Seaside Getaway

Hans' opposite needed a full 7 days off in a row to move. This meant that Hans would also get 7 off in a row. So we decided to rent a little beach house and getaway for a few days. We left Friday, September 19th and came home on the 23rd. It was just what we needed. Can't go wrong with time with the family.
Be prepared for picture overload... go get some popcorn or something. We had a lot of fun!
The first stop was the house where they filmed the movie Goonies!

We took these pictures from the Goonies house in Astoria, Oregon.
We could hear these weird sounds and then realized that they were the
cause of it all. What a cool experience it was to see them out in the wild
making a racket!

This was for my dad. Every time I see an old car I think of him. He can
always name off the model, make and year of the car... if it is old. They
used to have a distinct look to the year etc. but not anymore he says.

This is the Goonies House. There is even a sign that
says, The Goondocks

When my parents came for a visit a couple months ago they came up the
Oregon coast first and then over to out house. While they were traveling they
came upon this bridge. My dad is not a fan of water. They just about went
over this bridge, until they realized they didn't have to. My dad was in a total
panic- well sort of.

After hearing about this bridge and looking it up I decided that I wanted to
go on it. Even though it scared my dad. I actually think that was part of the
thrill for me. (insert giggles) 

Since we were going through Astoria, Oregon we thought we would make
the trip and cross it. What a great experience! The girls thought it was
awesome. 

While we were crossing Arlee was saying, "This is awesome. See I am not
freaking out. Why was Papa freaking out? He is so weird." 

Lydia just kept shouting, "WATER!!!!"

Totally in the water!

This is the other side of the bridge. The Washington Side. The bridge goes
over the Columbia River. 

The length of the bridge is 4 miles total. They count as soon as it leaves
the hill. So the ramp is included. As you can see it is very high. The Astoria-
Megler Bridge is  a steel Cantilever through truss bridge that spans the Columbia
 River between Astoria, Oregon and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington.
 Located 14 miles from the mouth of the river, the  bridge is 4.1 miles long and was the
 last completed segment of U.S. Route 101 between Olympia, Washington and Los Angeles,
California. It is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

This was our beach house. We found it on www.oregonbeachvacations.com
It is called "My Beach House" Actually this house reminded us of our
town house that we lived in when we first got to Yakima, Washington.

As you can tell the girls made themselves right at home.

Girls' bathroom

Girls' Room

Master

Master Bath

Hans had a childhood friend move to Beaverton, Oregon after law school.
They came up for the day. It was about an hour and a half drive for them.
We went to Haystack Rock and played on the beach.

It was cold, but totally worth it.

Once Lydia got over getting her hands dirty.

Arlee was in heaven.

John, Mallory, Arlee and Hans

Trevor and Cassie

Haystack Rock

This picture was taken right after a "sneaker wave" (Stinker Wave as Arlee
calls it) flooded our beach site, ruined our phones, made everything wet
and sandy. Luckily, it missed the camcorder, but only because Arlee's
backpack protected it. Thank goodness I was worried about it getting
sandy from the kids not being careful.  

Family Photo Opp.

Like I said, she was in heaven!

The girls were having fun getting their hands dirty and then holding them
out saying, EWWW! in unison. 

Boys will be boys. I have no idea how cold the water was, but it wasn't
swim worthy in my opinion. But hey the ocean is the ocean.

After the beach we ate lunch, gave the kids naps and
then set off for the promenade. After we stopped at the
Salt water taffy outlet and got over a pound! Seemed
like a lot for us, but we have been enjoying them.

We spotted BIG FOOT! Haha! It was good too, but we are
looking forward to trying more places the next time that
we go. The resturant was pretty dark inside. It was hard
for us to read the menus. The girls loved the smile fries.

After dinner we headed to Gearhart, Oregon. Only about 15 minutes away.
The Sunset was beautiful! We were looking for sand dollars, but I guess
you need to go during low tide. I think we were still in high tide. This
beach you can drive your cars on if they have 4 wheel drive. So we had to
drop the Millburns mini van off and load them in the back of ours. We were
all safely transported down the street. 

