Oregon Coast

Sommercorn family reunion 2011 was in Lincoln City, OR this year. We all drove in from north, east, and south to share some fun memories and a large beach house. The weather just started warming up as we arrived. Although it barely warmed up above 70 degrees, it was sunny the whole time so we could enjoy some outdoor activities.
Upon arriving home from Hawaii we immediately packed up again for this trip. So I still had Hawaii on my mind and couldn't help comparing it to the Oregon coast. They are very different, of course, but both have beautiful coastlines and dense, green vegetation. The same but different would apply in this situation don't you think Rachel?
We did a quick hike together to a big waterfall.
The hike was just a way to burn a few calories before we headed to... the Tillamook Cheese Factory! Not only do they make a good cheddar, their ice cream is also incredible.
It was a pretty small factory tour, but very cute. There was plenty of opportunities to take pictures like Will in the "Loaf Love Tour" bus. On their website I saw a onesie that said "baby loaf," but unfortunately I couldn't find it in the gift shop.
After lunch at the factory, we took the scenic route home and stopped by this light house on the coast.
What a beautiful view!
Will had lots of fun hanging out with the cousins we don't see very often.
Elliot got to meet lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time.
We spent a lot of time outdoors. The beach was a short walk from the house. It was pretty cold most of the time, but Will didn't mind too much.
One day we spent at a nearby lake. The kids played at Sandcastle Park which had the most amazing wooden playground I've ever seen. It was almost like a kid-sized maze and I think the kids could have played there all day.



We lured them away from the playground with food, and a beautiful swimming area at the lake.
After all that...we were not done with the lake yet. We still had to go ON the lake with these paddle boats. Extremely slow, but still fun.
It was a LONG drive, especially after just getting back from another vacation, but luckily we have some very generous family in California that let us borrow their minivan. We officially heart minivans now. Look how happy Will is watching movies and eating chips in the van. Will and Elliot both did a great job traveling. We look forward to that day in the future when we can take a family trip in our own minivan. Our own minivan claimed by our own crumbs, barf, and garbage.

Greetings from the Northwest!

Sommercorn family reunion 2010 took place once again over the 4th of July weekend. I loved our campout last year in the California redwoods, but all the effort put into camping kind of took away from the time interacting with family. This year we took a low-key approach and stuck to the Sommercorn homestead.

You have to be prepared for cold rainy weather any time of year in the Seattle area, and unfortunately most of the weekend was cold and wet. The night of the Fourth of July was especially disappointing, but we shot tons of fireworks in the air despite the constant drizzle. I had more than enough time to talk with all kinds of siblings, parents, and cousins. I also had more than enough calories. For all the food we made there are suprisingly few leftovers.

Here's some highlights in pictures from the weekend.

First we explored the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. It was exhausting looking and playing with so many things! This was Britton's favorite exhibit. It was simulating the atmosphere on an orbiting planet like Venus. It was right up his fluid dynamic alley.

Britton spent a lot of time in the garage drooling over my dad's machinery. Here he is making fins for a water bottle rocket. Turns out giving the 2 liter bottle a more rocket-like shape, adding a little weight to the nose, and optimizing the nozzle and water pressure can really make a water bottle rocket SOAR! We had to be careful where we aimed it so as not to hit the neighbors' houses and cars.
Date night! Nothing like having family around for some free babysitting. Yummy Thai Ginger...mmmm... They now sell mango sticky rice. mmmmm
We went down to the beach at Seahurst Park on the only sunny afternoon:)

This time the beach was full of jellyfish! I was a little worried about being stung, but was totally proven wrong after everyone started picking them up and making them talk. After some careful searching we also found a ton of little crabs. Most of them were returned to the sea severely traumatized.
Here's Loren and Matt the champion crab finders. Matt and Nick, who are both eight, were both baptized this day too! I completely missed getting pictures of the whole family together...hint, hint siblings. Send me a picture of the family please!