24 Olive Street

newport, oregon // documented

This summer we took a trip over to Newport, OR. We love the Oregon coast and there are literally tons of towns you can visit. We had gone to Seaside, OR a couple years ago, with little side trips to Multnomah Falls, Astoria, & Cannon Beach. This year I wanted our trip to focus on relaxing and just enjoying the coast but still wanted it to be within a day's drive. I also wanted an ocean view which meant staying away from the more touristy towns like Cannon Beach because they're more pricey. After some research I settled on Newport which is a small little town and not too touristy - perfect! We stayed at Hallmark Resort which I can't recommend enough. The staff was super nice and the rooms were just right for our needs.

Hello ocean view!!! Waking up to this view every day was heaven.

During our trip we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, whale watching in Depoe Bay, Yaquina Head Lighthouse, and hung out on the beach (including smores on the beach which was totally cool!). It was such a nice trip and a much needed trip away from the every day 'stuff'.

I have tons of pictures from our trip (of course!) and after much thought I decided I'm going to do a 6x8 mini-album. However, I didn't want the trip to be absent from our family scrapbooks, so I did a couple pocket pages of my favorite photos. All pages created using the Noel Mignon Summer Lovin' Daily Diary Kit.

I didn't quite have enough photos for 2 full spreads so I cut down one of the pocket pages to fit my needs. The top 4x6 slot is a 3x4 card and photo taped together on the back.

And now I need to get to editing and printing the photos for my mini-album!

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Seaside & Cannon Beach

After visiting Multnomah Falls & Astoria (see my first post here) we headed over to Seaside which is where I booked our hotel. Seaside was a nice little town, not much to it, basically one main street with some shops & restaurants.

The first night we didn't do much but walk around a bit, eat dinner & check out the beach. We ate at PigN Pancake which didn't look like much but their pancakes were really good!

The next day we got to play on the beach which was huge...although the water was super cold. So we mostly hung out in the sand and made sandcastles. My older 2 kids did go & play around in the water a bit.

I couldn't go to the beach without taking Olaf. You know, since he loves all things hot :)

Our 2nd full day we headed over to Ecola State Park. I had read online that it had great views of Cannon Beach & Terrible Tilly lighthouse. I'm so glad we made the pitstop there because the views were absolutely beautiful.

I got a decent shot of Terrible Tilly lighthouse with my zoom lens.

My kids commented that it'd be so cool if they had tours over there. I agree!!

The first beach down there is Crescent beach & then beyond that is Cannon Beach.

You can see Haystack Rock way off in the distance.

I took the opportunity to get some good pics of all of us & the kids.

Christmas cards - check!

It didn't matter to me that we all didn't match. It didn't matter that my kids weren't wearing "nice" outfits. Whatever. I got some great shots of my kids & that's all that matters in my book!

After checking out the view we went down to Indian Beach which was a nice little beach. You had to walk down this little gravel path & then some stairs. We also got to see some little creatures in among the rocks down at the beach.

And check out what one of the kids (not my kids) "found" on the beach! And yes, he put her back (he said it was a girl, I have no idea!)

Then we came back up from the beach to have lunch. Check out some of our visitors...

They were so funny, when we would get distracted by one bird, the other one would try & inch in closer!

We also found some really pretty caterpillars crawling on some flowers.

I looked them up when I got home & from what I can find I believe these were Cinnabar moths. Funny how they actually turn into a black & red moth...pretty interesting!

Next up was Cannon Beach. If this looks familiar yes, this is another spot that The Goonies was filmed. Haystack Rock was pretty cool. Unfortunately, we missed out on heading out there where I guess they have people that show you the different "flora & fauna" living out there. Next time!

Cannon Beach was pretty neat because it had what seemed like little streams on the beach which I'm guessing were formed when the tide comes in and out. It was perfect because since they were more shallow my little one could splash around in them and it wasn't as cold as the ocean.

The only thing I didn't really like about this beach is that there wasn't any bathrooms close by. I'm talking, back up the stairs from the beach and down 3 blocks from the beach. Seriously, I've had 3 kids and I have Crohn's...I don't like bathrooms being that far away! I think the key to staying at Cannon Beach is renting a house/condo/hotel right on the beach for sure.

However, I did love the town & that there were more shops & restaurants and the town was very quaint. We noticed it was also a lot more crowded. We stopped in a candy shop where you could see them making the taffy. Pretty cool!

We will definitely check out Cannon Beach again when we have more time to check everything out.

