Our beach get-away

Recently we were able to spend two great weekends at the coast. First, for Memorial Day, a friend let us use their beach house in Newport, OR for the weekend. It was so much fun! We went last year and decided to share the joy this year and invited Grandma and Grandpa King to come with. I have a theory that Mother Nature waits for us to plan a trip to the coast before deciding what the weather will be like. I've come to this conclusion because I've NEVER been to Newport when it wasn't rainy. However, this time Mother Nature smiled on us and we had three beautiful days. Monday it did rain but it wasn't a show stopper. Anyway, our Newport weekend started off with fun at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Ali had a great time. She was able to touch a sting ray, anemone, and star fish. She decided to pass on the sharks though. Here she is with the star fish. (No she's not flipping anyone off- she just has a lazy "pointer" finger so "tall man" does all of the work.) Here's Ali with her otter friend. It was amazing, actually. He was completely enthralled with her. He was watching her even after she left the window. She was sort of running back and forth and he was following her with his eyes and swimming around to get a good look at her. I don't know if he thought she looked like a yummy lunch or what.
My personal favorite was the water tunnels. Here are a few pics. Since the weather was bad on Monday, we decided to check out the shops. Ali tasted her first fish ever and didn't like it. (That's my girl!) Here's Ali in our favorite taffy shop with her class pet- Beverly the Beaver. After lunch and a good dose of sugar, we went to tour the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Ali barely passed the height requirement and was able to walk to the top of the lighthouse with the rest of us. Stairs, stairs, and more stairs. 150 stairs to be exact. We really had a great time!