Winter Break Fun

Click here from a few photos taken during the kids' Winter Break to date that include various holiday festivities and outings. 

Click here for a few photos from our late November trip to Lee Farms to find our xmas tree. Our search took place on one of the rare dry days we've had between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Portland is super soggy, but there's an abundance of fresh snow on Mt. Hood! 

Happy Holidays!

 Best wishes for the holiday season!

Xmas Parade & Tree Lighting

Click here for photos from this morning's Macy's Portland Christmas Parade and this evening's annual Tree Lighting in Pioneer Square.  The Thanksgiving turkey is (almost) gone, the stockings are hung, and tomorrow we're off to the tree farm. 

Turkey Bowl 2015

 

Click here for photos from our neighborhood's annual Turkey Bowl soccer game. Special thanks to Sesame Donuts for providing breakfast, and to Megan, Tom and Ruby for organizing the game.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Happy Birthday...

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Carl!

Happily Ever Hartley

This past weekend, we celebrated with our good friends the Hartleys as Tyler Hartley & Elise Gibson tied the knot in Springfield, Missouri. Congratulations Tyler & Elise, and thank you Tim, Di and Sarah for a great weekend! Click here for photos. 

We took an extra day to explore Kansas City before returning to Portland, which include a visit to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. 

Apple Pressing Party

It was a great day for cider-making with our friends the Kortenhofs, who hosted their annual apple-pressing party on Saturday. Click here for a few photos.  We also helped Drew do some bike-shopping this weekend. Here he is with his new fixie. 

Lunar Eclipse

Tonight we celebrated the eclipse of a super moon, the completion of the Pacific Crest Trail for our friends Wiki (Danny), Happy Hour and Thunder Bunny, Danny's birthday, and in-abstentia, Drew's one-week anniversary as an OSU Beaver. Click here for photos. 

Move-In Day

Drew moved into Oregon State University's Weatherford Hall today. Click here to see photos. He'll have a few days to settle in and get to know campus before classes start on Thursday. We miss him already but know he will have a great year!

Bridge Opening

Click here for photos from Opening Day for the new pedestrian and light rail bridge, Tilikum Crossing. Emily and some of her Joy Now friends got to perform as part of Tri-Met's grand opening festivities, which took place at MAX stops all along the new Orange Line. 

Tilikum Fireworks

After missing 4th of July Fireworks due to engine repairs, we made sure to "catch the orange" last night - a great bridge-based fireworks display celebrating Portland's new pedestrian, bike and light rail-only bridge, the Tilikum Crossing.  Click here for photos we took from the boat. And here for some from The Oregonian. It was a strange night for fireworks given all the wildfire smoke that blew into Portland yesterday from Washington State cause air quality alerts and making the whole city smell like a campfire. 

Portugal Reprise

Drew finally got his film developed from his trip to Portugal back in July. Click here to see them. The final few are from San Francisco/Sebastopol where he finished off a roll. 

Point Reyes National Seashore

For our final day in California, we visited Point Reyes National Seashore. Click here for photos.  It was quite a change from the density of San Francisco to be driving through miles and miles of seaside farmland and undeveloped coastline. 

Also in this album are a couple of photos (of old photos) from our last trip to San Francisco back in 2005. The trolley definitely hasn't changed!

San Francisco

We spent the day in San Francisco, exploring Golden Gate Park, Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square. Click here for a few photos. 

We had dinner in Chinatown at Great Eastern Restaurant. President Obama has eaten there, so we figured it was a good choice.  

The cable cars were fun, though ridiculously crowded. We had hoped to take in a Golden Gate Bridge sunset, but the evening fog was too thick by the time we finished dinner. 

Drew did manage a nice shot of the sunset - and Alcatraz - from the cable car we were riding after dinner. 

Emily was happy to get to check out Uniqlo, and after taking a full year off from sugar, Jake enjoyed shopping at Ghirardelli. We had not visited San Francisco since 2005, so the twins didn't really remember the city.

More Sonoma Coast

Today, we drove California Hwy. 1 from Salt Point State Park, north of Jenner, south to Bodega Bay. We saw sea arches, sea lions, and more along the way, as well as a beautiful sunset viewed from Portuguese Beach. 

Before heading for the coast, we stopped by D's Diner in Sebastopol where Emily and Jake got to practice a bit of Arabic with the very kind owner and artist Patrick Amiot's Junk Art  garden, which spans 3 blocks in his Florence Avenue neighborhood. 