So that was our mini-vacation to the Oregon coast! I'm hoping next time we can stay a few days longer so that we don't feel as rushed to see everything. And I would love to catch a sunrise or sunset photo on the beach! I'm also hoping maybe next year we can venture further south to Rockaway Beach or Newport. So much to explore!!

Oregon coast

Last week we headed over to the Oregon coast for a few days to soak up the last couple weeks of summer vacation. We'd never been so this was a sort of scouting trip for us to check it out, see what it's all about, see what we like/don't like. I told the kids I would love to make this a yearly "thing" for us, checking out different towns/beaches each year.

This year I settled on Seaside...partially because I did not plan far enough in advance and it was hard to find a hotel anywhere on the northern coast. Since we were only going for a few days I knew I didn't want to drive too far south & spend too much of our vacation in the van.

On our way we stopped at Multnomah Falls. I'd seen it on Pinterest enough that I knew we had to check it out. It was so beautiful.

Note to self - when checking out scenic waterfalls make sure the battery on your camera is charged. Duh!!! Yes, I had my iphone (which the rest of the pics were taken with), and it worked fine, and I did have an extra battery but it was all the way back at the van.

There was a bridge that you could walk up to & get a closer view of the falls. In the pictures the bridge looks much higher up! Don't get me wrong, it was still high. But not nearly as high as I had anticipated. Funny how photos do that!

I guess it was pretty high when you looked down.

Next we we headed over to the coast. But before hitting Seaside we took a slight detour over to Astoria to check out the Goonies house.

Oh yes, Mikey & Brand's house!!

No, I did not do the truffle shuffle!! haha

And when we got home we had to watch the movie again...and say "we were there!!!".

When we got out of the car to walk over to the house the first thing we heard was a ton of sea lions from down at the pier. I mean, they were loud!! So after seeing the Goonies house we went down to the pier to see if we could check out the sea lions.

Oh my word, they were funny!

And loud. And cute. And smelly (or so my 3 yr old said, she didn't like the smell! haha) Actually, I think all of their loud barking might have scared her a little.

This guy was Olivia's favorite cause he looked like he had a mowhawk :)

I posted a short video of how loud they were on my Instagram account if you want to go check it out. They were cracking us up!

Next up - Seaside & Cannon Beach

apples, pumpkins & pony rides...oh my!

Saturday we headed up to Green Bluff to do some apple & pumpkin pickin'.

I love it up there. Love.

So first we went to Walter's Fruit Ranch do some apple pickin'. I had ulterior motives for this as I knew they would also have pumpkin donuts ;)

And Addie got to take her first pony ride...she loved every minute!

We picked red & golden delicious and granny smith apples. About 60 pounds worth!

After that we headed over to Eleven Acres to go pumpkin pickin'. We go there every year because they have a huge pumpkin patch. But in hindsight we probably should have just stayed at Walters since a lot of the pumpkins were already picked over & many were rotted. I guess that's what we get for waiting til the weekend before Halloween!

But there were still some good pumpkins to be had & we found some great ones. And now I have lots (and lots!) of apples to skin, core & package in bags for the freezer along with some freezer apple pies.

And tonight I think we'll carve up those pumpkins!

happening around here...

So much happening around here & keeping me busy...and apparently away from my blog! Has it been over a week since I posted???

We've had company in town the last week. Exciting stuff for '24 Olive Street' that I'll share later this week. Garage sale (so glad to be rid of that stuff!) Checking a few things off the summer list. Lots of stuff happening locally which is keeping my hubby very busy with work. Lots of yard sales, junkin', hunting down good used stuff!

I finally became an iphone owner. I needed to get another phone because my current one was not compatible with the square (which I need for shows). So it was either try an iphone or try another droid...and I decided to try the iphone. I will admit...I did not expect to like it a whole lot. I never got what all the hype was about. But I will also admit...I really do like this phone. So Apple...you got me :)

Anyway, I've been playing around with a few new photo apps. I normally don't buy apps but I really like these. My fave is Rhonna designs app & another one is A beautiful Mess app. I always hated missing out on cool apps because they were only made for iphones.

A desk redo for my son from a thrift store desk. I'll have more pics to share of this soon :) Needless to say he loves it!

We finally got to check out the Cheney Rodeo. I have to say, it was fun til it was time to leave. Seriously, over 45 minutes sitting in the van waiting to get out?? And no one directing traffic out onto the highway?? You guys need to get it together!! Whew...

My very own Doc McStuffins :)

Side note: I've decided that's who she's going to be for Halloween. It's her absolute favorite show next to Mickey Mouse.

