Newport January 2014

So, we heard there was a national weather advisory for the Oregon Coast with 30 foot waves, five inches of rain and dangerous gusts of wind. What does that mean to the Burch Family? Saddle up! A whale might be tossed up above the waves and that would be AWESOME! We started out at the Hatfield Science Center and met up with our friends the Parry Family. Then we parked at Yaquina Head to watch windsurfers bite it--ha ha! Never gets old. We also saw some wise seals huddled up on the leeward side of a cliff and some crazy dumb birds trying to fly and hoping their wings wouldn't break (maybe they took lessons from the surfers?). Did I mention the ocean was about a thousand shades of blue/green/brown/gray/white? My camera ran out of batteries by then of course, but in the long run, all we want to see are the babies so here they are:

 This means trouble.

 Claire with the rescued octopus "Raven."

 Sophie with her favorite sea star.

 This is how Eloise looks at her Daddy.

"Ok, my turn Mom!" (What she really says is "Mom mom mom! Throw throw throw!")

 I'm partial to that crazy feather hair. The mullet bounces when she stomps.

 Playing at the erosion table with our friend Kalia.

 Eloise telling me a story.

 Eloise telling passers by how to run the machine and to read the caution sign. (But it comes out "Throw! Shoes! Wow wow wow!")

 Claire was willing to play in the cold water until her fingers fell off but I drew the line at prune stage.

"Mom! This fish got runned over! He's a flatso!"

Claire's First Official Snow Day

 Claire really hates her PE class right now so when she woke up and I told her to look outside, her first words were actually "Really? No PE today? Wahoooo!!!" I made gingerbread oatmeal and herbal tea for all of us, we kissed Dad and sent him to school and then suited up. Good thing we're actually Idaho girls in disguise out here so we were perfectly prepared to play! It turned out Dad's classes were cancelled too but he stayed to finish a research project. What a hard working guy!

 Sophie's face as she first jumped into the snow.

 Claire meets her goal of making a snow angel right away.

 When it was just three girls. Who knows who's coming this summer? We're excited!

 Goal #2, catch a snowflake. Check.

 Tossing snow.

 Sophie is chewing gum, which she does 24/7. We should get stock! Luckily, there's a Mennonite shop in town that sells gum at a big discount. Sophie considers it to be a staple. That and Spaghetti-O's.

Don't put me down Mom!

Now we're inside warming up with hot chocolate and soon we'll do our Christmas decorating while we watch holiday movies. Yay!

October 2013

 Devil's Punchbowl, late October 2013

 Claire was pitching a fit and stomped around pouting.

 Sophie had enough fun for both of them.

 Finding a dead bird cheered Claire up.

 Second day walking!

 Squid Girl, sewn by moi, Nicole Waterson, Cinderella, Dora, also sewn by Mom.

 Claire's anime pose.

 Trick-or-treating at the med school.

 Chillin' with Cher (Tyler).

 Friends Gaius and Kjersten.

 Buddy Zoa.

 COMP-lements club (medical school wives group) party at the school.

 The brothers Sypher.

 My Sunbeam friend Claire as a princess angel fairy :)