Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas... hope you did too! Click here for photos from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The album also includes photos from a couple of holiday parties we attended with friends and our trip to Mt. Hood for some pre-Christmas skiing. We needed to make sure the kids would sleep well Thursday night!

As for our plans for the weekend ahead...

Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house... the I-Touch "apps" are downloading, no need for a mouse! The Legos are built on the table with care while Nerf bullets fly and whiz through the air. Everyone seems happy with their holiday haul. Enjoy the weekend, and Happy Christmas to all!

Tis the Season...

The kids wrapped up their last week of school for the year by helping out with a holiday food basket drive. Click here for photos.


Friday evening was the youth sailing program holiday party at Drew's sailing club. It included another opportunity for viewing the Portland Christmas Ships Parade.

Next up on our weekend activity list was a holiday party at our friends Matt and Caroline's house, complete with gingerbread cookie decorating, donut eating contests, and karaoke.

Happy Holidays!

Lego Robotics

Jake and his team, the Biker Bunnies, competed in a Lego Robotics tournament last weekend. Here's a photo album.

Although they didn't come home with a trophy, they did a great job and had lots of fun. In addition to programming a Lego robot to accomplish certain tasks within a set obstacle course (e.g. pick up rings), the kids completed a research project aimed at encouraging more people in our neighborhood to walk or bike to school.

Ready or Not... Here Comes Christmas!

It's been a busy December. Here's a photo album that includes the twin's school music program and holiday pancake breakfast; a visit from Grandma and Grandpa; and Portland's Christmas Ships Parade, as seen from our friend Rich and Gail's house on the Multnomah Channel.

Winter Break officially began on Friday. The kids are convinced that Portland is the only place on earth that hasn't had snow yet.... they're holding out hope for a white v. wet Christmas.

Coming next: Jake's Lego Robotics Tournament and more holiday festivities.

A Busy Thanksgiving Weekend

We started off with a Thanksgiving morning neighborhood soccer game. It was pouring rain, but that only made the outing more fun. We're sure one of the teams won, but don't ask us who! Click here for game photos.

After a little exercise, we focused on bulking up with turkey and all the fixings in preparation to hit the ground running on Friday to kick-off the official start of the holiday season. Black Friday is definitely NOT our thing, so we opted instead for Portland's xmas parade, a trip to the tree farm, and the annual tree lighting in Pioneer Square.


Click below for more photo albums detailing Friday's adventures and the rest of the weekend...

ALBUM 1
ALBUM 2


We may have overdone the tree a bit this year. It took us almost 4 hours to find, cut and drag it back to the car. What with its 8" diameter trunk, it covered the entire top of our van and nearly hung off the sides. It was a good 10" too tall and barely fit through the door, not to mention being a tight squeeze for our tree stand! It was the deal of the century at just $15, but the cost savings only lasted so long... the lights we had on hand only cover the top 1/3 of the tree. Needless to say, the 35+ feet of cranberries Emily worked so hard to string didn't make it very far either! It appears to be growing as it settles into the living room. Other than that, it's absolutely PERFECT!

Saturday was all about getting the tree fully decorated, dinner with friends, and taking in a really fun Improv Show called "Puppets v. People". For Jake and Emily it was officially classified as "research" for their Destination Imagination team, but mostly it was just insanely funny.

On Sunday, Jake's Lego Robotics Team, the "Biker Bunnies", had some community service work to do... here are photos of the group installing "Idle Free Zone" signs at their school as part of their campaign to reduce air pollution and encourage kids to walk to school instead of driving.

Also included in Album 2 above is some of Drew's recent handiwork as part of his Tech. Ed. class.

If Santa is planning to add any elves this year, Drew should definitely be in the running!




For us it's been a wonderful holiday weekend - great weather, great friends, great adventures, etc. None the less, we can't stop thinking about the really unfortunate passing of a great neighbor, friend and colleague of Pat's last Tuesday... Nancy was the victim of a homicide that has yet to be solved. We're so very sorry for her family and the loss of such a wonderful, vibrant person. We walk past her house daily and will miss her greatly!

On a happier note, Happy Birthday wishes to Aunt Judy, and later this week, to our good friend Martin in Quebec. Happy Holidays to all!

Duck... Duck... Turkey!

We participated in the Willamette Sailing Club's Wild Turkey Regatta this past Saturday. Drew and his partner Vickie won, while the rest of the Jubilee crew - or as Emily called our Ranger 20, Jubiwee - placed third. The weather was great (for Oregon in November) though a bit more wind would have been helpful.