Photoseed for Minecraft app & Stitchbooth app...my kids love this one!

And now I'm going to head outside & hopefully paint one of the several pieces of furniture that's waiting for me!

the last month

We're in the home stretch of the school year. The time of year when I'm the most exhausted.

We're in the last week of soccer games this week (1 practice & 3 games this week)

When you leave your soccer cleats on the front porch you might find an unexpected surprise for a certain toddler that lives here :)

I keep waiting for a time when my older 2 will learn to put their stuff away. I have a feeling I'll be waiting forever...

One more month of regular baseball games (2 a week) and then the playoffs

School field trips, projects, plays (and costumes for mom to hunt down...seriously, doing a play 2 weeks before the end of school is just mean! lol), teacher gifts...all in between trying to play for 2 upcoming shows this summer, getting my garden finished, trying to keep the house somewhat cleaned, & having company twice in the next month.

And my little one will be turning 2 in the middle of all this :) It's definitely going to be a Mickey Mouse birthday...she is in love (seriously, she loooooves her MeeMee!) with anything Mickey or Minnie.

By the way, that rocking horse was a gift for my older daughter from her godparents (also my aunt & uncle) for her 1st Christmas over 10 yrs ago. It's had 3 kids to love on it...and hopefully one day some grandkids to love on it :)

Yeah, I've already warned my friend Becky, who is coming today (yey!!!) that my  house is far from orderly right now. She doesn't care...we've been friends for 25+ yrs. When you've been friends for that long you've seen far worse in each other! haha

Tomorrow we're going out to see this...

Oh yeah, big Star Trek fans :) In fact, that's why she picked this weekend to come out here. Told ya...big fans! So excited!!!

Oh, and did I say I'm doing all this with a hubby that's either out of town or feels like he's out of town because of work?

Just a typical week/month in the Whitlow household...it's all good :)

fondue sunday

Sunday I got 2 of the best Mother's Day presents. The first one - little one slept in til almost 9!!! And the second - the big kids brought me breakfast in bed...donut holes & milk :)

Hubby had been out of town all week and got back Sunday afternoon. I'd been wanting to check out The Melting Pot since we moved here. I had only been there once back when I lived in TN & was so excited to see we had one here!

It was pure fondue heaven!

And a free mimosa for Mother's Day. Yes please!

I should also say that this place is a bit on the expensive side...esp when you're paying for 4 people. It's definitely not a place we will eat at often. But it's definitely one of those places you have to try at least one (or twice!)...esp if you're like me and you love fondue!

We decided to do cheese & chocolate. For the cheeses we picked 2 kinds - cheddar & swiss. The cheddar was a definite favorite...esp with the kiddos. They gave us bread, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower & apples to dip with.

For the chocolate we did smores. Oh.my.heavens. it was good!!! It's amazing how full you get just from cheese & chocolate. And the dippers for the chocolate fondue...strawberries, bananas, 2 kids of marshmallows, brownie bites, pound cake bites, cheesecake & Rice Krispie treats.

Oh yeah...tummy aches all around after! haha Thankfully it didn't make me too ill with my Crohns. But it was so worth it :)

I didn't get any pics of all 3 kids together, or one of them with me. Addie wore her pretty Easter dress & I still have yet to get a good pic...this time daddy dripped chocolate down the front. Oh well...one day!! haha It's cooled off a bit from our 80+ degree temps so we'll head out to the park for some nice pics when it's a little warmer & less rainy :)

Oh, and the hubs bought me a composter for my garden for Mother's Day. Yey!!

sunday

Another week has come and gone.

We were teased with some warm weather & then on Saturday it got cold & windy. And today it's like crazy windy!

My tulips are blooming but there are no daffodils to be found :( The leaves came up but I'm thinking they're not going to bloom this year, not sure why.

My tree that I got for Mother's Day last year is blooming pretty pink flowers.

We pulled out Addie's sandbox that I got at a yard sale last year. She looooves it.

Had a few good junkin' trips...always makes me happy!

More baseball & soccer.

Hitting the local nursery to buy some flowers. Still too early to plant but I have them in my little greenhouse. I'll be able to plant them in about 2 weeks. I think tonight we're going to have another frost which is exactly why I can't plant yet.

We're adopting another dog. I went to a local rescue group & took him home last week to see how it'd work out. At first he was a bit grumpy with my other dog but now they're becoming buddies. So he's a keeper :) I'll share more when it's 'official'.

My Sunday mood is usually determined by how church goes. Some weeks are good, some not so good. This week Addie decided she didn't want to behave in church. It's just the age. This is a hard age for church. It'll pass. I keep telling myself that.

I've known people who say 'we don't go to church because my kid doesn't behave' which always seems so silly to me. The same thing goes with 'my kid doesn't behave at a restaurant so we don't go out to eat." I'm a firm believer that if you don't do these things there's no way your kid will ever learn.

We don't have a cry room in our church. And quite honestly, I like it that way. I don't like cry rooms for 2 reasons: 1) it doesn't teach kids how to act in church (usually I've seen people just letting kids run around like they're not even in church) and 2) it doesn't teach the kids that they are as much a part of church as everyone else. At least, that's what I've seen in some churches I've attended but it's not always true for all churches.

But on days like yesterday I had to leave about halfway through. Addie ended up falling asleep in the car. Church time is right around the time that she's getting ready for a nap which is why it sometimes doesn't go so well. But I just can't get up early enough to make it to 9am mass!

Lunch at Tomato Street definitely lightened the mood. Homemade 'playdough' for the kids to play with? A huge chalkboard in the lobby? Brick oven pizza? Yes please!! Even the older kids like playing with the playdough...they were making characters from Minecraft. haha

We've decided that every other Sunday we will go out for lunch after church & we will alternate between the kids & adults.

The rules:

NO complaining about the choice or you lose your next turn.

Mom gets the choice to veto a kid's choice if it's too far/too expensive/etc (although there's not too many places I would veto).

NO fast food (unless it's Jimmy Johns, Subway, etc). We don't really eat fast food anyway so that's not really an issue.

I've put our family on a pretty tight budget but I feel it's important to have some 'fun' time and going out to lunch after church definitely qualifies in our family :)

weekend

That about sums up our Saturday. Soccer, working & playing in the yard.

I picked up some more evergreens at Costco to plant along the back fence...partially to block the annoying dog that's indirectly behind us. One day there will also be a shed back there.

These are seriously a great deal at Costco. They're 5 or 6 ft tall and 17.99 each. When you need a ton you have to go cheap! We have 11 along the back fence and next year we'll fill in between them for a total of 20. In a few years we'll have a nice green 'fence' to look at :)

I also started working on getting my planting beds ready for my veggies. I'm so glad I didn't plant them...on Sunday we got this:

Hail/ice/whatever you want to call it. Mixture of rain & ice. It's the weirdest thing, we get it every spring. And the next morning my truck was covered in ice & I had to pull out the scraper!

I need to keep patient for just a couple more weeks :) For now, the few plants I've been growing & the ones I picked up this weekend are nestled snuggly in my little mini greenhouse.

This was my garden last year...

2 planting beds that were mostly filled with tomatoes & a couple pepper plants. I also had this herb garden that is up on my deck. I find it's easier to have the herbs up on my deck. That way I can just step out when I'm cooking & cut what I need.

This year I plan to add another planting bed like the 2 I already have and then 1 long one along the side fence for corn.

I need to take more pics this year so you can get an idea. I'm basically trying to use the part of the yard that is the least utilized but gets great sunlight. I'm also trying to leave the better part of the yard open so the kids can run & play without worrying about running into the garden.

In hindsight I kind of wished I would have brought our fence up a little further to the front of the house so I'd have more of a side yard for the garden. Maybe one day we'll have them move the fence up.

For now, it's baby steps when it comes to my garden :)

paint

We had an absolutely beautiful day today so I headed outside to get some much needed painting done. Lots of projects to finish for Junk Drunk!!

I have a slight obsession with spray paint :) How is it that with 2 boxes full of spray paint I have no white??!!

My husband - aka my sanding boy ;) - was nice enough to sand down a bunch of furniture pieces for me...including that great buffet/hutch that I picked up a few weeks ago.

Unfortunately I ran out of time & didn't get it painted yet, not to mention I had to run & get my daughter from archery practice & take my son to get a birthday gift. But at least it's ready to go. I can't wait to get it all painted up & purty again!

More pretty pieces getting a makeover...and the reason we have a 3 car garage but can't park in it :)

It wasn't all 'work' today, though. Addie & Tucker had fun outside, too!

This is what my dork of a dog does when you're not looking...

He finds a patch of dirt among the grass...and digs...then lays in it. Dork.

I've also been working on some non-painting projects playing around with lots of fun fabric...

I'm heading out to Ellensburg, WA tomorrow with my oldest for the state archery championships. I have my green nailpolish on & hoping for some Irish luck :)

Have a great weekend peeps :)