Spring Break at the Beach

Bridget is in Astoria with Grandma Cindy, Hal and Aunt Dany getting ready for her horse show, while the rest of us are at the beach cabin, watching Iron Man 2.

We won't be up long, since we need to get up early to go watch Bridget.

Losing Molars

Tor went a long time without losing any teeth, but lately he had 2 molars get wiggly. He was eating a fruit roll up tonight, and a molar got stuck and fell out. So, we finally get use the Tooth Fairy Pillow again:

Tor is trying to smile big enough to show where he lost his tooth.

Tennis Action Shots

Jillian played JV tennis doubles (with Addison) against Heritage at the RAL courts. It was cold and windy, but they came away with a resounding 8-0 win. Here's some action shots (through the chain link fence ... not easy):

Fundraiser Rewards

Lots of people donated to Tor's school fundraiser, and as a result, he was rewarded with several prizes, including an alligator backpack clip, a rhino pop-it, and the ultimate -- an LED and Bluetooth fidget spinner (for playing music in the dark).

RA Long Hall of Fame

Heather was inducted into the RA Long Hall of Fame tonight as part of the 1990 Volleyball State Champions. This was actually supposed to happen a few years ago. She got to take home a couple of the poster boards made for the occasion.

Several members of the team were there as well, along with Coach Slechta.

Monticello Evening of Excellence

Bridget was very busy during the Monticello Evening of Excellence for First Semester 2022-2023, receiving awards for Academic Excellence (all 4's or 3's on the report card), Qualities of a Successful Student (recognized by teachers), and Outstanding Artwork (for the Cowlitz Clean Waters calendar contest) which also came with a $100 Amazon gift card, as well as playing percussion for the Advanced Band during the opening ceremony:

Roots Scouting Report

Tor received his basketball scouting report from Coach Randall of Roots Sports after the March skill training session that he attended. He was most happy that the coach thought he "has the potential to be an elite scorer"!

There were also sections on Live Play Assessment and Coaching Notes, including extra drills to work on.

RAL VB Open Gym is Back

Jillian couldn't wait to get back to the RAL gym to play volleyball with her high school teammates at the spring open gyms. They'll be doing this for next couple months until Spring sports finish up.

Bridget wanted to join them like last year, but her club volleyball practices are at the same time.

Rock Mountain Champions

Bridget's LC Elite 12-1 Black team won the Rock Mountain Volleyball Tournament today, going undefeated! They were given water bottles as a reward (and Mom gave Bridget a t-shirt).

Bridget had a solid day of setting, passing and playing the net. Here's a series of shots showing her setting one of her hitters (Evy):

She was exhausted at the end of the day, but happy to have won.

Sibling Cheering Section

At Bridget's local volleyball tournament (Coweeman Middle School), lots of siblings came to cheer on their sisters to victory. Bridget's LC Elite 12-1 Black team was doing very well, so they had lots to cheer about.

Gram on St. Patrick's

Gram came over after school for some playtime with Tor. Since Gram is playing baseball, they did a little batting practice. Tor learned what it means to get "beaned":

We went to the RA Long field to catch some footballs from Tor's automatic quarterback machine:

Just Warm Enough

With the temperatures reaching almost 60 F, the kids have been spending most of their evenings outside. The neighbor girls came over to relax and talk with Bridget on the front porch, while Tor and Jillian played football:

The kids brought out a bunch of outdoor equipment, including golf clubs:

And Bridget tried her hand at the pogo stick, but found out she had outgrown it:

Pi Day

It's March 14, and the neighbor girls invited the kids over for some pie (and ice cream) to celebrate.

Tor declined the pie, opting for just ice cream.

Tennis Season

Jillian decided a while back to give tennis a try as her Spring sport. After a couple weeks of practicing, she was placed on JV and had made it up to a #16 ranking on the team. She still wasn't sure about her decision ... but she's feeling better about it now after winning her first match against a (varsity) WF West player by a score of 6-4, and helping her team win 4-2.

Grannie and Papa went to watch, and said that Jillian's play was very impressive, playing smart and placing the ball.

Lego Dinner Table

After a long hiatus, the Legos have taken over the dining room table. There are actually too many Legos to fit on the table (including the small bins of pieces), so a lot was put on the floor or just returned to the big bins.

Tor got the idea to make a model of the video game Stardew Valley.

Craving Sweet Spot

Been a long weekend, so we capped it off by treating ourselves to Sweet Spot (Mom stayed home to relax and unwind). We were going to pay for it using Jillian's gift card, but it only had $5, so Dad covered the balance.

After Bridget ate all the toppings off hers, we found out she had filled up the entire cup with fro-yo! No wonder it cost so much.

(Wearing Dad's glasses ...)

A Weekend of Bridget

It was all Bridget this weekend, since neither Jillian nor Tor had any events. Saturday started with a 4:30 am wakeup and drive to Corvallis for a Power League volleyball tournament. They had their ups and downs, but ended up taking 3rd in the bronze division.

This is Bridget giving Dad a stink-eye for taking a video during a team meeting.

Sunday started with a 5:30 am wakeup (which felt like 4:30 am, thanks to daylight savings) and drive to Clark County Fairgrounds for the final Winter Woolies horse show. Bridget did very well in Western, earning 4 blues, 1 second and 1 fourth.

Gracie has been feeling much better after some treatment for her legs.

Mid-Year Band Concert

Bridget played percussion (snare drum, suspended cymbals, temple blocks, tambourine, triangle and bar chimes) in the band concert at the RA Long Auditorium (she is standing in the back-center). It was a combination of middle and high school through the evening.

Bridget has been recruited to play percussion with the Advanced Band at a contest this week.

According to Bridget: "My band teacher, Mr. Reed, was like 'Hey, can you play this part?' and I was like sure, cause what the heck. On Thursday, I practiced with the Advanced Band, and the songs were pretty hard and then Mr. Reed was like 'By the way, the contest is on Tuesday."

Peterson Family Tree

While having dinner at Papa Ken & Bev's with cousins Rod & Carol, Papa Ken pulled out the Peterson Family Tree that was created at his and Bev's wedding (on Tyvek house wrap) so we could update it for some new additions:

Tor's 10th B-day Party

Another week, another birthday party -- this time for Tor's 10th birthday. Mom made tacos upon Tor's request, along with chocolate cake, Dad's brownies, and ice cream.

Bridget was the party planner, creating Harry Potter themed decorations, and running the quiz game with "house" teams:

Tor received many nice gifts, including this basketball hoop that he's hugging:

After the party, Tor and Cale had a rematch on a new small hoop he received as a gift:

Of course, we got lots of quality Kenny time:

Tor is 10!

Tor reached double digits, turning 10 years old. He said he doesn't feel any different, and doesn't feel any taller either. Here he is standing in front of a poster made by his party planner, Bridget:

He took mini-bundt cakes to school to share with classmates. Then, we went out to Junior's Tacos for his birthday dinner.

For a treat, he got an early sample of his requested brownies.