SoCal Holiday

We're just back from a pre-Christmas trip to Southern California. Click here for photos.  This was our first full-team family vacation, and we spent it exploring the California coast from La Jolla (pictured above) to Oceanside (pictured below) to Dana Point. 

There was plenty of sand, surfing, and two forms of pool, along with some lovely sunsets and great company.

Happy Holidays...

Thanksgiving Weekend 2023

Thanksgiving Day started with our neighborhood's annual Turkey Bowl soccer game at Hamilton Park. Click here for photos, and thank you Ruby Belle for keeping the tradition alive. 

Our family was spread across Oregon and Idaho for Thanksgiving, so the photos in this next album include a sampling of everyone's adventures - us with Jake, Elli and Fig in Portland, Emily with Coleman's family, also in Portland, and Drew with Grace's family in Boise. 

It's been a great weekend to be outside. All the mountains have been out. Pictured below is the view of Mt. Hood from our day-after-Thanksgiving hike to Mirror Lake, and you can see both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in the distance in the second photo, taken from Hoyt Arboretum. 

Last but not least, Fig celebrated her #3 birthday... 

Wild Turkey Regatta 2023

It was a great day to be on the river for the Willamette Sailing Club's annual Wild Turkey Regatta. Click here for photos. This fan-favorite, no-rules, un-regatta is all about collecting ducks, balls and pumpkins that have been tossed in the water, while fending off plunderers. Sturdy nets, long arms, pirate gear, and occasional bribery are key if you're going for the win. 

We've been attending this regatta off and on over the years since 2009.  Below is a photo from 2009.

Weekend on the Olympic Peninsula

We spent a long weekend exploring Puget Sound. Click here for photos from stops that included Gig Harbor, Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island, Port Townsend and Tacoma. We met up with Jake who was in the Seattle area to celebrate the birth of Theo, Elli's new nephew. Congratulations to Elli's sister and Theo's parents, Mary Morgan and Tim!

Pictured above is Pia the Peacemaker, another of Thomas Dambo's trolls, whom we visited on Bainbridge Island.  Pictured below is an especially scenic spot at Finn River Farm and Cidery, just south of Port Townsend, where we just need Emily & Coleman to visit to complete our photo-set.

While in Port Townsend, we happened upon a crazy rescue effort for a sail boat that ran aground on some shallow rocks.  It took much of the day to get it unstuck and keep it from sinking.  There are lots of photos and a time-lapse video in the album linked above. 

The album also includes photos from Tacoma's Point Defiance Park and the Tacoma Art Museum, which has a great collection of Chihuly Glass; and a video of Pat and Jake doing karaoke at the Slippery Pig in Poulsbo, where Saturday evening was One-Hit-Wonders Night.

Happy Halloween

Click here for photos from Halloween week, including Emily's pumpkin carving party and trip to the pumpkin patch.  Jake and Elli spent Halloween at Holden Village where they got to see the first snowfall in the North Cascades... so much snow in fact, they built a snowman!

And here are a few photos from Emily's recent trip to Boston to see her friend Anna. 

Cannon Beach, Kinetic Parades, and Camping Trips

We had not spent time at Cannon Beach for a while, so we took advantage of an unusually warm and sunny October weekend and visited Haystack Rock. Click here for photos. The album also includes photos from the Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Sculpture Race, which Jake and Elli got to experience this weekend; our recent visit with Jake and Elli to see Ole Bolle, the troll sculpture created by artist Thomas Dambo that now lives at Portland's Nordic Center NW; Emily and Coleman's camping adventure near Mt. Hood; and more. 

Glacier National Park

We're just back from a week in Whitefish, Montana, and Glacier National Park, where we saw bighorn sheep, a mountain goat, a grizzly bear (from a safe distance) and more. Click here for photos.  

And here are a few photos from a wedding Jake and Elli recently attended with Elli's family in Seattle as they headed back to Portland from their summer in Holden Village.