New Year Adventures on Mt. Hood

Click here for a video compilation Drew put together; and another one.  He included clips from year's past, but also footage from his and Grace's back country skiing adventures over New Year's weekend around Mt. Hood.... SO. MUCH. SNOW.  

Mummer's Parade

 

We checked out a controversial Philadelphia New Year's tradition today - the annual Mummer's Parade. Click here for photos.  We arrived too late to see the more elaborate - and perhaps more choreographed - parade entries.  Mostly we just saw a lot of guys in gold-painted sneakers drinking Miller Lites on Broad Street at 10am.  Click here for better photos, captured by local news.

Oregon Xmas

Click here for photos from what turned out to be a longer-than-expected holiday trip to Portland to spend Christmas with the kids.  We can't think of a better place to be stuck amid weather and Covid-related flight delays! 

Highlights of our time together includes lots of walks, games, and crafts, as well as rapid Covid tests that allows us to safely enjoy dinners with friends. Pictured below are the hand-crafted felt stockings Emily and Jake created for everyone, and the charcuterie chalet/village that was the centrepiece of our Christmas eve meal.  

As a Christmas gift for the kids, we created the holiday-retrospective photo album linked here.  Just click on the album cover once you are on the Shutterfly website to view the album.

Happy New Year to all!

PHL+NYC with Jake

Click here for photos from Jake's recent visit, which has included time in Philadelphia and a weekend trip to New York City.  We've walked in the Wissahickon, Central Park, and across the Brooklyn Bridge. We've also seen Christmas on full display in Philadelphia's Dilworth Park and New York's Rockefeller Center (not to mention Portland's Pioneer Square last week). 

It was Jake's first time to explore NYC, though he had "passed through" once before in 2007 when we sailed up the Hudson, as pictured below.  

Thanksgiving in Portland

Last week marked the first time since 2016 when the five of us were together for Thanksgiving. We celebrated the start of the 2021 holiday season in Portland, with a week of long walks, good food, fun and games with friends (we highly recommend Wingspan), and of course a trip to Pioneer Square to see the Christmas Tree. We also celebrated Fig's first birthday during our visit. Click here for photos. 

Artists and Rebels

We got to see two more great art exhibitions this weekend - the Jasper Johns Mind/Mirror retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Suzanne Valadon: Model, Painter, Rebel at the Barnes, whose painting The Blue Room is pictured here. Click here for a few photos.

Fall Fun from D.C. to Dog Mountain

We've been enjoying Fall on both coasts - sailing on the Chesapeake, visiting Washington D.C., celebrating Halloween, and hiking Dog Mountain in the Columbia Gorge. Links to photo albums follow:

Fall in the Mid Atlantic - Photos include wildlife and scenic skies seen in and around Philadelphia and the Upper Chesapeake Bay. 

Halloween Weekend - Drew dressed-up as Frida Kahlo, Emily as a DIY oil spill, and Jake and Ellie as characters from How to Train Your Dragon. Meanwhile mom attended Fox Chase's annual In Vino Vita fundraiser at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, and Emily and Grace made a trip with friends to Portland's Japanese Garden to take in the Fall colors. 

Washington D.C. - We drove down to D.C. over the Veteran's Day holiday to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture and see the Laurie Anderson exhibition at the Hirshorn Museum. Both were amazing. We also had time to walk the National Mall to see the monuments, including the new Eisenhower Memorial.

Dog Mountain - Meanwhile, Jake, Ellie and Fig enjoyed a Veteran's Day hike on the Dog Mountain Trail in the Columbia Gorge.

Speaking of dogs, when we stopped by to see Fala at the FDR Memorial, we couldn't help but think back to 2007, the first time we met her.