Since we were all moving through the course at a rather slow speed, it helped that race organizers threw several dozen rubber ducks in the water. Scoring was based primarily on the collection of ducks, and we had a couple of excellent scoopers on our team! Here are some photos.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween Weekend... here is a photo album to prove it. Six jack-o-lanterns were carved; three parties were attended and enjoyed; Drew competed in his first sailing regatta; and the kids took in a record-setting trick-or-treat haul.

Between Barbie, Agent Jake and the Turtle Man, the scales were tipped just over the 25lb mark with candy by the end of the evening! (Now it will be repeatedly sorted, counted, hidden, swapped and argued-over for weeks... at least that'll slow down their consumption rate just a bit.)

Reports from the Field: Tips from the Halloween Pros

Jake and Emily have recently completed a writing assignment on their favorite holidays. Turns out they both picked the same one and have some timely information to share below.

Also, here are a few photos that include Drew at sailing club getting ready for the Halloween Day Youth Regatta and the twins and friends preparing for Science Fair.



Halloween, by Emily My favorite holiday is Halloween! I like to trick-or-treat because you can hang out with your friends, get exercise, and see everyone’s houses and how spooky they look. Another thing I like about Halloween is the costumes. There can be scary ones, hero ones, girly ones, and there also is my costume!

This year, I am going to be an 1960s Barbie. My third favorite thing is candy. There are too many types to name, but my favorites are 100 Grands, Take 5s and Twix.

My favorite spot for trick-or-treating on Halloween is the Wilcox neighborhood because you get tons of candy and it’s safe for kids. You get so much candy that you might need two bags. Another good neighborhood for trick-or-treating is the area around Bridlemile. Wherever you go, my safety tips are don’t trick-or-treat without a grown-up unless you are older (13 or up) and have a cell phone. Going with a group of friends is a good idea, and don’t go to houses you are not familiar with or ones that don’t have lights on. People who have their lights on usually have the candy!

Halloween is lots of fun. You get to be creative with costumes and decorating, eat tons of candy and visit friends you might not get to see very often. There are good neighborhoods in our area for trick-or-treating safely with friends, and this year, we will have the whole weekend to celebrate. Hopefully the weather will be nice for being outside, and we will all have our costumes ready* before the big day!

*no pressure Grandma Janet!

Halloween, by Jake My favorite holiday is Halloween. One reason I love this holiday is because you get lots of candy. You also get to wear cool costumes. Dressing in scary costumes is what I do best, but this year I am going to be a secret service agent. My plan is to trick-or-treat with my friends in the Wilcox neighborhood. I’m trick-or-treating with 7th graders so that I can stay out later and get more candy.

One of my favorite parts of Halloween comes after trick-or-treating. After you finish trick-or-treating, you can have contests to see who got the most candy and trade for the kinds you like best. I hope I get a two-foot long gummy snake, but these are very rare. Chocolate bars are very common. So are gummy worms and sour gummy worms.

Halloween is the 31st of October, and it is the best day of the year. Eat candy, wear costumes, stay up late and have fun! These are the reasons I like Halloween.

Only 22 more days til Halloween!

It's been a beautiful sunny, dry week here, so we took advantage of a no-school day today and visited the Pumpkin Patch with our neighbors. Here is a photo album.

End of Season Swim Party

Special thanks to our friends the Keims for inviting us to be a part of their neighborhood end-of-season pool party. It was a beautiful day for a picnic and one last dip (and slip) before Fall officially arrives.


Our crew gave the party - and especially the slip & slide - two very soapy thumbs-up!


In other news... Jake and Emily have decided to join the 5th grade band. Concert dates have not yet been announced... they're going to need a bit of practice first!

Dancing by Night; Biking by Day

Drew & friends put on their dancing shoes last Friday to begin eight weeks of ballroom dancing lessons. Lesson #1 - the fox trot - appears to have been a success; plus we managed to feed them pizza and still get them to class stain-free!

After an evening of box-stepping, it was time for some father-son biking on Saturday as part of the annual Tour-de-Lab, a bike race sponsored by our favorite brewpub, the Lucky Lab.

Time for School

The kids are enjoying their first week of the 2009-10 school year. Here are some photos from their first day.

Also in the album are photos from other recent activities, including our visit to nearby Chapman Elementary earlier this week to watch the Vaux Swifts.


