Siltcoos Outlet Beach clean-up...Surfrider Foundation.

two cuties we found...Melis & Joanna

Sunfish

Surprisingly there was not as much trash on the beach as we usually see. The trash comes in pretty heavy after a storm, although we certainly found a lot of trash today, well worth the effort of picking up. It feels good to have done this with our kids. Showing our kids that we care, will in turn teach them to care. It doesn't take much to facilitate the love of the outdoors with kids, they are natural at being in love with nature. It is work though, so we try to make it fun. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny rainy morning at the beach, time well spent. Not to mention seeing some pretty special people too...Aunt Melisa, it is always a treat to see her and our dear friend Gus.

The long table, with snow.

I love this table. Tres and I had wedding photos here, and family photos too, when Jake was about Spencer's size. I never grow tired of walking this lake trail and arriving at the long table. One day I would love to have a meal at this table, it could probably hold about 40 people. I have never seen covered with snow. This was a another treat for the eyes, to see this tablecloth of snow.

Cute picture, with friends on the sled.

You can kind of see the gap of missing teeth Ruben has 5 missing teeth right now...but doesn't want them for Christmas, rather have toys.

Family picture of a rare sight...snow on the Siuslaw River Bridge!

Snow daze!

The snow man, with the second nose, Pancho ate the first carrot nose!

Ruben taking a ride behind the quad with the Prociw's, very excited!

Spencer had a snowball fight with the girl next door. Jake riding his motorcycle in back, a little slippery in the snow.

Snow Day...no school, play all day!

Snow was truly a treat for us coasties. We woke up to this thick blanket of snow, so beautiful, soft and fluffy looking. We all had great time playing outside in this winter wonderland. The neighbors had their quad out pulling the kids around on the sled, Jake took his motorcylce for a spin, snowballs and snowmen were built. Sad to see it go, but blessed to have had it. Inspiration to seek snow in the mountains to play in. I loved the reflection the snow gave us, each room in the house seemed a little brighter from the reflection of the snow outside.

Fun day biking with friends at Honeyman campground. We had the whole place to ourselves, even the playground

Family day at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

Each visit to the aquarium is like the first. The kids run from each exhibit to the next, so excited. Here Ruben spots a small fish hiding in the rocks.

Watching dad surf the river of the Siuslaw

We took an evening at the beach tonight. It was much needed, just time to get out in the fresh salty air. We watched Bob and Tres catch some fun waves. The night was beautiful and the beach was covered with lions mane jelly fish. Later that night we heard the passing of pro surfer Andy Irons. Sad to hear such a talented man's life cut so short. I am glad our family had spent the evening at the beach. To Andy and his family, may he rest in peace.

The discovery of Captain Underpants!

We love Dave Pilkey! Inspired by silly stories that G'pa makes up for Spencer's entertainment I asked Jake if he still had his collection of Captain Underpants books. In less than 2 minutes he presented me the entire series and said of course I still have them. We began that same night the first of The Captain Underpants Adventures. Ruben and Spencer got a great kick out of it. While Jake got to remember the first times he read these to himself. The humor of my sons never fails...underpants, farts, burps, or wedgies will always bring belly laughs to these boys. I get to laugh at them laughing.

This little vampire lost a tooth on Halloween night! The Tooth Fairie left him 2 dollars and a coin from Jamaica.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time on Halloween just staying in our own neighborhood. Last year we had chickenpox so we didn't even leave the house. This year we decide our children had outgrown Oldtown. Tres and I thought that staying in our neighborhood would give us a chance to build community on our street that we so frequently occupy. The neighbors were happy to see us and we were especially happy to be so close to home and know each person we trick or treated. Thank you neighbors! I love Spencers costume, he is dressed as a dinosaur but couldn't resist the cheetah face paint.

Saturday morning walk in the woods

Lucky for us we don't have to go far from home to feel like we're in the woods. We went for a walk this morning in search of mushrooms, salamanders, and a creek. We were successful in all three. Although the mushrooms we found we're not the ones we were hoping to find. We were able to head to the local farmer's market to pick out some chantrells.

Biking our new favorite family past time

Here is a picture of me on my new bike. I have Pancho on the leash while I ride, a little tricky, I've only crashed once while exercising the dog when biking. Spencer is cruising on his new bike too. We make this a daily habit, even while raining or when sick. It lifts the spirits and energizes all of us. I'm stoked to have a bike, this is the first new bike I've had since 7th grade!

Just some pure sweetness!

An evening at the beach, Spencer sneeks a smooch on Mom. The sky is gorgeous even on a cloudy night we see the suns rays setting behind them. The purest of sweet...little Stella in her big girl overalls. We returned to the parking lot after our cruise on the beach to find the Duman family just finishing their cruise too. Good times, gotta love this coastal living, we are so lucky!

A little excitement on a Monday night!

We love our adventures at the beach. After a storm we like to cruise the beach looking for washed up treasures. Tonight we had a some excitement with our tires getting a little stuck. Ruben wanted to dig us out, so we let him work at it for while and then Tres let a little air out of the tires and the truck pulled right out. We didn't find to many treasures, but we did find at least 20 dead birds! I was really suprised to see so many. Not sure why, but they were every where on the beach.