Great Wolf Lodge

We treated ourselves this Christmas vacation with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge. We stayed with the Paul and Stephenson families two-days, one-night in some very nice accomodations. As soon as we got there, we put on our swimsuits and headed to the swim park. Mommy put Jillian's hair into a high ponytail which helped her get the extra inch in height so she could wear a green wrist band, meaning she could go on all the slides. Turns out, that worked out great, because Jillian was an adrenaline-junkie and couldn't get enough of the biggest, scariest slides, especially the Howling Tornado. Daddy rode that once and that was enough, so she had to continuously coax Mckenna, Lindsey, Mommy, Dany or Cindy into taking her. Jillian's first day ended a little early as she had an allergic reaction, broke out in a rash, hurled, then spent the rest of the evening in bed. Bridget and Tor, meanwhile, spent the bulk of their time in the little kid wading pool, either playing on the pretend-jet skis or going down the short slide. They made the occasional trip to the wave pool, but preferred the shallow water. Tor ended up nodding off and going to bed at 7:00 pm, so Mommy and Daddy took the girls to the ice cream shop and arcade for some late night fun.

We all slept in late the next day, not getting back in the pool until 10:00 am. Jillian was right back to the big slides with whoever would go with her, while Bridget and Tor played in the kid swim park. We had a short lunch, then went back for some more water fun before leaving at about 3:00 pm. All of the kids fell asleep on the way home.

Christmas Day

Busy, busy day! We woke up the kids at 7:30 am, which was tough because they were worn out from the night before. Tor was still running  fever so he was a bump on a log all morning. The girls were excited to see that the cookies and carrots had been eaten and the chocolate milk had been slurped, and also that the stockings had been filled. The big moment was when they opened their Santa presents to find the Legos that they had always wanted (somehow, Santa knew what they wanted ;) ...) Then, we we went to Scott and Cindy's house to have breakfast and open presents with Jason, Dany, McKenna and Lindsey. Tor was beginning to perk up a bit, especially after opening the dump truck full of jumbo Legos. After lots of present opening, we took off for Grannie and Papa's house where the Johnson and Uhlenkott clans were waiting. Jillian and Bridget distributed the gifts, and then joined Tor in opening their huge mountain of presents. There were lots of cool toys and such, which kept the kids busy for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Christmas Eve

Once it got to 5:00 pm, the excitement level went off the charts. Cousins Adam, Meagan, Andy and Karlie showed up, and except for a brief timeout to eat dinner, it was off to the races. The kids ran around while Papa Ken, Bev, Aunties Greta and Sheryl and Cousin Lee relaxed. At 7:00 pm, everyone headed to the Christmas Eve service at Grace. The kids did pretty good, and they enjoyed the candle lighting. Afterwords, we went back and it was time for present opening. In between wrapping paper flying everywhere, we managed to catch a glimpse of what the kids opened. It didn't take too long, and once all the presents were opened, those exhausted kids played for just a bit longer before heading to bedtime.

Crafty Girls

Jillian was looking in the craft closet so I asked her what she was doing.  She said she wanted to make and design her own craft (not one I thought of) on her own.  I told her to tell me what she needed and she proceeded to build this manger scene, including the shepherds, animals and baby Jesus.  Bridget wanted to do one too, so Tierney helped her make a smaller one like Jillian's scene.  They both worked very hard on their projects and they turned out very nice.

Nutcracker Ballet

We made our annual trip to Portland to watch the Nutcracker Ballet. Jillian and Bridget got to go, while Tor stayed with Papa Ken and Bev. The girls did very well throughout the show, though both got pretty tired towards the end and wanted to sit on our laps. Here's a photo of both of them posing in front of the orchestra.

Swanson's Nursery

We made our annual trip to Seattle to visit Heather's friends from college. We met at Nikki and John's house to eat dinner with Laura and Elizabeth. The kids had a great time playing with the dogs Fender and Sadie, and then playing on John's drumset downstairs. It was a late night, and we headed for Auntie Sheryl's house to stay the night. The girls were so excited to sleep in cousin Karlee's room.

In the morning, we headed to Swanson's Nursery with Laura to see the reindeer and camel. We were even able to get some family photos taken for our Christmas card this year. Tor loved watching the camel and wasn't afraid of it at all.

