The Service Project

The program Grant works with at Chemeketa had a field trip to the coast last week, so we drove out to Lincoln City on Wednesday and stayed through the weekend. Thursday, we drove down to Newport to meet the other staff and students for the field trip. They had volunteered to help the Hatfield Marine Science Center by helping clear out blackberries and ivy along the pathway to the estuary. Afterwards, they were able to tour the visitors' center at their leisure. Everyone worked hard and helped out (Eleanor worked on discovering new things; I worked on keeping her safe and entertained). Here are some pictures of our day at the science center.

Taking a deep, relaxing breath of the ocean air.

Actually, that's not it at all. Ever since we put the dogwood blossom in her hair (see previous post), she has been obsessed with flowers in her hair. If I point out a flower, she immediately starts saying, "hair, hair," and if I don't put one behind her ear, she will proceed to pick a flower and shove it directly into her ear. I was trying to get a picture of her with her flower in her hair, but she must have blinked. Her face is hilarious, so I had to post it anyway.

Bouncing on a tree limb.

We found a cockle shell, and Eleanor had to check it out.

This is our surprise visitor. Eleanor and I were looking for interesting bugs under the shade of the trees (more about that later), and along came this little baby bunny that hopped up right next to us. Eleanor couldn't see it, but I pointed it out to Grant. He and a few others pursued after it to try to get a decent picture of it. It hopped away into some brush where they tried to get close enough to get a picture (I have many pictures on my camera that look like sticks and grass with a little patch of unrecognizable brown). They scared it away from that location, and much to our surprise, it hopped back over to Eleanor and me and ran smack into Eleanor's leg. It stopped in its tracks for a second to shake it off and then hopped away again. Up until this point, we had been concerned that Eleanor hadn't been able to see the bunny. After the collision, Eleanor stood there staring after the bunny with an expression on her face that said, "Whoa!"
After several attempts by Grant to get close to the bunny to take a picture, the bunny became tired and stopped to rest. We were able to get pretty close and let Eleanor get a good look. The bunny was pretty nervous, so we got a few pictures and left it alone to regroup after such a stressful afternoon.

As you can see, we were able to get pretty close to it. Eleanor got just about as close, but you can't see the bunny in the picture I took with her in it.

Taking a break after some hard work.

Look at these curls sticking out from under her hat!

Inside the science center, listening to whale sounds, etc.

Petting a starfish.

After the science center, we went to visit Uncle Father Bill. I was pretty tired, so I didn't get any pictures. Plus, I know how Father Bill feels about pictures. We had a really nice visit, and he fed us, which was really nice for me because I didn't have to cook once we got back to Lincoln City. Grant felt like he hadn't done enough service for the day (not really), so he mowed Father Bill's lawn for him. Father Bill was really thankful. We enjoyed spending time with him and hope to see him again soon.


Oh, and I was going to tell more about Eleanor and the bugs. As we were trying to keep entertained while Grant worked so hard, I found Eleanor a potato bug to look at (or roly-poly, if you prefer). She liked holding it in her hand, but it kept rolling out, which would cause her to look at the ground saying, "again, again, again." So, I would have to find the same bug again or another one for her to look at. She says bug, "guh!" Whenever she had one in her hand, she would repeat "guh! guh!" at almost a shout. Unfortunately, she doesn't understand how gentle she needs to be with a bug, and I was grateful potato bugs have such hard shells. Some of them were squeezed a bit too hard, and once I found her a lady bug that she dismembered, I decided it would be a bit unethical to proceed with finding bugs for her. Luckily, that's about when the bunny appeared.