Board Game Time

Most of our day was spent driving and shopping in Oregon (Costco, Nike Outlet and Fred Meyer) before coming back to the cabin for eagle's nest dinner, followed by a flurry of games to pass the time until midnight. Mom and Dad finally won "Beat the Parents", which meant an early bedtime of 9:00 pm for the kids (tomorrow, of course)!

Warming Up

It's always the first thing the kids do when we get to the beach cabin in the winter season ... huddle around the wall heater. Tor did for a bit, then started shooting on the mini-hoop.

Husky Basketball Game

We went to our first ever Husky Basketball game on Monday. The seats were pretty good - just 6 rows up, so we could see all the action up close.

The band was right behind us:

The Husky Basketball program has been mediocre for a long time, but this might be a good year ahead. Dad and Tor have been keeping up with them and watching replays.

Burgers & Books

We started off our trip to Seattle for the Husky Basketball game with dinner at Dick's Drive-In on NE 45th.

The girls were happy that our next stop was at the Barnes & Noble bookshop at Northgate.

The Day After Christmas

One more Christmas Party ... this time at our house with the Peterson side of the family.

It was a potluck of sides and treats. The kids opened their gifts one at a time, with Tor receiving his annual basketball shoes from cousin Meagan - this time, the Lukas:

The girls received matching gifts from Auntie Greta, from the movie "White Christmas" - a picture of the sisters on the shirt top:

... and scenes from the movie on the pajama bottoms:

Jillian, Tor and G-Bob

Everyone has been remarking how much Tor and G-Bob look alike, so Jillian made this side-by-side of her holding each of them to compare:

Christmas at Auntie Greta's

Our final stop on Christmas day was at Auntie Greta's house with the Peterson family. Despite all the food all day, the girls still had room for mashed potatoes and gravy. We all relaxed and watched football while playing with Benny, and Tor sat still long enough to get a pic with his Auntie:

Christmas at Grannie & Papa Bob's

Our next stop on Christmas day was in Castle Rock at Grannie and Papa Bob's house with the extended Woodruff family.

When we arrived, the kids finished up the "Find the Gingerbread Man" game, then we all ate bagels for lunch. Rory helped Tor with opening presents:

The girls received gift cards from Grannie, but they first had to solve the puzzles to access them:

Then we had lots of play time with the little Johnson kids. G-Bob was a happy boy:

Christmas at G-Ma Cindy's

Our first stop of Christmas day was at Grandma Cindy and Hal's house with them and the Paul family.

The kids went right to work finding their ornaments, followed by eating the traditional sausage, egg and cheese breakfast:

The kids helped hand out presents, then opened their own (such as this Gibberesh game they played):

Then we got pics in front of the tree:

Early Christmas Morning

Dad woke the kids up at 7:00 am, and Bridget and Tor crawled into Jillian's bed to snuggle her before present time. They pulled out their bean bags for a more comfortable opening experience:

Christmas Show Streak

Tor and Dad (and sometimes the girls) watched a Christmas show every day after Thanksgiving until Christmas day. The show were sometimes traditionally what we watch every year, while some were pretty off-beat when we were running out of time. This is the list for historical record-keeping purposes:

11/28 The Santa Clause *

11/29 The Christmas Chronicles *

11/30 The Christmas Chronicles 2 *

12/1 The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol

12/2 Merry Madagascar *

12/3 Scooby-Doo Christmas Special *

12/4 Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales

12/5 Scrooge: A Christmas Carol

12/6 Santa Claus is Coming to Town *

12/7 The Santa Clause 2 *

12/8 Home Alone *

12/9 Peppa's Christmas Special

12/10 Frosty the Snowman

12/11 Veggie Tales: The Little Drummer Boy

12/12 Garfield Christmas Special

12/13 Elf *

12/14 Home Alone 2

12/15 Disney: The Night Before Christmas

12/16 Veggie Tales: It's a Meaningful Life

12/17 The Polar Express *

12/18 The Santa Clause 3 *

12/19 How the Grinch Stole Christmas *

12/20 The Princess Switch Again *

12/21 Tom & Jerry: A Very Merry Christmas

12/22 Looney Tunes: Holiday Classics

12/23 Klaus *

12/24 White Christmas *

* = "traditional"

We did miss a few traditional shows (Rudolph, Santa Clause 3, etc) due to time restraints.

Christmas Eve Prep

The kids did the traditional Christmas Eve Prep before bedtime, including putting out Santa snacks (no cookies or carrots in the house, so we made do with s'mores treats and an apple):

... followed by Google Santa Tracker, in which each kid played a game:

... then "Twas the Night Before Christmas" book, read by Dad:

Mom and the kids finished out the night watching "White Christmas".

Christmas Eve Party

This year's Christmas Eve party was at Uncle Kevin and Aunt Julie's house. We had ham, potatoes and salad for dinner, and tons of treats for dessert. After a "finish the song lyrics" game that Mom tied for the win, St. Nick dropped off his bag of toys for the kids:

Then, the kids played the "speed wrap" game, with Bridget finishing second for a Yankee candle prize:

We all stayed busy playing with Kenny, Rory, G- Bob and Sebastian:

Sibling Gift Exchange

The kids exchanged their gifts that they bought for each other. This shows Tor opening his gift from Jillian (a stuffed Pokemon (Slopoke), keeping the streak alive):

Tor bought the girls a Nintendo Switch game - Tiny Book Shop - that they had fun playing while we waited for the Christmas Eve party.

Nativity Scene

We did a throw-back photo of the kids with the Nativity scene at the entrance to Grace Lutheran. Our Christmas Eve kicked off with a Christmas Eve Service, and afterwards, the kids received a brown bag of an apple, orange, chips, beef sticks and candy.

Neighbor Gift Exchange

Continuing with a long neighborhood tradition, the kids went to Hazel and Ila's house to exchange gifts and eat snacks and treats.

Trailblazers vs Pistons

This was the second Trailblazer Family Night that we've been to where Tor got to go on the court before the game, this time with his Mustangs basketball team during the National Anthem where he stood in front of Deni Avdija (who gave him a fist bump).

We sat in the 200 level and the view was pretty good. Tor got to sit next to friend, teammate and neighbor Harlow.

It was an ugly game against the Pistons, with the Blazers down by 21 before coming back to make it close but ultimately losing.

UPDATE:

New pics were provided by a parent:

Spaghetti Trolley

Before the Trailblazer game, we went for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Vancouver, and were lucky enough to be seated in the trolley.

Nutcracker Ballet

The family (minus Tor, playing in the Jingle Jam tourney) went to the OBT Nutcracker Ballet at Keller Auditorium last night, and enjoyed another wonderful performance.

We sat in a familiar location - right side about half way up, so it was a good view. Mom and Dad thought the Sugar Plum Fairy was excellent, but that Dew Drop and crew was best. The girls picked out this year's ornament - a ballerina dressed in white.

Jingle Jam

Tor played in the Jingle Jam 3v3 Basketball Tournament  at Kelso on Sunday, and finished as runners-up. His team, the Mistletoe Mustangs, included Ryan, Keegan, Harlow and Cash. They got to wear festive hats and NBA jerseys.

In round robin play, they had a huge game against the Ridgefield Ninjas team, hitting 3s and winning 21-14.

Winter Concert II

Bridget played percussion in the RA Long Band's Winter Concert performance tonight in the auditorium. Jillian came along to listen:

She was positioned on the left side, in front, so she was easy to see. Most of her parts were on the bells, but she did have a short part on the triangle.

Honorable Mention All-State Volleyball Team

Jillian was voted to the Washington 2A High School All-State Volleyball Team (Honorable Mention) by the WSVCA (Washington State Volleyball Coaches Association), and one of only five setters to make any of the teams.

Winter Concert

Tor is playing the viola in the Monticello Advanced Orchestra this school year. They had their Winter Concert tonight, and Jillian and Bridget came to watch:

He was seated in the middle back, so all we could ever see was the top of his head, but they did stand up for a quick picture:

Dunk Hoop

The boys (Bowen, Cole, Harlow and Jose) came over to our house after school, first playing basketball outside, then playing video games, followed by basketball on the little dunk hoop in the hallway. Their game looked more like wrestling at times:

Cowlitz 18-1 Black

Jillian is playing her final season of club volleyball for Cowlitz on the 18-1 Black team - the first time she has ever played for a club more than once. She is joined by several former teammates (Ella, Bailey, Addy and Izzy) and many new ones. Plus she is playing for coach Kelsey, one of Dad's former players, and her high school coach, Whitney. It's hard to see, but she took #8 this season, rather than her long-held #5.

Her team played in the CEVA Open Qualifier at the Portland Expo Center this weekend, winning all their matches easily on Saturday, then placing 2nd in their pool on Sunday before the critical cross-over match - which they won in 3 (after coming back in the final set down 6-10), to qualify for the Open Division Power League of the top 32 teams in the region!!!

Sweetie-Pie continued to lead the team at the setter position, running both a 6-2 in which she attacks quite a bit at both OH and RS, as well as a 5-1 when needed. Here she connects with Ella as in seasons past: