thelittlezoo.com

Just got back last night from a fun weekend on the Oregon Coast. We headed over on Thursday afternoon, arriving at the KOA campground located between Bandon and Port Orford with plenty of daylight to help our friends set up their 5th wheel.

Friday was spent driving north past Bandon, checking out as many beaches as we could, looking for nice ones to hang out and do some whale watching. Went as far as Coos Bay that afternoon, hitting Cape Arago Lighthouse, Coquille River Lighthouse, Sunset Bay State Park and ending up at Simpson Reef, part of the Shore Acres State Park. We were excited to get to see two or three whales feeding not too far from shore as we stood watching the sea lions on the rocks below.

Saturday we headed a little way north again, spending several hours at the West Coast Game Park, the original walk-through Safari. One of the highlights of that part of the day was getting to get down on the ground and play with 8-week old Sultan, a white tiger cub. Heading south later in the afternoon, we stopped by the Cape Blanco Lighthouse and the Prehistoric Gardens.

Sunday was another day full of exploring and we headed into Bandon-by-the-sea, where we spent several hours wandering among the shops in “old town” and eating a picnic lunch overlooking the marina. The funniest point of the afternoon was Sarah dancing to the music coming from the hippie playing Oye Como Va on his guitar across the street. She was really shaking her hips and having a good time, until he came across the street, playing and singing as he crossed, to play close to her. Then she covered her eyes with one hand and ever so slightly kept wiggling her hips. She wouldn't uncover her eyes and really dance again until he crossed back over to where he had been earlier. There was another couple hanging out with him, and they thought it was so funny that she would dance and really shake it, as long as he was safely across the street.

Monday we headed home, but we took the loooooooong way home. Instead of heading east out of Bandon and going home the way we had come, we headed north. Our first stop of the day was at the Umpqua River Lighthouse. From there we kept heading north to Florence, Oregon and the Heceta Head Lighthouse. It was getting late so we needed to start heading home, but we couldn't resist stopping at the Sea Lion Caves. It started to rain as we were leaving, and we drove home through lots of rain. I guess the weather was trying to tell us it was time to go home. We had beautiful weather every day until that point - sunshine, blue skies, the works!

It was hard to come back home and get back to our routine of working, and we're definitely looking forward to our next vacation already! We'll get pictures posted on the website soon - I hope!

Last night we had to go down to the new Super Wal-Mart that opened 3 weeks ago. (It's a mile and a half down there, compared to 12 miles, yay!) But that's not the point of this blog. On the way is a Subway sandwich shop, and since we had a coupon to BOGO, we decided to eat there for dinner. While driving down the hill we asked the kids if they wanted a sandwich or a salad. Sarah wanted a sandwich, Hannah asked for a salad. So we ordered one kid's meal sandwich, and one salad for the girls. They shared the drink (milk) and side (sliced apples) that came with the kid's meal.

There was a family sitting at the booth next to ours. Mom, teenage son (maybe 14 or 15 years old) , and young son (maybe 6 or 7 years old). The younger son kept turning around talking to Hannah, and vice versa, until we got them to sit and eat.

I was done with my sandwich and helping Hannah with her salad (she often eats better if I load the bite for her instead of her having to do it herself.) Sarah had eaten as much of the sandwich as she wanted at that point (leaving most of the bread but eating all the veggies from inside it), and hopped over to sit next to Hannah and share salad with her.

The teenage son was sitting facing us and suddenly piped up and said “How do you get them to eat salad?” I was startled for a second, so I just kind of shrugged and said “they just do” and laughed a little. That sparked a short conversation in which they told us how lucky we are that our kids will eat that stuff, it's like pulling teeth to get their little one to eat it, and so forth. We told them how the girls will practically fight over my roasted green beans, or steamed broccoli, and they were quite impressed. At one point the son asked if the girls eat meat, so of course I replied no, we're all vegetarian. He nodded knowingly and said “ohhhh”. LOL

Sarah is not quite 27 months old, and I am constantly amazed at how smart she seems. I know, I know, lots of parents think their child is gifted, right? LOL… well, bear with me; I'm not going to say she's gifted, but wow, I think she's pretty darn smart!

Yesterday she wanted to help me make lunch. It was just some noodles I was going to cook in the microwave. Yeah, I know. Lazy mom. Oh well! It was a hot meal. Ha! Anyway, this particular noodle dish required several steps which involved stopping and restarting the microwave.

Sarah came over and wanted to help push the buttons. The first set, I helped her push the “quick on” button and then asked her to push the 5. She did! After 5 minutes, we stirred it and I helped her with the quick button again, and asked her to push the 1. She hesitated a moment but then pushed the right one again. Once again, we stirred, then put it back in, pressed the quick on button, and I asked her to press the 4. Straight to it! The final step was letting it set for a few minutes before serving, so I helped her press the “kitchen timer” button, then asked for a 5, then a 0, and then another 0. Then, I asked her to press “start”. Not a moment's hesitation on any of those, and no direction from me, either!

I had no idea she could recognize any numbers yet. I know she recognizes a few letters and can tell you their sounds, but we haven't worked on numbers yet.

So, who wants to stroke my ego and tell me I'm not overreacting, and she is a smartie? LOL!! Or, keep my head from swelling too big and tell me she's just your average kid? LOL

For your viewing pleasure… 2 years old and already playing the piano and singing! Sorry it's so dark, but I didn't have a light on over there and when you're working with kids, you can't always say “Wait, wait, I need to turn the light on!”