better picture of the bridge
There are two lighthouses in Newport. This one is Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and is located near the port and bay.
This one is Yaquina Head Lighthouse and it is located on the ocean. We actually saw a grey whale come up and blow water several times while visiting this lighthouse. It was pretty exciting, especially since I've never seen a whale in the wild before. Of course my camera battery died right when we got to this lighthouse. We had to take this picture with Michael's phone. We plugged it in at the visitor's center :)
A mural on one of the buildings along the bay.
Lots of crab pots ready to use...
We left Newport and kept driving south down the coast. We stopped along the way to check out more lighthouses, other attractions, and viewpoints.
Heceta Head Lighthouse was one huge DISAPPOINTMENT! Every time I googled Oregon lighthouses this one was supposedly the most photographed and beautiful lighthouse. This is what we saw when we got to the beach that it overlooks from up on a cliff. It was covered in a huge black tent while its being renovated! *sigh* How sad...oh well, I guess everything can't always go perfectly as planned. It was a short hike to get up to it but with it looking like that, we just decided to skip the hike.
Our next stop was the Sea Lion Caves. We took an elevator down to the cave but this time of year there are no sea lions inside. (Michael said he considered telling one of the employees that his wife was already pretty upset about the most picturesque lighthouse in Oregon being covered up so they might want to start to do something to get a sea lion to go in that cave.) They stay in the caves only during the winter months or severe weather. Although I've seen some reviews from other travelers that were there in early summer and the sea lions were in. So I'm really not sure if there is an exact time frame for how they travel. This is their actual habitat in the wild so the owners of the caves have no control of the sea lions comings and goings.
This is the opening of the cave from up above.
Next we stopped at Mo's for lunch. There were Mo's all over the Oregon coast and they specialize in chowder. We figured we had to stop and eat at one since we had passed so many.
I got the fish tacos and Michael got some kind of seafood platter (I think...I'm really not sure what he ordered). The chowder was good...my fish tacos were OK. It was a decent place just not anywhere I would go out of my way to eat again.
Kellan fell asleep in the car after lunch. This is his whale that we bought him after our whale sighting :)
Next we headed to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. These are no ordinary dunes. They stretch for 40 miles and are as high as 50 feet in some places. It was quite. a. hike. to get up to the top. I'm really glad I wasn't the one with Kellan on my back. The pictures really do not show how steep and high this part was.
Mommy trying to cuddle with Kellan in the sand...
Kellan loved playing (and eating) the sand. I found sand in all of the folds and crevices of his clothes and I dumped out a pile from my own shoes.
Our last sightseeing adventure for Day 2 was the Umpqua River Lighthouse. It was right at the mouth of the Umpqua River where it flows into the ocean. Actually that's not true...we raced to get to the Cape Arago Lighthouse that was further down the coast. We got there before the sun set but it had actually been closed down and you couldn't go up to it. It sits on an island with sheer cliffs and we could see it in the distance but you couldn't really make it out that well in a picture. Apparently it has a bridge to it that has been washed out in the past.
We stopped for the night in Coos Bay and ate at a fabulous restaurant called the Coach House. It was kind of away from the downtown and off the beaten path but it had good reviews online so we decided to try it. I'm so glad we did. They had an inside bar area but they have turned a greenhouse into an outdoor restaurant full of flowers and hanging baskets. We ate in the greenhouse and not only was the restaurant itself unique but they had fantastic food. If you are ever in Coos Bay, Oregon we highly recommend it!
Our waitress was SO NICE and even brought Kellan his own little "The Coach House" apron to keep. He was over picture time by this point and just wanted to eat everything in sight.
I don't even remember what Michael had...prawns and something, twice baked potato, and vegetables
I definitely remember what I had! Cilantro chicken with Monterrey jack cheese, twice baked potato, and mixed vegetables.
This was the end of a looooong but full Day 2. I can't believe all of this was just Day 2...we were really moving! Come back tomorrow to find out what we did after we left the coast and headed inland!
