Oregon Coast & Eugene Science Factory Day

Last Sunday we decided to have a fun family day exploring something new to us in Eugene. After discussing several options, we landed on taking Jonathan to the Children's Science Factory right across the street from Autzen Stadium (where the Ducks play). I've been looking forward to taking Jonathan there for quite some time, in hopes that we would find a place to visit regularly if he liked it. The building matches the logo (seen in the picture below) . . . lots of colorful stripes that just screams kid fun. We were pretty excited!

Jonathan jumped into their hands-on displays right away, learning about the inner workings of toys, testing gravity with wooden cars, playing with magnets, checking out mazes, and more. There were lots of activities for him to enjoy . . . for about an hour. Wow were we expecting something different! I had in mind Kidspace in Pasadena or Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Then I was reminded that we're in Eugene. The "Exhibit Hall" is one room, the "exhibits" run into each other and aren't very clear, and the newly (this month) remodeled "tot space" already had paint chips and didn't seem very new or exciting. All that aside, Jonathan had a blast. For about an hour.

Time to change plans. We grabbed some lunch and tried to come up with something else. Jonathan was just happy to be out and about with his mommy and daddy. I don't think he cared much about what we did as long as we did it together. He's so sweet. :)

We headed in the direction of home, with a possible side trip to Target (one of Jonathan's favorite places). Much to my surprise, Daddy decided to head west on Highway 126, which leads us straight out to the coast. The beach is about 60 miles from our house here, or a short 70-minute drive. Jonathan got a great nap in on the way there and woke up just in time to get out of the car in Florence.

Historic Florence Bridge carries Highway 101 over the Siuslaw River

Our first big stop: BJ's Homemade Ice Cream Shop. Yummy. We had so much fun! Out of everything in the store (and there was a lot), Jonathan picked an orange Tootsie Pop for his treat. Mommy and Daddy chose three delicious flavors of ice cream (coconut crunch, chocolate-peanut butter, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookie). The girls in the shop were super sweet and gave us a good glimpse of their smallish coastal town.

After getting our sweet fix and seeing a bit of Old Florence, we headed to our main destination: the beach. It was already later in the day, so we knew we'd be there basically for sunset. Were we in for a treat! It was beautiful. The sky was breathtaking, the reflection on the dark water was almost haunting, and we even caught a glimpse of the famous Heceta Head Lighthouse (supposedly the most photographed lighthouse in the country) off in the distance. Heceda Beach is right where the Siuslaw River runs into the ocean and is only a few miles south of the Sea Lion Caves and the lighthouse.

Another treat for us: the seals were in near the beach for their evening playtime. There were probably half a dozen of them just a few feet from us, enjoying the sway of the waves. (You can see a couple of them in the picture below.)

Jonathan had a blast playing on the beach. He teased the waves to try to catch him, running and happily screaming every time they threatened to. He loved watching the seals, and really was just as mesmerized by the waves as they were. One thing's for sure: he is a beach boy. He looooves the beach. Even when it feels like it's 20 degrees out (it was cold and super windy), he loves it and wants to go in the water. Crazy boy.

Jonathan's favorite part about going to the beach? Playing with his crazy Daddy. Daddy pretends like he's going to throw Jonathan in the water, but Jonathan always knows that Daddy is really his protector on the beach. Daddy's always there to pick him up when the waves come too close, he's always there to hold his hand when the beach gets rocky, he's always there to explore beach life or findings with, and he's always there to make him laugh. Talk about one of my favorite sights . . . Daddy had Jonathan laughing so hard at the beach it looked like he was crying. It was hilarious.

He's a pretty darn good Daddy.

In the end, we had a wonderful day. The museum was fun for a short time, but the beach really stole the show. Between beach town ice cream, toddler giggles, and a breathtaking sunset, our first trip out to the coast was pretty close to perfect. What could have made the day any better? For it to be sealed with a kiss from the boy.

And it was.