The girls had fun finding jellyfish that had been washed up. When they
found one they would all point and say, "EWWWW!" and burst into
laughter. Probably what kept them going. It was freezing and we didn't find
any sand dollars that were whole.

After we took them back to their van they headed home to Beaverton. It
was a great day and surprisingly good weather. It only rained while we were
inside.

The next day it was rainy all day. So we stayed inside and did two puzzles,
watched a movie and let Lydia nap for a few hours. She didn't get a good
nap the day before. After her nap we went to Del Ray and enjoyed yet
another beach. It was wonderful!

We ran from the waves. One of our favorite things to go on the cold
beaches.

Lydia actually liked getting hit by the water. She wasn't
happy if the water missed her.

Arlee's pants were soaked so we changed her into her swimsuit.

They enjoyed chasing the gulls.

Walking in the tire tracks

making silly faces

Being together

And checking out their shadows. We actually found a whole sand dollar.
 Only one, but hey we found one. 

We had to pry this little girl out of the water and off the beach. Arlee was a
better listener. Lydia is still too little to comprehend we were all hungry and
would go to another beach after dinner.

After dinner we walked to the beach just a couple blocks from the house.
It had some swings that Arlee and Mallory were dying to go on the day
before. They played on them for a little bit.

Then the storm came. We thought we were right in a pocket of lovely
weather, but it proved otherwise. We pretty much bolted back to the
house. By the time we got back it was a Monsoon outside. We had two
happy girls that got their fill of the beach during our trip.  After we got back
we showered and ate ice cream. Put the girls to bed and Hans and I watched
a movie. Well, being pregnant meant that I fell asleep half way though.
Hans then turned on the BYU/ UTAH game. Too bad I wasn't awake. My
team won. 4th year in a row! Go UTES!

How can I put this?

We need to make more space in our home. I guess it is coming sooner than we thought. We are pregnant! I went to the doctor today so the secret is out. I had an ultrasound today for my 9 weeks. Well I found out I actually have a bigger baby than 9 weeks. Try more like 13 weeks!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, though I was freaking out.

Here is how it went with the ultrasound tech, named Jill:
Jill: Are you sure about your dates?
Me: Yes, (TMI warning) yes LMP was my birthday
Jill: Okay well this baby looks a lot bigger than 9 weeks.
Me: How much bigger?
Jill: Hold on lets check some other things and I will tell you.
Me: okay
Jill: click click click click click!!!!! Okay looks like it is more like 4 weeks bigger. Was your LMP a regular one?
Me: Yes... I think so
Jill: Well you could have already been pregnant when you had your LMP.
Me: This is so crazy!!!!
Jill: (looks at me as if to asks me if I am okay) Hmmm.... Well your doctor might choose to keep your due date the same, but for right now I can tell you that this baby looks really big to me for 9 weeks.
Me: I am okay I am just shocked. We tried to skip March.
Jill: Oh is it a really busy month for you guys?
Me: Yes everything seems to be in March. I am excited though. I always wanted a surprise baby. And well this is quite the surprise.
Jill: Your doctor will have to look at these and we will go from there. She might not change the due date until your 20 week ultrasound. Looks like I have the due date at March 23rd.
Me: Holy cow. That is 2 days before my oldest was born. This is so crazy! I am shocked.
Jill: Well Congratulations Chelsey. Looks like you are pretty happy. I am all done here. You can go ahead and go when you are ready.
Me: Thanks Jill. Have a nice day.

She left and I was seriously smiling from ear to ear thinking, 'I can't believe that I found out I am farther along than I thought. So weird. I got to get out of here and call Hans. He is going to die!'

I called Hans and said,
Me: OH MY GOSH YOU ARE GOING TO DIE! ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? I am farther along than we thought.
Hans: How much farther?
Me: like 4 weeks farther.
Hans: Wow

We talked back and forth for awhile telling each other the craziness of it all. Then he told me he thought I was going to say that we were having twins.