The Polar Express

 Everyone was dressed warmly for the trip to the North Pole.  The kids were looking forward to the trip for a long time.

 They were excited to get on the old-fashioned steam train.

 Once on the train,
the girls checked out their tickets and Tor was all smiles.  After the train blew it's whistle, they were served hot chocolate and cookies.  Tor was glued to the window watching until it got dark.  All the children gathered together for the reading of The Polar Express. The train reached the North Pole where the elves were working and Santa boarded the train.  Then Santa came through the rail cars and gave each child a bell engraved with The Polar Express 2014.  That was pretty special.  Everyone sang Christmas carols on the way back to the station with some tired kids.

 

On the train Tor wasn't at all afraid of Santa and gave Santa a high-five.  At the station we decided on a picture with Santa and Tor was okay until he was put on Santa's lap and he wasn't quite sure about that but didn't cry and got very serious.

Basketball and Tree Decorating

 Ever since Tor went to a basketball game and was mesmerized by the action, he will get a basketball, while still in his pajamas, and shoot hoops.  He dumps out the whole basket of balls to get just the right one.

When Jillian got home from school, we all went in search of a tree for the girls to decorate downstairs.  We picked the first tree we saw, since it was still pretty windy and scary from the storm.  They had a great time decorating it while I held Tor and Tierney helped decorate.  It is "beautiful".

School After School

Bridget has been getting a double-dose of school all year, since Jillian likes to pretend to be a teacher after she gets home from school. She makes her own workbooks for Bridget, containing spelling, reading, math and coloring. Bridget will sometimes do the work, depending on her focus at the time, and Jillian will give her the appropriate "How did I do today?" card. They both love this time together, although they both also get frustrated with each other a lot of the time. This photo shows Jillian teaching Bridget how to do a color by number book. Tor likes to try to do school, too.

Tree Decorators

Mommy got lots of help decorating the Christmas tree this year. Jillian and Bridget were all over it, running and grabbing ornaments and hanging them as quick as possible so they could get another ornament. Tor busied himself with just taking ornaments off the tree. It was a very busy day, finishing all of the Christmas decorations, including putting up the outside lights.

Will Work for Legos

Both Jillian and Bridget have been working hard for the past few months to earn enough money to buy some Lego sets. Jillian had amitious plans, wanting to buy "Olivia's House" at a cost of $55, while Bridget was willing to buy anything, even the smaller, cheaper sets. The girls did lots of odd jobs for Grannie and Papa Bob and Papa Ken. Jillian finally reached her goal last week, so we ordered the house from Amazon. Bridget wanted something as well with the $20 she had, so we ordered her the "Jungle Falls Rescue". They received the Legos a few days ago, and they worked on building them non-stop until they were done.

Christmas Parade

Jillian, Bridget and Torion went to the Longview Christmas Parade with Papa Ken and Bev, along with cousins Adam, Andy and Karly. They all loved the floats, but they loved the candy that was thrown at them even more. Bridget had her game face on, and didn't want Daddy holding her hand because it would slow her down. Tor hung pretty close and stared at all the sights. Jillian mostly enjoyed hanging with her cousins, while loading up on a ton of candy. All of the kids took their stocking caps off and used them to hold their candy.

The Perfect Christmas Tree

 Jillian, Tor, and Bridget dressed for a drizzly day at the Tree Farm.

It took a long time walking to the farthermost corner of the Tree Farm to find the perfect tree and here it is.  It was a little hectic because the girls kept going off on their own in search of a tree.  After they found their tree, Jillian helped Grannie and Papa pick out a tree and all three helped cut it down.

Tor the Comedian

 This is our little comedian!  He is always looking for ways to make you laugh and this one was a hit.

Tor has developed one of Bridget's actions and that is not to be left out of anything.  Even though both stools were occupied, he will struggle to climb up in the middle and straddle both stools and get in on the Play-doh fun.  Of course, Bridget objects to his help which leads to Tor's removal and many attempts to get back up.  Brock is very patient while having a snack.

Santa Helpers?

As I mentioned in the previous post, I wanted a picture of all three of them together with the Santa hats.  This is what I got-a wrestling match.  All the pictures were pretty much the same.

