Destination Imagination State Tournament

Our final day! It kind of felt like we were already done at this point because even though we were in Fresno, not home, we met up with friends for the Destination Imagination State Finals, so it felt like we were home. 

Bug and his teammates competed in the Medical Mystery category. They had worked for the last few weeks to improve their script and props after the feedback they got from the regional tournament.

They had their Instant Challenge first thing in the morning and then their performance. We were all so proud of their hard work. They had a couple setbacks at performance time, but took them in stride and quickly came up with a plan B. I think I was even more impressed with their great attitudes than I was with the actual play.

And then we got to relax and enjoy the other groups performances. We went to several different ones in the different categories and it was fun to see how groups worked with the challenges. The kids were getting ideas for next year, and just having fun knowing that they were done for this year. There was a lot of playing around and hanging out.

Games. This trip has convinced me that it is a good idea to keep a couple small games in my purse for those moments where we are waiting--for food, for the next event, or whatever. Peanut, especially, is so much happier when he has something fun to do while waiting. Spot It was a nice one because it doesn't take much room at all.

We took the chance to go back to the hotel where everyone else was staying so the kids could swim for an hour before the awards ceremony that evening.

That was the only pool time our kids saw this week--the Pacific Northwest in April isn't really a pool place, but Fresno was nice.

These kids didn't win anything and won't be moving on, but we found out later that they had the second highest score for their instant challenge in their category, which was pretty impressive. They still aren't allowed to tell us what the challenge was because they use the same group of challenges in Globals next month, but I can't wait to hear what they did when this is all over.

While this whole DI experience has been incredibly time consuming and sometimes stressful, I'm glad that Bug did it. I feel like it is a great program and lets the kids be creative, while learning some great skills. Overall, I think Bug would say that he liked it and is glad that he did it, too, but I don't know if any of us will be sad if he decides to not participate next year. Right now, he's looking forward to getting his Saturdays and two afternoons a week back and not having looming performances stressing him out.

Once we were done there, we went to dinner with a couple of the families, and then FINALLY headed home. We had actually considered driving up to Mariposa instead which would have meant a shorter drive that evening, and a chance to see the wildflowers that are everywhere right now around where Daddy-o grew up, but in the end, sleeping in our own beds and having a full day to recover and do laundry before jumping back into normal life won. The wildflowers will have to wait until another year. We did see some pretty cool different types of nature this spring.

Redding, CA

Who would have known Redding had so much cool stuff to see and do? Here's the bridge in the daylight, although it wasn't sunny, so we didn't get to see it do it's sundial effect.

Then we spent a couple hours at the Turtle Bay Exploration Museum. They had some fun natural history and history exhibits,

lots of hands-on stuff to explore,

and a nice outdoor section (which would have been more fun if it wasn't sprinkling the whole time we were out there.

We went to see the lorakeets. 

I didn't realize that the adults will feed each other--I thought that was just something they did with their babies.

There was a pretty fun water play area, which I suppose shouldn't have mattered whether it was raining or not, but it wasn't really warm enough to stay there for long.

There was also a small indoor exhibit area on forests and their by-products. They had a simulator where you can try to parachute in on a specific target. Bug came the closest out of those of us who tried.

I had to include this picture--Peanut is a total reader now and it has been a game changer! He used to have absolutely no patience for anything--he'd whine when we hiked, complain through every museum, and in general just not be fun to take places. But now that he can read the signs, he's so much happier to go places with us.

Back To CA

By Thursday, we all felt like the trip was winding down. The trip up the coast had been the main objective, so with that behind us, everything else just felt like part of the traveling home. But we still had some fun ahead of us.

We left Portland right after breakfast, but stopped in Eugene to do a short hike in a park by the University of Oregon. I had specifically picked this spot because people have seen beavers along the river in the park and I was hoping we might get lucky in our short time there, but it wasn't meant to be.

