Fall Hike

 We went on a short hike today to enjoy the fresh air after the rain (it rained yesterday) and to enjoy the beautiful fall colors. According to the weather app, we might get some snow later this week. The kids are excited.

Hiking and the views (and cicada shells)

 We went hiking a few days ago. The trail was a bit tough in some places so they had ropes you could hold onto while you climbed up or down...the views were really good. It was so refreshing to be out in nature again. The kids had fun finding cicada shells along the way and we saw a few big praying mantises. 

Rice growing in a field close by

Cicada Shell

Ladybug Caterpillars and the riverside

 We went to a small park along the river close by. There's a long biking/walking trail that we went on. There were so many ladybug caterpillars and cocoons and some spiky caterpillars. 

Usually they make cocoons on leaves but we found some on a post!

This was a place for taking pictures by the river.

World War II History in Oregon

 In World War II two bombs were dropped by the Japanese close to where we live. Their goal was to start a forest fire in the forest close by, but their plan backfired because it had rained not long before they dropped the bombs. The trees and ground were all wet so the bombs didn't start any fires. There's a trail today where you can hike out to see where the bombs were dropped and we had wanted to go on this trail for the last 2 plus years but didn't get around to it...until yesterday. We went with some friends and drove about an hour on forest roads to get to the start of the trail. We were surprised to see redwoods out there; there aren't many redwood trees in Oregon. Redwoods are massive, really old trees that have "red" looking wood. Here are some pictures:

You can see how big the Redwood is compared to the trees around it.

This particular redwood was really big!

There was a fire up here a few years ago but the trees are starting to grow back (that's why this trunk is black- blackened from the fire).

On a side note, the man who flew the plane and dropped the bombs (Mr. Fujita) flew the plane from the top of a submarine. The plane was disassembled, put together on the top of the submarine, flown, and then disassembled again on the submarine to go inside the submarine so the submarine could submerge under water. Years after World War II had ended, Mr. Fujita came back to the area and gave his samurai sword to the city of Brookings as a goodwill (and reconciliation) gesture. The sword is permanently on display in the library in Brookings, with a write up and a model of the submarine ship. 

The Redwoods (and forest and river)

 We went up two rivers the last few days. Actually, there are 3 rivers close to where we live at the moment and numerous beaches so the last few weeks we've been swimming and exploring all 3 rivers. We have a few favorite swimming spots. We also went to the redwoods yesterday (a 30-40 minute drive away). We are so thankful and incredibly blessed to live in a place with so much beautiful nature close by. We will miss it when we move (sometime in the near future; we were supposed to move last month but are waiting on some paperwork..."Hurry up and wait" is what we hear often about it). 

"Fairy Cups" mushrooms. I had never seen them before; they are tiny!

More mushrooms 

The redwoods are so huge and tall.

The kids have loved swimming so much this summer and the rivers are very clean here.

Daffodils and the Beach

 We went hiking with another family today that said they knew a place with daffodils that overlooks the ocean. It was beautiful and then we had a gorgeous sunset. The kids and I are tired out from a long hike but it was great exercise and well worth it! 

Fall Pictures

 We don't see much fall where we live because most of the trees are evergreen. However, we had to drive to Medford, about a 3 hour drive away. We stayed the night so we took our time and stopped by a few places...it was so beautiful with all the leaves changing colors!

Afternoon at the river

 We went to the Winchuck River this afternoon. We have been there before and it's always so beautiful! We are so blessed to live in a place with such beautiful scenery...and the beach and the redwoods close by too! We've had a bit of sunshine lately so we've been trying to soak it up. We found a small frog and lots of water spiders who glide on the top of the water. Yesterday we met up with some other families to go to a lighthouse. Sadly, the lighthouse was closed but we could walk around it and there were lots of tide pools to explore. The kids had so much fun and it was all the better with their friends there too!

Beautiful Sunsets

 We went to the beach two times this week and met up with another family there. The kids had lots of fun. We moved earlier this month to the other side of town and this beach is the closest one to our house (about a 10-15 minute walk away). We'll probably go often to this beach. There's another beach that's about a 20 minute walk away as well. It was low tide so the kids got to explore the tide pools and the rocks. They found lots of tiny crabs, seashells, beach glass, and other marine animals. 

The sunrise down the street

Seagulls at the Beach

 Today we went to the beach; it was beautiful. We counted the rings on a redwood that was by the beach and saw some seagulls.