Actually that is just about everyone's reaction that I have told. Doesn't surprise me though. For a bit I thought I was pregnant with twins, because I just felt so much more worn out than I have been at this point in my other pregnancies.... could be because I am farther than I thought, right?

Anyway, there you have it. The Hoge Family is going from 4 to five before Arlee's birthday! Hopefully before...Never had a late baby before and I don't want to start.

End of Summer Bonfire

I thought it would be a lot of fun to go do a bonfire. We did one in the back yard this summer, but there is just something about getting together with friends in the mountains that makes it a little more fun. The kids went on adventures, explored their surroundings, ate hot dogs and yummy smores. We were able to get together with friends. No one got hurt, so it was a successful and fun filled night.

 Lydia had a blast playing with the chairs people had there. She liked to sit and then look up to the sky. She would hop out and start the process over again.

The boys had a sawing competition. Not sure who won, but they had a lot of fun do it.
The kids were ready for their adventure that they were about to go on, but we stopped them and got a picture. They got to see some deer tracks and where some beaver was biting a tree. Or maybe it was an ax, but who cares. They had a blast! We missed Carson in this photo since they were a little later. He would have made a great addition to the crew!

Until next time,
The Hoges!

Dance Class

We have a dancing bean in the family!

Since Arlee is not going to any preschool (still taking care of it at home) I thought I would put her in dance class. She has been begging me to go to dance. I thought it would be a great opportunity to start her this year. Once I made up my mind we went and signed her up.

On the way there she was so giddy. She couldn't even hold still. Arlee was very cute to watch and listen to her excitement. Then once we were about done with fitting her shoes, tights and leo she says to me. "Mom thanks for signing me up for dance class. I am so excited!" Huge smile across her face. Just hearing her say thank you was a highlight of my day. What a cutie pie.

After we registered. I talked to some of our friends that had been thinking about doing dance with us. I told them what I did and that they could go sign up if they wanted. Arlee would have a blast either way, but it would be a lot of fun having them together. They were going to think about it.

About a week of Arlee asking me if we were going to dance class to day went by. No friends were signing up. Not a big deal. Then I get a call from a friend and she decided that her daughter would join Arlee. I watched her girls while she took Lucy to get fitted and signed up. Hans took Arlee to dance class to meet up with Lucy. They were beyond giddy together. Lucy is a little shy, but Miss Mindy their dance teacher knew just how to talk to her. Lucy and Arlee had a blast.

Sara got home and I left to meet up with Hans. Together we went and picked up Arlee. The girls came out of class giving the teacher high five and smiling. Arlee said it was so fun! Lucy had a blast too. I am so glad that they could have this experience together. And what an experience it was.

Here they are with their teacher, Miss Mindy.

How CUTE!!!! Oh and they are doing ballet and tap. 30 minutes each for a total of 1 hour.

Who is the weird one?

Am I weird or is she? 

Story:
We are at this Soda Fountain in Yakima with some friends. It is set up old fashioned like. The girls are enjoying their ice cream and this lady comes in with her husband (both in their 50's) and starts taking pictures of our girls. They are right next to me. At first I am thinking that she is taking a picture of the cute little place, but no... It is of our kids. 
So I ask, 
Me:What are you taking pictures of?
Lady: Of your beautiful girls! (says all giddy)
Me: Why are you doing that?
Lady: Because they are so cute! (still giddy)
Me: Thanks, but don't that is weird.
Lady: Well if you think it is weird then I won't do that. (still giddy, maybe on something... who knows.)
Me: Yes I think that is really weird, especially since you don't know them.

They walk off... order their ice cream and sit down and take more pictures pointed in the direction of the girls again.

Seriously WOMAN leave our kids alone. I wanted to go over and break her camera.

Needless to say I was in a hurry to leave and if I didn't there would have been a scene.

As my friend, Sara said, "Don't mess with Mama Bear! As a photographer, I would never take a picture of anyone with out them saying it was okay."

I agree, I wouldn't either. Especially of a stranger.

Would you? Am I weird or is she?

I know what I think...

Until next event,
Chels

P.S. All points of view welcome here.