Thursday, November 17, 2016

Corn Maze

Once upon a time, we did this and it was adorable.  This time around, Scarlett and I hit up the very muddiest corn maze of our lives. It was like a river, but luckily we had boots and wet weather clothing because we are native Oregonians.  I have told Scarlett not to fear the rain. Otherwise, she'd spend her whole childhood inside and miss adventures like this one.







I like this picture because it makes me think- she had a long difficult journey and now she's warming up with an espresso, which is what I did.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Newport

We went to the beach, but Scarlett was disappointed that it wasn't the wave-jumping, sandcastle-making, wearing a swimsuit-type of beach.  It was more like, a trip to a coastal town.  I should have been more specific with her.  But we stayed in a hotel, which Scarlett always thinks is exciting, and she was allowed to watch cartoons in the morning.  That is a Big Deal.

Dickersons on the road!

We went to the aquarium and Scarlett was able to touch sea animals....

 ...and climb on them.

Then we saw a little show with a sassy pelican named Jo Jo, whom Scarlett now counts as a lifelong friend.
We went to the wax museum and the Ripley's Believe it or Not- which are creepy and roadside attraction-style, but interesting.  They have also possibly not been updated since I was Scarlett's age.  Ripley's was almost like a haunted house.  You can do things like this:

Then we hit up the Yaquina Head lighthouse area, and we hiked up the hill and then down into the tidepool area.  This was my favorite part.  It was peaceful, and the ocean was really stormy down below.

 She's got the whole lighthouse in her hands

Oh yeah, and these sea lions are really funny, they bark nonstop.
 There was a *little* beach time but sadly, no wave jumping or swim suits. 


Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Art therapy

Scarlett made this Donald Trump thing at school.  She thought it was funny, and we did too, yesterday.  But today, it is not funny. I cannot believe this bullying idiot is going to be the president.  I hope he surprises me in a good way.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Vacation

Oh I forgot to tell you, we went to Disneyland!  Scarlett likes to give a very detailed account of, we went to Disney and then California Adventure and then Harry Pottermore and then Disney again.  But basically, we had a really fun vacation and this fueled me to plan for vacation for the future.  


Grandma and Grandpa flew out from Chicago to meet us.  Here's the Grandma-granddaughter huddle:
We stayed in a lovely rental house less than a mile from the park so, Charlie and I dropped off our homies in the giant van (we rented a giant van), then walked up to the park together.  Here were are on the tram, en route to Disney, the happiest place on earth.

Oh and, it was Aunt Sally's birthday! 


For most our trip, it was upwards of 90 degrees.  It turns out that Scarlett and I do not love roller coasters- which I sortof already knew because we don't like spinning and we get car sick.  I know, we're a blast. 

Jungle River Cruise- this is my kind of ride, because it's slow and you stay near the ground.

We went to Disneyland when Scarlett was three, and her favorite thing was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  I was really excited to take her on it again this time, but that never happened.  The first day, we just never got around to it.  The second day, she decided she needed to pee when we were halfway through the line, so we bailed and never went back.  But on our way back from the bathroom, we saw Kobe Bryant.  So, that was interesting, although good or bad, I cannot decide.



Scarlett likes to tell people that the water in California tastes gross.  It does.  We said- how lucky we are to live in this beautiful place with delicious tap water!  They never mention the nasty water in all those 'come to California and hang out on the beach' commercials.

 
Last time, we rented a big van and drove all the way to Disneyland. This time, we took a plane and just rented a van for the around California stuff.  

All three of us, our favorite ride was Soarin Around the World, at California Adventure. It's awesome and eerie. 


Then, beach day!  And we ate tacos. 



Then, we went to Universal Studios to hit up Harry Potter world, because we are raising a Harry Potter fanatic and I couldn't be happier. Here is a picture with the Beauxbaton and Durmstrong students.  We are wearing our house shirts- the girls and I are Hufflepuff, Charlie and Tom are Slytherin, Grandma and Sally are Ravenclaw, and Grandpa is a Griffindor just like Harry himself.  The bright yellow shirts had the added benefit of making it very easy to see where the girls were at all times.  Scarlett learned the secret Hufflepuff handshake from another Hufflepuff working in a shop, and someone else taught Charlie his house handshake, and they were given explicit instructions not to let the other one see.  They do not break character. 

The ladies and their butterbeers.