We started our day with our normally content and happy baby, Josie, screaming at the top of her pudgy lungs at 6:40 A.M. Apparently, she did not want to sleep anymore (nor did she wish for us to continue sleeping either.) So we got up and started to get ready for our day.
After a very nice in-room breakfast, we took the box lunches the hotel packed for us (included in our family package) and headed down to Newport to the Oregon Aquarium. Newport is about 20 min. South of Gleneden Beach, where our resort is located. Although the drive along HWY 101 is parallel to the coastline, we couldn't see a thing through the marine layer that was still enveloping the area.
And yes, Vanessa did ask the question: "Shouldn't we be at the Aquarium yet?" just about 5 minutes into the drive down. [Sigh...] In addition to our incessant daughter's inquiries, we had Jack repeating: "fog, fog, and more fog" over and over and over as we continued our drive down. Nothing like comments from the peanut gallery...
The Oregon Aquarium is spectacular and surprisingly big. The design is very unobtrusive and has many outdoor exhibits. There is a huge tank which you can walk in a tunnel under the water and view the marine life from below. There are 3 different tanks: fish, stingrays & sharks. It was REALLY cool. There were many photo ops and have posted some of the best pictures.
Vanessa & Jack by an aquarium--go figure!
Big UGLY crab.
Josie on the whale in the children's play area. Isn't she the cutest?
All our babies on the whale!
After the aquarium, we did a driving tour of Newport, a very quaint sea town. Then decided to venture out onto on of the beaches. WOW, IT IS COLD AND WINDY ON THE OREGON COAST!!!! Really, we KNEW that, but REALLY, it's bone chilling cold! The drop in tempature from the public parking lot to the beach is about 10-15 degrees and the wind felt like a tornado. Vanessa didn't mind--she got right down and started digging in the sand looking for treasures.
Despite Jack's chanting: "We're going to the beach! We're going to the beach!" over and over in the car on the way there, once he got on the beach, he said: "Beach, beach, beach! It's very, very cold. Jack all done!" He was a sport and did dig for a while, but really was not having a great time. But he put his feet in the sand!!! (Huge tactile achivement for him (autistic thing)).
We're back at the resort to rest before we explore the resort a bit more before dinner and hit the pool again. More pictures and adventures to come!
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