Playing in Portland

We took a trip down to Portland Monday before Christmas for Grandma Knippers' 60th birthday. Tuesday, John, his brother, and I went skiing/snowboarding (the snow was great - I want to go back!) while the kids got to have a fun day with Grandpa and Aunt Laurel.
Wednesday, we went to "Safari Sam's" gym. Tunnels, slides, rope ladders, similar to the idea of a Mcdonald's playland - just way bigger and better!

Kate went up to the top floor just like the big kids (and big adults).

Even though we were there to celebrate Elaine's birthday, she had to work during the days. But she didn't miss out on all the fun. Olivia and Jackson made up a song as they "rode" this bear, fell off, repeated about 30 times. And Katelyn's hanging upside down while playing with Grandma in the background.

John had to be back for work Thursday, then his family came up here Saturday and Christmas was extended a day for more presents, treats, and playing. (Legos, xbox, and lots of playing new games - thanks for all the game suggestions - we got some fun ones)!

Olivia and her Indiana Jones legos from Mike.
I skipped Christmas day so I'll get back to that later.

Visiting Dasher and Blitzen

On Christmas Eve, we went to see some reindeer.

Feeding apples to Dasher. The other two didn't want to stick their hand by that mouth until they saw Katelyn the brave do it.

Jackson needs a haircut for Christmas.

Kind of lame family picture.

They loved watching this little donkey.

And I liked watching this girl.

Then we went inside and saw the trains - I think I was as entertained by it as the kids were. They also have a pond with koi fish that they watched for a while.

It's at a nursery here in Seattle - they have the reindeer here for the month of December - until they have to leave on Christmas Eve to get to work. This year they also had a donkey and a camel.

Good Games?

I want some good ideas for games to get my kids (or us) for Christmas to use for family game nights. We can only play so much Dora the Explorer CandyLand, the hippos aren't so hungry anymore, and we've used up about all the good hiding spots for hide-and-seek. (Okay, we haven't even had that many game nights yet, but we could use some new ideas).
One that has been a favorite for our kids about age 3-4 is Fisher Price Little People "Bingo with Eddie." We've played lots of rounds of Eddie since my mom gave it to Olivia a few years ago.
What are some games you play with your kids? Or some that kids can play on their own, too?

Note to family members - You'll be glad to know that I taught them to play "Grunt Piggy Grunt" the other night.

Where did November go?

I mean, we found time to finish off most the Halloween candy, but . . . November flew by. So much for getting our Christmas shopping done early.
John was gone interviewing in CO. Then my sister came.* Then we were all gone to AZ to look into a job. Then to Portland for Thanksgiving. Then back for the big race (earlier post).
And to Abby's comment about that - don't feel bad. They were supposed to run 25 miles on their own - a mile at a time, during the two months before race day. Then they ran the last 1.2 miles together on race day. But they could also count walking to school, playing soccer, etc. for thier miles. It's a good thing we walk to and from school, because she didn't so much like to do her runs. But at least she got an XL t-shirt to show for it (after waiting in line for about an hour behind hundreds and hundreds of other kids after the finish line, the smalls were out). Guess we should have ran faster.

At a park in Northern AZ.

Thanksgiving at John's parent's house - and not a lot of pictures!




Trying to get a good picture for Christmas cards - I subjected them to this when my sister was here, and again in Portland. Still didn't get any great ones but I'll mail some out anyway (not this picture).
*Good thing I don't have a surprise visitor seeing my house today. That'd be embarrassing. Kind of like once when John and I were crashing into each other in the hallway as we were trying our fastest to take armloads of stuff to throw into our room before the home teachers came in right after church). What I meant to say is, that would never happen here.


"Cheese."


And suddenly it's December. And cold!
That's our street corner in the fog.

Seattle Kid's Marathon

Here's Olivia running the Seattle Kid's Marathon last weekend. I think she really just wanted to do it because she heard you'd get a goody bag at the end of the race. And I think she did more laughing with her friend Danny than running.

Here's a link for a way better picture that I don't want to pay for:

www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=48614&BIB=1240&S=230&PWD=