The swifts pass through Portland each September during their migration to Central America, and for whatever reason, they love the chimney at Chapman. In fact, Chapman is home to the largest known roost of migrating swifts in the world! It takes nearly 30 minutes for all of them to get settled in for the night and the spectacle draws quite a crowd.

Fireworks on the Waterfront

Took in a symphony performance at Portland Waterfront Park this week. We may not have been able to see the musicians up close and personal via sailboat, but you couldn't beat our view for the post-performance fireworks show!

Our fireworks motto: You're not close enough unless you can see flames from the deck! Here's a photo album.

There's also a couple of particularly handsome young men in this photo album. Drew starts his ballroom dancing class next week, and in a recent trip to the consignment store in search of dress clothes, Jake also scored a new suit!

Rockin out at the State Fair

Emily got to attend her first rock concert this weekend - Katy Perry performing at the Oregon State Fair - with her friends Izzy and Molly.

It was a great show... here are some photos of Katy, her fans, and the fair.

Timothy Lake

Here is a photo album of our end-of-summer camping weekend at Timothy Lake near Mt. Hood. There was lots of biking, hiking, fishing and fun.



Chef Mark made sure we were all well-fed, cooking up everything from brisket and craw-dads to pancakes and pasta.

There were lots of fun families to hang out with; Emily officially learned to ride a bike; Jake got to swim and climb on rocks; Drew got to use his fly fishing rod and set crab traps... all was right with the world. Okay, except for the fact that we really need to invest in camping mats.




There was the distinct feel of fall in the air... a sure sign that September is here. School starts on the 8th and there are just 59 days left until Halloween. (Just ask Jake... he's counting.)

Tip-of-the-week: Pentago...GREAT game! Try it! Thanks Eliza for showing us how the professionals play!

Willamette Cruise

Here are some photos of a recent evening cruise along the Willamette River. Drew and Jake took turns at the helm.

Indiana Visit

Spent the past week with Grandma and Grandpa and family in Indiana, with the added bonus of a mini-reunion with our good friends the Hartleys who were passing through on their way back to Oklahoma from Michigan. Special thanks to Uncle John and Aunt Nikki for hosting the reunion while Grandma's backyard was receiving an unexpected (and very messy) "make-over".


Drew got to golf during our stay and visit his first really big amusement park, Kings Island. Jake got in a few days of swimming which he loves and can't stop talking about King's Island's "Drop Tower" from which he dropped over 300 feet at over 60 miles per hour. He loved every one of the six-or-so seconds the trip down took!


Emily rode her first real roller-coaster, though opted out of some of the bigger ones in favor of taking her Cousin Kaylee on rides. In addition to lots of playtime with Kaylee, she was happy to get some quality time with Aunt Judy's bears.


Click here for photos or use the link above.

National Night Out

We celebrated National Night Out last evening with a neighborhood picnic.

As you'll see from these photos, there was great entertainment and lots of games for kids of ALL ages.

Yes... in fact Pat did win the donut eating contest!

A Day in the Fastlane...

Normally, we max-out at about 5 miles an hour on the water, so it was quite a treat for the kids when our friend Rich invited us to take a spin on a powerboat this past weekend.


Everyone enjoyed riding in the fastlane for a change, as well as getting a little taste of floating home living. Here are the photos to prove it!



P.S. to the Greggs - still haven't found anything as fast as your super-dinghy!

Day at the Zoo

Everyone's doing their best to stay cool. It's been over 100 for the past several days, but that hasn't stopped us from trying to make the most of Maxime's final days with us. Forgot the camera for our tour of Nike's World Headquarters yesterday (thanks you Lars, for showing us around!), but remembered it today for our trip to the Oregon Zoo. Here are some photos.

Water Play

Jake loves his new kayak... almost as much as Pat loves his new sailboat!

Here are a few photos from swimming and sailing this past week.

Launch Day

Sunday was launch day. We finally got the Ranger 20 (still thinking about a good boat name) out of the driveway and into the water. Took an afternoon sail after seeing Eduardo off to the airport for his return trip back to Madrid.

Here's a photo album from the weekend, which also included a ride on the OHSU Aerial Tram.

Field & Stream

We took in a summer concert at Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island Thursday evening, then spent last night sailing on the Willamette River. It was Team Spain v. Team France in a race to/from the Ross Island Bridge. Here's the photo finish... and more.