Thanksgiving Weekend

The Thanksgiving holiday provided an opportunity for us to check in with cruising friends. They fall into 2 groups.. those still cruising and those planning their next cruise. We found those still cruising scattered from Corsica to Culebra and many points in between. Although it was tempting to "wish we were there", we had a great weekend here in Portland.

Jake was the first to declare the holiday season open. Not one to linger in the moment, he barely waited for Thanksgiving dinner to conclude before raiding our storage area for boxes of holiday books and decorations. He then went to work on his letter to Santa which he organized into categories as follows: "stuff I don't need but really want" and "stuff I could live without".

Here's a photo album that includes our trip to the annual Portland Macy's Day-After-Thanksgiving Parade and a visit to a local tree farm to select our Christmas tree, which we spent the rest of the afternoon decorating.


We also attended the tree-lighting ceremony in Pioneer Courthouse Square on Friday evening, along with 10,000+ other Portland residents who were no doubt drawn downtown by the great weather we're having. Some years, we've done this event in full rain gear! In keeping with the City's strong commitment to being GREEN, this year's tree is lit with energy-saving LED lights.


Emily and mom wrapped up a busy day with a girls-night-out to see a ballet performance of "La Boutique Fantasque".


Drew was hoping his Thanksgiving break would include a trip to Mt. Hood for some skiing, but there hasn't been enough snow yet. None the less, he and his gear stand ready!


Here's the photo album link again. Happy Holidays.

Classroom Fun

It's artist-in-residence week for Jake & Emily. They and their classmates are making masks. Here are some photos of Part 1... shaping the mask and paper mache (other key steps include making a huge mess and recess). Next week... painting.

Bowling, Bouldering & Biographies

It's that time of year in Portland - when it's too early for ski season and a bit to late into the Fall to expect too many visits from the sun. Thus, we find ourselves searching out non-soggy opportunities for fun.

Since Veteran's Day was a holiday for dad and the kids, we celebrated with a visit to The Circuit Gym for some "bouldering" with friends Eli and Francesca. Here are some photos.

Veteran's Day is also Grandpa Carl's birthday, and as Emily pointed out this morning, it's the day before she and Jake celebrate their half-birthdays!

Jake and Emily were hard at work with school projects over the long weekend - October was biography month - and Destination Imagination keeps their creative juices flowing. Drew is part of a Lego Robotics team, but we've yet to capture that work on film... it's top-secret until the competition in December!

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Trick or Treat!

It was a record haul last evening for the Jubilee Crew, pictured here as a devil, mad scientist and nerd. The rain that had been expected held off, making for an extra pleasant evening. We spent it with some Bridlemile friends and enjoyed being able to make the evening last without the stress of having school and work the next day.

Here are some photos of our Halloween activities. Included are some shots from a meeting of Jake's and Emily's "Destination Imagination" team.