Our Holiday Weekend

Spent the weekend with the S side of this BS Family. Great trip with lots of visiting and if you’re a kid, a ton of playing, wait…the adults played too!

Started off Thanksgiving morning with a 3.5 mile
Turkey Trot around Lake Sacajawea Park.IT WAS COLD!

Most of us trotted and walked around about half the lake but Oma and Cole trotted / walked the whole thing! Carol said that Cole deserved a
Turkey Trot t-shirt for his effort!

Here our future Chef Lanna was helping Nanny with the turkey and stuffing. I’m sure Lanna was telling Nans to not miss a crumb of stuffing inside, no wasting stuffing when it tastes so good!Dinner Time!

Still a kids table or breakfast bar in this case.Adult table. YUMMY!
(Just put a turkey in our freezer for this weekend,
need some leftovers)

The kids were up early, awake late and played hard every day.Jo tried to stay awake for a movie but just couldn’t keep the eyelids open even though chatter and movement were all around her.

Geocaching!
What is this you ask? Well let me just copy and paste what the Geocaching site says. “Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.”

FIRST
We have to learn how to type in the coordinates into Nanny’s gps.

Jill gave it a try….I think you click...no...


Then Dan gave
it a shot…Maybe this?...no...

Carol…helped?

Tina gave it a try…

Damn thing…

Directions?

DIRECTIONS
PLEASE…

This is suppose to be fun!

(a little reading goes a long way some times)

Whewh…We did it! And off we go hunting!And our FIRST FIND!We searched out five this day with a lunch stop in the middle which was easy to get lunch seeing how one of the cache’s were in the middle of town.

This is our last find of trinkets and trash. We wrote our names on the paper inside the cache’s and the kids swapped out some of their own stuff for other stuff they thought was better.

What a GREAT family activity. And for most of us I’m sure it’s the closest we will ever come to finding real treasure. In the meantime we will continue finding our own….Off to buy our own gps and more treasures!

Thanksgiving Caption?

Caption This Photo!

Thanksgiving dinner with family.

Just click "comments" below and type in your caption.

Letters – TOGA – Swim

The kids write letters at school for practice. They are told to write the letters of each word that they hear and so they don’t get help with spelling. The letters have been a blast to read, and also fun to hear to whom they have written, like the principal and friends at school.

This is Jo’s most recent letter.(translation if you need it)
Dear Mom
I miss you and I love Oma, Mom and Cole and can we make gingerbread men. One for Cole and Mom and Oma and me and we can put decorations on.
Sincerely, Jo

Cole’s Weekend News(translation if you need it)
My Mom and Oma went to a party. Lori came over to baby sit us. I played Guitar Hero, it was fun. My sister played a rock game with Lori. Next day I had to go to my basketball game. Then I got grounded from on and off stuff because I was talking in bed.

TOGA

Jenjen and Julie wanted to have a party and they put a toga theme to it. What fun! This would be my first toga party and I was a little nervous about attending. Wearing a toga was nothing, it was the fact I put a theme to our togas and didn’t know if others would think I was too goofy or silly. (I do have those sensitive moments once in a while)

No Worries. We fit right in! In fact I think there were only three white togas in attendance. Most put their own spin on their outfits, which made the evening totally fun!

I did break out my ancestor’s jewelry for this occasion; the pearls have been in my family since the stone ages. I don’t think I have ever attended a party where my outfit needed this touch of class. Going to the opera soon? I can loan them to you but your going to have to leave your credit card for collateral.

Some toga highlights…

Caroline & Liz (top left) wore Roman togas complete with light up swords. Funny! Martha (top right) went with the 80’s flannel while Tracy became another self with toga-cat; including an attached tail. She also made sure she brought her own glass for the keg, just in case they charged by the glass. Swish Swish, or was it chug chug. Dune and Karen wore home improvement togas, drop cloth with duck tape and a plastic drop. (I've only seen a plastic toga one other time and I shouldn’t repeat it here) Julie was Mooo-toga holding a plate of cheese pops that I’m sure she acquired the milk from some place close to her heart. And good old Jenjen wore one of the most famous togas of them all. Otter’s toga from Animal House!

SWIM!
Jo is back swimming and is doing awesome! She is like a motorboat with her backstroke, swimming all over the pool without stopping.The one stroke she has needed to work on is the crawl (she would call it her side breathing). The best we have seen her do is about three strokes and three breaths before she would run out of air. She now has swam the length of the pool doing her crawl! Not once but we have seen it twice! Yippy! She is very proud and excited, as are we.
KUDO’S KIDO!

Awards – Duck Weather – Basketball

The kids had their second school awards assembly and each where honored again. Are we/they setting the kids up for sadness as the school year moves forward, winning things right off the bat? Or can our prodigies keep up the honors? Haha

Our Little ManHe received a certificate for the playground. Always following playground and sports rules. He also earned a pencil for perfect attendance for the month of October.

Our Jo

(Though she has informed us that she thinks
Elizabeth sound prettier than Jo)She received the Citizenship award (top school award) from her classroom, which includes a certificate and a medal along with eating pizza with the principle the following day. She too received a pencil for perfect attendance.

It Never Rains at Autzen Stadium!
We are Ducks, so the rain beads up and rolls off our backs…into our pants and down our sleeves!Tracy invited me to the game and it was a wet one. She covered us with ponchos and a large plastic sheet for our laps along with seat pads that kept some of the water from soaking all the way through to our bums.

We had beer, beef jerky, a hotdog (me) and nachos (Tracy) with that lovely canned cheese! We learned that onions can show up on things long after a hotdog is gone and that the best water repellent is that lovely canned cheese. The water just pooled on top of that delicious golden goo.

We also learned that applauding vigorously with wet hands splatters your face and with glasses it makes it a tad hard to see. (I did however applaud with my hands in front of Tracy’s face…I had no problem seeing after that play)
Lastly we were able to warm our insides with a sip (or ten) from a silver canister of love.
Devine! Thank You Tracy! I had a GREAT Time!

First year of basketball for Cole.Cole dribbles well and is one of two that brings the ball down the court. He had a very good time at his three games jamboree this weekend and is looking forward to the next game.
(If you’re into a good belly laugh you should watch this age play ball)

Swimming starts next week for Jo. She’s looking forward to getting back into the pool as are we looking forward to her having an activity. She has also said she wants to try gymnastics…might be next?

Happy Halloween!

Boo!Sharon came by to carve pumpkins with us.Trick or Treat!Two blocks this year with quite a few full size candy bars.

Mom’s costume.

Played with our make-up.

Got quite a few funny looks,
more double takes and
then a few folks that actually
asked if the scratches were real.

Cole wants me to tell all of you:
"That really grossed me out"

While Jo thought they were neat.

OMA and the 7th Grade Teachers
ROCK!