Emily managed a bit of hiking at Salt Point, despited her sore toes. The views were too good to pass up. Click here for photos. 

Sonoma Coast

We are spending the week in Sebastopol, CA - home of Charlie Brown's creator, Charles Schultz - on a home exchange. Sebastopol is in the heart of California's wine country and not far from the Sonoma Coast, which includes Bodega Bay pictured below. 

Click here for photos of the boys surfing and body boarding at Salmon Creek Beach yesterday, which is in Bodega Bay and just up the road from where the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds, was filmed. (Album credits to Jake.) There were several dolphins enjoying the surf too. 

Emily is sporting a broken toe and 11 stitches after dropping a table on her foot last week, so she had stay on shore duty. She aspires to be able to put an actual shoe on before we head to San Francisco later this week. 

The vineyard below is the view from our home exchange and part of the Russian River Valley viticultural area. 

Drew's European Vacation

Click here to see photos from Drew's recent trip to Lisbon, Portugal. A big thanks to Leonor, Teresa, Francisco and family for hosting him. He took additional photos with an old film camera of Pat's from college, so more coming soon once those are developed. 

We went nearly straight from the airport to Corvallis upon his return early Monday morning to attend OSU's summer START orientation. He got to meet his roommate Ben from Eugene, tour his dorm, Weatherford Hall, pictured in the background below, meet with academic advisors from the College of Science, and register for classes for Fall term. 

Lazy River Day

Another hot weekend spent staying cool on the Willamette. Click here for a few photos. 

Drew is on his way back from 12 days in Portugal. Photos from his trip coming soon. 

Joy at BluesFest

Another day of performances for Joy Now at the Blues Festival. Click here for photos.  In addition to their annual show on the Blues Festival's Crossroads Stage, they got to march through the festival and perform on the Main Stage with Love Bomb Go-Go.  

Happy 4th of July! 

Joy at Jamison Park

It's Joy Now summer camp week. Emily and friends performed all new shows this afternoon at Jamison Park and EcoTrust in the Pearl; tomorrow they'll be at the Blues Fest. The dance team and band were hot, both literally and figuratively. It was nearly 100 today.  Click here for photos. 

Grad Party

Click here for photos from Lenore's graduation party. Thank you Mark & Leta for hosting a lovely party; thank you Francisco and Theresa for hosting Drew in a few weeks when he come to Portugal; and thank you summer vacation for finally arriving! 

Graduation 2015

Click here for photos from Drew's senior awards assembly and Lincoln High School's graduation ceremony, held last night at the Memorial Coliseum and followed by an all-night grad party from which he just returned. 

Not to be left out of the cord-craze, Lincoln sailors wore sailing rope for the ceremony.

For the twins, there are still 3 days of school left before summer vacation finally arrives. It can't come a minute too soon. 

Congratulations LHS Class of 2015, and Go Beavs! (Benny was at the Rose Parade on Saturday.)

Fun in the Trees & More

Click here for photos from our trip to Tree to Tree Adventure Park over the Memorial Day Weekend, as well as Emily at her advanced stilting class, Drew at Lincoln's senior art showcase, and this weekend's neighborhood HvZ game. The kids first started playing Humans v. Zombies way back in 2010, and they're still at it!

Click here for photos of HvZ circa 2010.

Sailing Celebration

 

Drew and friends celebrated the end of another great sailing season this evening.  Click here for photos. 

Drew went all-in hugging Coach Kyle at the last practice.

And in other news... Jake earned his first high school letter through a great season of Speech & Debate.

Sweet 16

It's hard to believe this adorable duo just turned 16! 

Happy Birthday Jake and Emily!

WSC Regatta

Light winds but lots of sunshine for Day 1 of the Willamette Sailing Club's Mother's Day Weekend Regatta - Drew's last as a high school sailor. Click here for photos.  Go Cards!

Senior Prom

It's a beautiful night for Drew, Lizzie and friends to enjoy Lincoln's Senior Prom. Click here for photos from a pre-dance dinner graciously hosted by Lenore and her host family, complete with stunning views of Portland, masquerade-themed decor, and a photo booth.

Joy Now at the Earth Day Festival

Emily and her fellow Joy Now performers performed today at Portland's annual Earth Day Festival.  Click here for photos.