But the blossoms were lovely,

and we needed to get some sort of physical activity. This was our longest driving day, but we didn't want to just sit in the car all day. And I had another reason for wanting to make this stop.

Not too far away was a Voodoo Doughnut shop. Bean had asked if we were going to get donuts while in Portland, but we weren't anywhere near downtown and we just didn't have time in our schedule to make that detour, so I was really excited when I saw that there was one in Eugene that would just mean another 30 minutes. Their doughnuts are so good!

We also found this very strange, but perfectly placed, portable bathroom trailer. Saved us from having to make another stop.

On to Redding, CA! I don't remember where I learned about the sundial bridge, but it's been marked Want to See on my Google maps for awhile now.

It's really pretty at night. We walked across the river on the lighted bridge and back again. A fun bedtime adventure.

Last Day on the Coast

We stayed overnight in Newport, OR, and I got my traditional early morning vacation walk the next morning. I'm always up early at least one morning and have some pretty awesome memories of various places we've stayed when I've been out wandering while the rest of my family slept.

It was pretty drizzly and cold, and there wasn't a whole lot to go see on the beach, which was a little disappointing because it was another low tide and I would have loved to have some good tide pools nearby to check out, but I went for a walk anyway and just enjoyed the quiet beach.

And I did get to watch a couple sea gulls chasing a bald eagle from these cliffs up above right before I left. 

After breakfast, we drove the short distance to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. This one feels very remote.

I just love the rocky coasts.

The common murre were there by the thousands--seriously, SO many birds! They come to breed and had just recently shown up.

We found another seal, too.

And Cobble Beach.

The coolest black basalt rocks that cover the beach.

Peanut was so happy playing down there. He stacked rocks, rolled them, and did who knows what while the rest of us looked for wildlife.

The best part of the cobbles is the noise that make as the tide rolls them around. It was seriously loud down by the water.

There are just so many unique beaches to visit.

I love watching our kids play when we go to these new places. It's easy to imagine the lightkeepers family exploring and playing on these same beaches.

(gumboot chiton we found on the rocks)

(contemplating life)

I'm so glad that we made that stop. We were feeling like we needed to hurry a little more this day because we had dinner plans in Portland with Daddy-o's sister's family, but this stop was worth it.

And so was the 1/2 hour break we took at Prehistoric--a store full of fossils. This kid especially loved it, and bought a trilobite for his collection. He's got a couple shark teeth, little bits of dinosaur bone, and now a new specimen.

Maybe the funniest part of this stop--we were having a hard time finding parking but after circling the block, saw a small parking lot behind the Birkenstock store across the street. We decided that we'd pop into the store so we'd count as customers, so the boys ran in the back door by the parking lot while the rest of us got out of the car. They came back out quickly and said that it wasn't the Birkenstock store, but just some hallway that went to a closed door. Then, we noticed that the shoe store was around the corner on the main street. This back entrance, where the boys had gone in, was a marijuana dispensary 😂 Probably shouldn't be sending our 7 and 12 year olds in there.

Next stop--the Tillamook Factory! This was pretty high on everyone's lists.

We got to see how they process the cheese (and watched the conveyer belt where they check for weight for a really long time--why are assembly lines so fascinating?), try some samples,

and then bought ice cream--yum!

And then we made our last coastal stop before we turned inland.

The kids were so excited to see the Goonies beach (Cannon Beach) after watching the movie a couple years ago. We ended up parking pretty far north, but Bean was determined to get closer, 

so she ran all the way down the beach and the rest of us followed, and made it close enough for pictures with the iconic rock.

Of course Peanut was tired for the trek back.  I said he did pretty well this trip, but it didn't mean that he didn't have his moments of begging to be carried. Luckily he's still a lightweight.

One last look.

We were sad to leave the coast, but had a fun dinner with Casey, Mo, and Emma once we got into Portland. We don't make it up to see them often enough, and it was a short visit, but we had a good time getting caught up and meeting Mo.