Chilly Beach Trip

Our post-Thanksgiving beach trip was very nice and relaxing, even if a bit chilly. We only stayed for a day and a half, so there was no swimming pool or other trips out of the way. Instead, we stayed close to the cabin, and the weather cooperated with clear, sunny skies and hardly any wind. When we went to the beach, thinking we'd only be there a few minutes before freezing, we stayed for over a half hour. The kids were thrilled to dig in the sand. Tor kept asking to go into the water, so we had to remind him that it was too cold. This photo shows the kids soaking in the sun.

The Long Road

Continuing from the previous post:  They worked during the whole Husky-Cougar game to add to their city.  At half time they had Daddy come out to ride the maze of roads with them. I think Jillian made all the roads while Bridget added some pretties to the scene.

Thanksgiving Program and playing

 Bridget and her best friend in pre-school at the Thanksgiving program.  They did many poems and songs about Thanksgiving.  After the program everyone was served a delicious soup and Bridget passed out yummy pumpkin bars that they had made in class.  Papa Ken and Bev, Papa Bob, Grannie, Greta, Tierney, Mom, and Dad all enjoyed the festivities.

 Afterwards, when Tor was napping, they had a rousing game of UNO with Tierney.  Jillian had devised some elaborate score keeping system as they played many games so she could rate them at the end-Great, Good, and Star.  I'm not sure who got what....

When Tor woke up it was outside time.  It was so cold but they didn't seem to mind as they all worked on a road and town.  This was just the beginning and when it ended up there were houses, flowers, playground and much more.  When it was finished they rode their scooters on the road.  They probably stayed out there with Tierney for a couple of hours and Tor cried hard when I made them come in because it was getting dark.

Bridget's 4-year Pre-school Picture

We had worked on Bridget's smiling for the camera before picture day, trying to get her to show her teeth. When it came time for photos, though, she went for the typical Bridget smile. Even so, her dimples are really showing.

Battles, Basketball, and Cookies

All boy, it's battles most of the time.  He has a bin of Super Heroes and they battle the bad guys.  Or even the trucks have to crash into each other.  He especially likes the construction trucks.

 It was so cold out but it was time for a basketball lesson from Brock since Jillian will be playing after Christmas.  I don't think Jillian got as cold as Brock as he gave her a tough workout.  A lot of it was working on dribbling fast with each hand without looking at the ball.  When Jillian came in she said she was sweating.  She was most excited about getting the ball away from Brock when she was working on defense.

 It was Bridget's turn to cook something, so her and Jillian collaborated on Hershey kisses peanut butter cookies.  Jillian would read the directions and get ingredients ready while Bridget poured them in and stirred.  Then they got to roll out the dough and after they were done baking, they put on the Hershey kisses.  And they had to wait until after dinner to have one which was the hardest part.

Star Wars Saber plus Art

 This is Tor trying to make a fighting face while holding his new Star Wars saber.  He wouldn't put it down or share easily.  We did have to make a rule that if he hit someone or something with the saber, he would lose it for awhile, so he was very good at following that rule.

 With the rainy days, Play-doh gets a lot more use.  Here Tor is concentrating on building a basketball player.  Somehow or other, things must be related to basketball.

 They all wanted to water color and were surprisingly neat and careful.  They each did several pictures.  Tor got the hang of it but only used blue the whole time and his were very abstract.  Some of the girls pictures are below.

Divers and Coloring

 No school, so Jillian got to join the bath fun.  They all wanted goggles or a face mask so they could dive for the pennies and change I threw in the tub.  Even Tor wanted goggles. He put them on himself and went underwater.  He just has to do whatever the girls are doing.

They were thrilled that Rielee came to play.  I printed off these grown-up coloring pages and they were all over it and they took their time to do a good job.  They would color for awhile, play, and then come back to color some more.  I thought I had Bridget in the photo but she backed up to hold out her picture and in doing so put it in front of Rielee.

Veteran's Day

Papa Ken and Papa Bob both attended the Veteran's Day assembly at Olympic Elementary. Jillian was very excited to have them both there. Mommy brought Bridget and Tor along, and they got to have their picture taken (Jillian had to go back to class) with their Papas in front of the flag that Jillian helped decorate with stars.

Movie Night

While Mommy and Daddy went out to a movie, Jillian, Bridget, and Tor had their own movie night.  First they watched "Space Jam" which Jillian and Tor were all into since there was a lot of basketball in it.  Then they watched "Cinderella 3" and Bridget loved it the most. We turned out the lights like a theatre and they had pillows and blankets and enjoyed popcorn and cookies. By the time it was all over they were tired little puppies.

Drawing and Trike Riding

 What a nice day and they were so happy to be outside.  They drew so many pictures.  This one Bridget drew is a apartment building with an elevator and pool.

 Tor spent a lot of time drawing who knows?  He did and tried to tell me.  Here he is drawing with his right hand.

 He still switches hands all the time and he finished up his picture left-handed.  I think it's an animal.

 In the morning I pushed Tor around on his trike and pretty soon he had the hang of pedaling.  Then after his nap he really got into it to show Jillian what he could do.  He went really fast in circles and even learned to rock back and forth to get the pedals in the right position to go forward.  He was really excited to tell Daddy.

Both Bridget and Jillian had to take turns on the trike to relive their early years before bikes.

Trick-or-Treaters

The kids finally got to dress up for trick-or-treating last night. Jillian was Spider-girl, Bridget was an angel, and Tor was Spider-man. We started off by making some Longview visits with cousin Adam (as a SWAT agent) and Auntie Greta, including going to Papa Ken's house and Grandma Cindy's house. We also made a short tour of the Lilac Street neighborhood. Thankfully, the rain was starting to taper off from the deluge earlier in the day. Afterwards, we made a stop at the Calvary Community Church fall festival for dinner, games and more treats. Then, we finished with a visit to the Castle Rock houses and some wind-down time at Grannie and Papa Bob's house.