Wrapping Up the PNQ

It was close in the final match on Sunday, but they came up just short against NorCal to finish tied for 3rd in the Bronze Division, and tied for 21st overall in the 16's Liberty Division.

Hotel Egg Hunt

After sleeping in a little and then finding some Easter treat bags next to their beds, the kids headed up to Grannie and Papa Bob's hotel room for an egg hunt. They needed a few hints, but found most of them:

Pizza Pub

Pizza sounded good for our last dinner in Spokane, so we went to the Fieldhouse near our hotel for some good eats and a little basketball on the TV.

Post-Match Shopping

It was a rough day of volleyball, dropping every match, so what better way to cheer everyone up than to go shopping at the mall! We stopped at Target, Old Navy, Skechers (where Dad bought new shoes for the first time in 6 years), Barnes & Noble, along with all of the stores in the mall. We happened to run into a couple teammates (Brooke, Macy and McKenna) and the Easter Bunny:

The Hurricane Simulator was only $2, so Tor tried it ... and was unimpressed.

Downtown Spokane

While Jillian was on break, we took Bridget and Tor for a walk to downtown Spokane. The raging river was very loud and impressive:

On the other side, we found the Atticus coffee and gift shop, where we could have browsed for hours.

Early Saturday VB

After finishing 2nd in their Friday pool, Jillian's Cowlitz 16 Black team moved up a couple places to Pool 6 where the competition is even tougher. They started out at 8am, falling behind early to a North Houston team, but made it close before losing.

The High Seas

Tor was featured as the First Mate in the Olympic Elementary Spring concert called "The High Seas". He had several speaking parts throughout, along with singing all the songs with his classmates. Mom attended, and was very impressed:

Ballers + Blazers

Tor got invited to join some of his Ballers teammates to celebrate his buddy Bowen's 11th birthday at a Portland Trailblazers NBA basketball game at the Moda Center. Here he is with Rook, Bobo and Keegs.

Tor said a Blazer made a long 3/4-court shot at the end of the 3rd quarter (but it didn't count). Tor also treated himself to TWO Dippin' Dots!

They made a day out of it, having a little birthday celebration at Bowen's house before the game:

Meagan's 29th B-day Party

Cousin Meagan turned 29, so we joined her and the Peterson family in celebrating at Rigo's, a new Mexican restaurant at the old Teri's location.

Battleground Invite

Jillian's second high school track meet was at Battleground HS in some wild, rainy weather. She ran in three events, including the 200 meters (she won her heat in 19.92 secs, shown here) ...

and also the 4x200 relay, shown here ...

as well as a debut in the 4x400 relay, where she ran a 1:07 split on her leg.

First HS Track Meet

Jillian decided to do track for her Sophomore spring season. For most of the practices, she has been working on hurdles, but when it came time for the meets, the coach has decided she's not quite ready for them, and instead had her run sprints and relays. At the first dual meet at RA Long, she ran the 4x200 relay, 4x100 relay and 200 meters (shown here):

Spring Band Concert

Bridget's Advanced Band at Monticello just recently competed at the Music Olympics at Mt. Solo, where they earned a "Superior"rating from the judges. They played again a couple weeks later at the RA Long auditorium for their Spring concert, and sounded very nice. In the pic, Bridget is playing percussion in the back left (you can just see her head peeking up):

Pool Football

Tor and Dad headed to the pool to play some pitch-and-catch with the rainbow football.

Bridget later joined us, but didn't get in because she's feeling a little under-the-weather.

Watching the Zags

It was the thing to do in Spokane tonight ... watching Gonzaga vs. Purdue on the sweet sixteen at a sports bar. We went to the True Legends Sports Bar with Grannie and Papa Bob, and had an excellent meal.

PNQ

The Pacific Northwest Qualifier in Spokane is a very large tournament, drawing lots of teams from all over the country. Jillian's Cowlitz team played at The Podium arena on Friday, which holds 16 courts. They won the first 2 matches handily, then faced a tough Red Rock team and lost in 2.

Just outside is a big playground, along with a nice basketball court for Tor.

Towed Away

This was not how we planned for our trip to Spokane to start ... getting towed to a repair shop.

We were driving to the Pacific Northwest Qualifier volleyball tournament in Spokane, where Jillian was playing with her Cowlitz 16 Black team. Just before White Pass, several dash lights came on and the engine began struggling. We barely made it in to the parking lot of the gas station. Luckily, Grannie and Papa Bob were right behind us, so they stopped. We decided the best way to go was to call AAA, get the car towed, and have Mom go back to Castle Rock with Grannie and Papa to get the Camry. Dad and the kids hitched a ride in the tow truck to an auto shop in Yakima, while Mom drove back and picked us up. We did eventually make it to our hotel in Spokane later that night, while the Chevy will sit at a repair shop for awhile.

March Power League

It was a tough day in Salem for Jillian's Cowlitz 16-1 Black Volleyball team. They started with a nice win, but then dropped the remainder of their matches. Jillian had her usual strong, consistent all-around game, and she even played front-row for the entire tournament. Here she is setting Lily for a kill:

Tourney Finalists

Bridget's LC Elite 13-1 Black Volleyball team had quite a run on Saturday at Evergreen High, winning all of their matches leading up to the finals, before a tough loss to take 2nd out of 12 teams.

Tor came along and loved having a spare gym to shoot baskets, and Bridget joined him for a bit.

Bridget continues to improve her game in all facets. Here she is attacking a tight pass to the net:

Bump

Mom joined Tor and Jillian in an evening game of Bump (Dad had played earlier and needed a break). The plum trees on the street are in full bloom with the nice weather.

Jillian's Sophomore School Pic

Found this photo tucked away, since Jillian didn't really care for it ... but for the sake of record keeping, it needed to be posted.

Cowlitz 16-1 Black Team Photo

Here's the photo mate of Jillian's volleyball team (minus Lily):

Sun, Finally

The nice, sunny weather finally arrived, and we wasted no time getting outside. Tor and Dad played a game of "bank" basketball, and then he and Jillian peppered the volleyball.

Volleyball + Horses

Sunday was spent in Hillsboro with Bridget and her LC Elite 13-1 Black Volleyball team, who played their March Power League, taking second in pool, then winning the crossover .watch to move up to 56th place in the 14-U region.

On Saturday, Bridget was at the Clark County Fairgrounds for the March Winter Woolies horse show, where she and Handsome competed in English saddle, winning 4 blues in all of the 11-13 division classes, and 1 red in the Open solid horse.

Solo Driver

Jillian got her driver's license last Thursday, and is now driving herself to practice ... it's taking some getting used to.

Co-B-day Parties

Jillian and Tor got together (with Kenny, and Rory, and dozens more family and friends) to celebrate their birthdays in one big party at our house.

Jillian had turned 16 on Tuesday, while the Saturday party was Tor's actual 11th birthday. Mom spent the day prepping dinner: chili and beef stew, while Grannie brought tomato soup and garlic bread. Mom made chocolate cake for Jillian, and Dad made brownies for Tor:

They both enjoyed the gift opening. Jillian's presents were dominated by cash, with a few other surprises:

Tor received mostly sports-related games and clothes, along with some Blazer tix and a couple basketball blankets: