Tor took his new golf club set to Mint Valley to play 9 holes with Dad and cousin Cale. Unfortunately for us, it rained the whole time, so we were soaked by the end, but we did have a big highlight. Tor scored his first birdie on a regulation-sized course - the 143-yard no. 4 par 3, and over water, too. His tee shot with a 6-iron landed within 3 inches of the hole:
Jillian ran her longer distances at the home meet against Columbia River and Hockinson, competing in the 4x200 meter relay, the 400 meters, and the 4x400 meter relay. She set a personal record in the 400 meters at 1:03.85, placing second.
The pic and video are from her first 200 meter leg of the relay:
It was a cold and windy one at the stadium, so getting a PR was quite an accomplishment.
Bridget spent the past weekend with her Cowlitz 16-1 Black team at the March Mania Volleyball Tournament at the Clark County Event Center. They had a lot of success, winning every set on Saturday, and dropping only one match on Sunday, before falling to the eventual champion Idaho Crush on Monday.
Bridget anchored the middle with hitting and blocking, and helping the team’s consistency with her all-around play:
Little Cousin Grant had his dedication at the Castle Rock Christian Church this morning. He did really well for the entire service, but then wasn’t too happy at the end when we tried to get a photo with the kids:
The little Johnson girls hung out with us during the service:
This was actually Bridget’s second time driving to Castle Rock, taking the back roads. We are steadily working on her 50 driving hours. She’s done with her Aloha online driving classes .. she just has a few more practice drives to do.
Tor played his viola with the Monticello Advanced Orchestra at the All-City Orchestra Concert at RA Long.
They played two songs, and the violas had featured prominently in the first one:
Tor invited his friend and teammate Bowen (“Bobo”) to join he and Uncle Dan and Aunt Robin at the Portland Moda Center to watch Session 1 of the First Round NCAA Basketball Tournament West Regional.
They were fortunate enough to see an upset, as the #12 seed High Point beat the #5 seed Wisconsin by 1 point in a thriller. The second game was a wipeout with Arkansas beating Hawaii.
If you look closely, you can see Tor and Bowen on the Jumbotron:
Uncle Dan and Aunt Robin treated the boys with some swag, including a souvenir basketball, t-shirt and program, along with lunch. They also joined the family March Madness bracket. They returned from the game grateful to have gone, and fired up that they got to be part of upset history.
Bridget played percussion for the RA Long Concert Band in their Spring Concert.
Jillian has been working out all winter, and started track practices a couple weeks ago, in preparation for the track season. The first meet at Ridgefield saw Sweetie-Pie win the 100 meters with a new PR of 13.22 seconds:
She also won the 200 meters with a time of 27.19 seconds, and took second in the 4x100 meter relay.
Tor played his viola in the SWWMEA Instrumental Solo and Ensemble Festival at W.F. West High School with two other Monticello classmates who played the violin and cello. They played their piece in front of a music judge who gave them feedback afterwards.
It was long day for Tor, with the bus leaving at 6:00 am, and hanging around all day until his performance at 4:00 pm.
Jillian and her Cowlitz 18-1 Black Volleyball Team played in the March Open Power League against some tough competition since they are now in Flight 2 (no. 9-16 ranked teams). Jillian helped the team in all aspects, leading them to a 2-1 finish on the day … and a final Open Power League placing at no. 8 overall!
The Woodruff kids tagged along with the Johnson kids at the Castle Rock Carnival, starting with the cake walk (Tor won), then hitting almost all of the stations, including the fishing pond:
And finishing up with bouncy house in the gym where Jillian had to carry Rory through it. The kids had a few tickets to put into the raffle baskets.
Tor finished out his 7th grade basketball career with his Monticello team downing St. Rose. Tor was the floor general, directing traffic and distributing the ball, and only shooting when necessary.
His team went 8-1 for the season.
The Monticello basketball teams had their awards ceremony tonight, and Tor was given the Coaches Award by Coach Johnson.
The team also received a stat sheet for the season totals to date, and Tor led the team in assists, and was second in steals.
In his most recent game against Hockinson, he scored a season high 16 points, including four 3-pointers.
Tor went to the 2A State Boys Basketball championship games at the Yakima Sundome to cheer on the RA Long High School team, traveling with teammate Cole and his family. They hung out with a lot of their other basketball teammates:
It didn’t end as they hoped (RAL lost by 2 to Bremerton to take 2nd), but they had fun:
Bridget and Handsome returned to Elma for the March WAHSET meet. She was successful once again:
2nd - Hunt Seat Equitation
6th (Team) - Western Versatility
7th - Stock Seat Equitation
11th - Trail Equitation
2nd - Showmanship
4th (Team) - In-hand Obstacle Relay
3rd - In-hand Trail
Her cheering section included Aunt Dany, Mom, McKenna and Lindsey:
As well as Papa Ken, Grannie and Papa Bob, and Dad (not pictured).
Tor played his final 7th grade basketball home game in front of his cheering section, which included little cousins Kenny, Rory and G-Bob:
The Mustangs beat Castle Rock handily. Mr. Merzoian took some pics:
Jillian and her Cowlitz 18-1 Black volleyball team traveled to San Mateo, California to play in a national qualifier. It was a tough couple days to start, but they finished strong on Monday to win their flight and some t-shirts.
Mom went along, and her and Sweetie Pie had some time to see the sights on the California coast:
Mom took some videos, too:
Tor is now a teenager! We now have three teenagers in our family. The thing Tor has been looking forward to the most about 13 is sitting in the front passenger seat of the car.
Tor received a new set of junior golf clubs for his 13th birthday - Top Flite Gamer Varsity, 8 club set.
His old Wilson kid set was 6 years old and far too short, so it was time for something to get him to high school. He took it to the Mint Valley driving range to swing all of the clubs. He hit them far and straight, so he’s happy with them.
Part of Jillian’s 18th birthday was spent in California with her Cowlitz 18-1 Black volleyball team while they competed in the No Dinx/NCVA Sierra National Qualifier. They went out to Rise Woodfire Pizza for dinner after the first day of play, and the coaches got her cupcakes arranged in an “18” to celebrate:
Of course, they all sang “Happy Birthday” to her. Mom said the pizza and cupcakes were delicious!
