Happy New Year

Fireworks... fondue... firepit... and of course, the annual smashing of the gingerbread houses. Click here to see photos.

Happy New Year to all!

Weekend on the Coast

Click here for photos from our weekend at the coast, which included sand and boogie boarding in Pacific City; hiking and whale watching at Cape Lookout State Park; our first time oyster picking in Netarts; tide-pooling and sunset-watching in Oceanside; and more.

The Other Haystack

Click here to see a video from our day in Pacific City, home of the other Haystack Rock.  It's a bit warmer than Portland at the coast and no rain so we're taking full advantage!

Beach Boxing Day

It was a beautiful, sunny day on the Oregon Coast today. Click here for photos from our time at Cannon Beach and Oswald State Park, where Drew caught some nice waves and we all enjoyed a "green-flash" sunset.

  

Merry Christmas!

Here are links to photos and video clips from some of our holiday activities:

• Feuerzangenbowle Party
• Christmas Eve Fondue 
• Christmas Morning Time-Lapse Video
• Jake Learns to Play Accordion

Thanks Peter, Teresa, Ben and Nicky for the delicious Feuerzangenbowle punch and German sausages last Saturday; and thank you Lisa, Jethro and Annabelle for hosting fondue-night to celebrate Christmas Eve last night.  

Thanks also to all of our relatives and friends who have sent gifts and good wishes!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Joy Now Fundraiser

Hello down there... Emily, our friend Danny, and their fellow stilt-ers performed this evening at a Joy Now fundraiser.  Click here for photos, including Emily's cover photo on the poster promoting the show.

Diving in St. Croix

Pat was on St. Croix this past week to present at a conference.  Here is a link of some video he took while diving and here is a link to some photos.

Christmas Ships

Tonight was the High School Sailing Team's Christmas Ships Party.  Click here for photos.

Happy Holidays!

Click here for an electronic version of our 2013 holiday card.

Farm to Family Room...

Click here for photos from our trip to Kirchem Tree Farm to get our Christmas tree.  We also celebrated Hanukkah this weekend with our friends Tony, Lee, Elan, Luna, Diego and Ari.  

Drew's Hawaii Trip

Click here for photos Drew's friend Kira took during their recent Thanksgiving weekend trip to Hawaii for a sailing regatta.  (The link may only work if you have a Facebook account.)  LHS placed 6th - just one point away from 5th - in the regatta and had a great time sailing, touring, hiking and swimming.

World History Projects

Jake and Emily have been studying the effects of colonization around the world as part of their World History class. As a culminating project, they had to select a country and research its colonization history. 

Emily and her project partner, Veronica, chose to compare and contrast colonization in the Bahamas and Peru by making the poster above.

Click here to watch the video Jake and his project partner, Will, made for their presentation on Australian colonization. Jake did all the video editing himself.. thank you green screen! 

Tis the Season...

To kick-off the holiday season, we took in the Portland Macy's Christmas Parade this morning and wrapped up the day in Pioneer Square for the annual Tree Lighting.  Click here for photos.

It was a lovely day in Portland, but no match for Honolulu, where Drew got to tour a container ship before sailing practice in preparation for tomorrow's regatta.

Happy birthday Aunt Judy!

Happy Thanksgiving

It was a beautiful morning for our annual neighborhood Turkey Bowl.  We had just enough time for soccer before taking Drew, his fellow sailors and coach to the airport for their trip to the Hawaii High School IMU Sailing Regatta.  

Click here for photos.  Happy Thanksgiving to all, and go Cards!

Smith Rock

After a couple of days at Brasada Ranch in Powell Butte near Bend, we headed back to Portland today via Terrebone and Smith Rock State Park. It was a beautiful day to hike up the Misery Ridge Trail to view Monkey Face and the surrounding valley, watch the climbers, and enjoy the sun. Click here for photos from our hike, as well as our last day at Brasada Ranch.

Powell Butte, Central Oregon

We're having a fun, pre-Thanksgiving weekend in Central, Oregon.  Click here for photos from Day 1 of our time at Brasada Ranch.

Photography Club

Emily has joined the school Photography Club. Here are some photos from her first shoot at a nearby dog park.

Dodge Ball

We used our extra hour today for a neighborhood game of dodgeball at Sky High.  Click here for photos.

Dia de los muertos

Emily performed with Joy Now today in honor of Dia de los Muertos as the opening act for The Saloon Ensemble's performance of The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Click here for photos.

Happy Halloween!

We enjoyed our visit to the Haunted Hillsdale house this evening.  Click here for a few photos.

Halloween Regatta

Drew had some nice wind for Halloween-themed team racing on Sunday. Sailing in costume is a bit challenging so most of the kids had ditched their costumes by the time these photos were taken. Drew's group dressed-up as skiers to race against sharks, ballerinas, a taco and more. 

Jake & Pat spent Sunday evening working on jack-o-lanterns... their (first) masterpiece is below.

Apple Pressing Party

Another beautiful Fall day...  perfect for helping our friends Elizabeth, Mike, Teddy, Joe & Zanna press 1,600 lbs of apples into cider.  Click here for photos.  Not sure which Jake enjoyed more... the cider-making, donut-eating or apple-bobbing.

Corn Cabaret

Thank you Kruger Farms for a lovely evening... Ashleigh Flynn performing live under a circus tent in the middle of a corn maze surrounded by bonfires and fire dancers on a beautiful, dry fall night with a full moon on Sauvie Island.  Click here for photos from our time at the Corn Cabaret. 

Pumpkin Patch

While Drew was sailing in Seattle this weekend, the rest of us went to the Pumpkin Patch.  Click here for a few photos.   

Rainy Regatta

The weather forecast calls for heavy wind and rain all weekend... most outdoor events have been cancelled, but not this afternoon's high school sailing scrimmage. Drew took first place, only capsized once (before racing actually started), and loved every wind gust... especially the 30+ knot ones!  Click here for photos  (They rotate boats each race; look for Drew in boats 2, 3 or 4).

Click here to watch a short video of Drew skippering boat #4.  It's not the best clip; apologies for all the background noise, including my coughing.

Race Day

Drew and Kira took third place in the WSC Club Championship today.  Click here for sailing photos, along with a couple from last night's decades-themed homecoming dance.  

Tacky Tourists

It's Spirit Week at LHS... there's been tacky tourist day, dynamic duo day, pajama day, tug-o-war, limbo contests and more.  Jake has participated in every lunchtime contest with his lunchbox in hand, resulting in several funny tweets about "the lunchbox kid" and Drew plans to dye his mustache blue tomorrow for color wars.  Have they got spirit... YES, they do!

Speaking of tourists, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by last weekend for a brief visit before "setting sail" on a week-long riverboat cruise of the Columbia River.  Click here for a few photos from their departure day.

Joy Now September Show

Emily had the chance to perform on stilts tonight for a Joy Now fundraiser.  She also donated some of our favorite Gamewright games for their auction, including an autographed copy of Mermaid Beach of course.  

Click here for a few photos from the event.  Click here to see a video clip.

Today was also the first day of Fall sailing for Drew.  90+ and sunny... hope the good weather lasts!

September Swim

Three days of high school down...  just 177 more (ugh!) til its summer vacation again!  

It still feels like summer here - warm and sunny all weekend, raspberries at the Farmer's Market this morning, Pat and Drew biking in the annual Tour De Lab race, swimming yesterday to celebrate with our friends Luna and Diego on their birthday, and a movie night at the park.

Click here for photos from the birthday party.  Not sure which was a bigger hit with participants - the slip-n-slide itself or Jake serving as a human surf board on the slip-in-slide.

Cheers!