3 Little Santa Helpers

It took awhile but I finally got all three pictures, but then I wanted all three together and they said they were too busy, so I decided to try again next time since they were tired of this picture taking.

Frozen Beach Visit

We made a token visit to the beach, knowing it was really cold, and it was! The kids only lasted about a minute outside, and could barely stand for the picture, before running for the warm car.

Cold Ice Cream

We had just finished swimming at the Astoria Pool, and it was still very cold outside, but the girls still insisted on having their traditional ice cream at Custard King. Here's a picture of the kids shivering as they eat their ice cream outside.

Coffee at the Beach

Here's a shot of us at the beach, walking to coffee and hot cocoa at Adelaide's. It was snowing and raining just a little bit ago.

Gingerbread House

 First the girls made chains to mark how many days until Christmas.  They could hardly wait until Tor took his nap to be able to decorate their gingerbread house.

This is the very colorful finished house.  They had a lot of fun decorating and eating the candy.  Then I wanted a picture, which was challenging, maybe because of the sugar, but they were being two silly girls.  We finished the afternoon with the Rudolph movie.

Basketball with Brock

Jillian's second basketball workout was with Brock.  This time they went for almost an hour.  In this drill Jillian has to dribble the ball while Brock holds up fingers for her to count, so she won't look at the ball.  Brock stressed ball control almost the whole time but Jillian always wants to shoot.  She also worked on her defensive positions while trying to guard Brock in a game.

Turkey Cookies

We spent the afternoon at Auntie Greta and Adam's house watching the Seahawks (well, actually the adults watched the game while the kids ran wild). Then the girls got to help Auntie with frosting the turkey cookies.

Winter Coat

Here's Tor posing in front of church wearing his warm winter coat.

Coloring

Bridget was all into coloring this week.  She must get lots of praise at pre-school for her coloring as she stays in the lines and picks appropriate colors.  She did at least 8 large sheets of animals and usually wants me to color with her.  When Jillian got home from school she colored one sheet and I told her it was impressive.  Bridget got all bent out of shape since I didn't call her coloring impressive, like she knows what that means, but I had told Bridget many times that her coloring was very nice.  Anyway, I was taking a picture of Bridget coloring when Tor steps in front of the camera to pose for a picture.  I didn't get a good picture of Bridget but liked the close-ups of Tor.

A Basketball Lesson

 It was nice out so Ty took Jillian outside for a basketball lesson since she will be playing this winter.  At first she wasn't paying any attention to Ty so I told her he was her coach, for right now, and she had to listen to her coach.  Then she got serious and listened to Ty.

Her she is following Ty's instruction to shoot with one hand and leave her hand in the air until the ball goes in the basket.

 And the waiting to see if she scored and she did!  She also worked on her ball handling skills.  Obviously she liked it because she kept wanting to play Ty in a game after her lesson.

Tractor Rides

 Papa had the tractor out so when I took Bridget and Tor outside to play, they wanted a ride.  Bridget always wants to steer and she is doing so much better.  Before when she was headed off the path she would over-correct and head straight for the other ditch, all this accompanied by screaming.  Now she is not so wild and it's just a little scream.  Daddy came and they got another ride with Bridget driving.  Tor loved it.

As soon as they parked the tractor Tor climbed on and tried to figure out how to make it go.  Won't be long....

Breakfast to Bedtime

 Tor thinks now that he should be able to do whatever anyone else is doing.  Here he was reading the newspaper with Papa.  He was looking at the ads and pointing and saying, "Mommy, Daddy, Jillian" at the pictures of people.  Then he saw Papa eating cereal and got right up close until Papa gave him some too.

 Bridget wanted her picture taken and this is what happened when Tor insisted that he was going to be in the picture.  She was shoving him out of the picture.  I told Bridget he could be in the picture and I took several pictures but Bridget was frowning in all of them and Tor was distracted.

So this is the best picture that morning.  It shows her cute dimples.

Jillian always gets to go to bed early so Bridget sits on the couch to read books until it's her turn.  She reads every book out loud, making up the stories according to the pictures.  She does a great job.  After she finishes her pile of books she is ready to go right to bed.