Pacific Northwest Trip 2026- Part 12

Tuesday morning we headed to the coast.

We stopped to see the sea lions at Cape Arago then headed to Shore Acres. 

Nichole got pictures of the sea lions. 

We had a lovely picnic in the mist and wind.

We spent some time in the botanical garden. 

Look at the teeny tiny leaves.

I got to take pictures of and with the monkey puzzle tree I grew up visiting when we would go to Shore Acres as children. 

My parents headed home so they could make dinner. The rest of us headed down to Simpson Beach. Because of the weather, we thought we might not even dip our toes in the cold Pacific Ocean, even though it's tradition. By the time we got down to the beach, though, the weather was beautiful and we spent more than a little time with our feet in the water. 

 

Beach! 

 

Make me a mermaid! 

Sand Angel! 

And of course we got juggling pictures and videos.

 

We had an absolute blast. I love the ocean. I love the Oregon Coast. 

Mother Nature's Practical Joke

You know how March is supposed to come in like a lion and out like a lamb? Both the beginning of March and end of March this year were kind of meh.

But the beginning of April? Mother Nature decided to play an April Fool's joke on all of us. After such a mild Winter, we got snow the beginning of April. And of course I didn't take pictures. And that's okay.

It cleared up and we've had some sunny days since then. 

I don't have pictures of the weather, but here is a picture of Jr. Jr. learning how to pass juggling balls with me. 

It's a lot more effective when I'm not trying to take the picture and juggle at the same time. Tee Hee.

That was not a sunny day as you can see. 

I'm a Helper

Saturday, February 7, had nice weather. I'm glad of it because I walked over to someone's house in the neighborhood to help paint platforms for the school play... twice. Base coat in the morning, texturing in the afternoon.

It was Play Outside Day. It was nice to get out for that short walk (four times because of back and forth) because I have just gotten over a cold so I haven't been out for walks much lately.

Between trips to do that service I made sure to eat ice cream. It was Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. Several people in the family celebrated.

Sadly I was too tired to take anyone to the library for Take Your Child to the Library Day. Oh well. 

It was National Fettuccine Alfredo Day but we didn't have any fettuccine so we had rotini alfredo. Mmmm. I love the homemade alfredo sauce we always use. It's from ourbestbites.com and it uses ingredients I always have on hand. Guiltless Alfredo Sauce.

Saturday was a good day.

Service and Burnout

We did so much that first week of December. I wanted to get things in before the tradition of being sick during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Actually, nobody was sick for that this year. Yay. We did enjoy watching it together.

In Sacrament Meeting that morning, our bishop talked about doing simple acts of service, which as you know I've been thinking about and trying to do lately. He shared an experience where he offered to throw away somebody's trash for them because it looked like they were done eating. Simple acts of service. I offered to take someone's cart back for them in the Costco parking lot. I was already taking mine back and he had one arm already full. Simple acts of service. At church, I complimented a couple men on their ties because the Christmas season brings out some awesome festive ties. Simple acts of service.

I also took some time Sunday afternoon to make paper bag puppets with Jet. He loved it. 

So I tried to do service. I tried celebrating. Then Monday and the burnout came. I had my nice little breakdown, feeling the overwhelm. I managed to clean and vacuum the living room. I did not manage to catch up on dishes. Did you know baking uses a lot of dishes? I still haven't caught up on the dishes. I'll just admit that right now. And I want to do more baking (read that with a whiny voice).

I still managed to do service when a couple people asked me to help with things. I mean, when someone needs a balloon blown up and you have access to balloon pumps... 

Monday evening, I dragged the kids (a couple were grumpy and didn't want to go- everyone's feeling the burnout and overwhelm) over to the mall for something new. 

They had a live nativity. Students from one of the local high schools were the performers. I knelt down with Jet to explain who the different people represented. When we get to the different groups (shepherds, wise men, etc.) in our family scripture study, I'll be able to remind him of what we saw. 

We also got hot chocolate and brownies there which we were excited about because December 8 was National Brownie Day.

Jet wanted to go inside the big Christmas tree while we were there. It is so cool looking inside.

 

We enjoyed the holiday lights (including the lights of the fountain). 

Here's a funny story. We sat down by the fountain to let Jet eat his brownie because he was just carrying it around for a while. While we were sitting there, Lucky handed me his napkin which he had shaped like a flower and said, "Here's a pretty flower for the lady." Awwww. When Jet finished his brownie, he handed me his crumb covered napkin and said, "Here's a napkin for when you finish your brownie." Ha Ha Ha Ha. I think he did it in a similar voice to what Lucky was using which is what made it hilarious. Have I mentioned I love my kids?

 

We got to see live animals as we walked back to our van, including a camel.

The weather was so good that day. We were really fortunate. I think the student performers were also really fortunate because when Nichole went to the mall just a couple days before that, it was so cold.

The grumpy kids didn't stay grumpy very long which I am grateful for and Jet was very well behaved.

We talked about how many years ago (November 2017), most of us got to ride a camel, so when we got home, Jet got on his brother's back and told us, "I'm riding a camel."

Since it was also Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day, we had "fish fingers and custard" at home.

Huh. I guess going to a live nativity also works for that holiday because we went back more than 2000 years to when Jesus came to Earth as a little baby.

 

Yesterday, December 9, was National Llama Day so my mom said I could share a couple pictures she took of her neighborhood llamas. She shared some llama thoughts with me as well. I love that my mom helps me celebrate.