mom's day out: snowshoeing trip to Trillium Lake

I went snowshoeing today with my core group of adventuring mom friends - Adrienne, Mary, Anne, and Tracy - we went to Trillium Lake at Mt. Hood and did a 5 mile loop on a packed trail around the lake. It was beautiful and sunny and we had an wonderful time tramping around and chatting.

funny photos

Mom got a new snow hat, and when I expressed admiration, she got me one too. Love it.

Carl and Kim sent new climbing harnesses to Seb and Liesl for Christmas presents! So awesome! The kids were so excited they immediately put them on and started climbing the furniture.

Liesl's first gymnastics class

Liesl has been excited to try out gymnastics, and so today we went and did a trial class at a local gym, Omega. She loved it. She focused, she followed the coach's directions, she ran and jumped and somersaulted and balanced... it was so great. And then she ate an enormous lunch and fell asleep in the car. I think we'll return.

Steelers playoff game

Well, it's sad to post these pictures, because the Steelers lost their first playoff game to the Ravens and my boys were crushed with disappointment, but we went out to see the game at a local Steelers pub called Hedge House. Everyone got all dressed up for the occasion and Sebastian cheered and cheered and then mourned. Next year!

indoor bike park

On Saturday, Sebastian's friend Nathan celebrated his birthday with a party at an indoor bike park called the Lumberyard. Nathan has a younger sister, Diya, and so Liesl came along to be company for her and to check out the place.  It was our first visit there, and no prizes for guessing which of my two children rode around the track multiple times like a daredevil, and which one found it extremely scary. :)

In fairness, however, I should note that Sebastian actually did very well, considering his fear and that he was on a much bigger bike with pedals. Some of his friends wouldn't even try it, staying away from the track and making art projects in the party room instead. Seb stayed at the entrance ramp, watching his friends, gathering up his brave powers, and then actually riding the circuit five or six times. I was proud of him.

Liesl and Diya became instant friends and rode their skuut bikes around an easy loop twenty or more times. It was super fun to watch them figure it out. Liesl didn't want to quit - she claimed to want to stay "until dark".

 

the annual smashing of the gingerbread houses...

For the second year in a row - and really, everyone loves it so much that I feel comfortable naming it a permanent family tradition - we took our gingerbread houses into Forest Park and smashed them into smithereens.  It was grand.

 

 

Happy New Year!

We celebrated New Year's Eve with an after hours family party at Planet Granite. Jeff and Adrienne hosted, of course, and we managed to get Steve, Anne & Cuong, and Mary up the walls multiple times.  It was great: we climbed, we shared a potluck, the kids ran around like mad demons, we counted down at 7 pm. :)

One funny tale: Liesl looked at me right before we were leaving, and said, "You're not wearing that to the party, are you?" I was wearing sweats, because we were going climbing. I said I was, and she told me I couldn't wear my outfit to a party. I tried to explain that we were having the party at the climbing gym, but she insisted on going into my closet and picking out a dress and tights for me to wear, so that I was appropriately dressed.  The teenage years are going to be tough with this one.  Oy. :)

Today, we met up with Mary, Patrick, and Rowan again, and went to see a show called Frogz, staged by the Imago Theatre. It was a little bit like acrobatics, a little bit of mime, some bits of dancing and theatre - really really fun stuff. All three children were very focused on each short piece and very enthusiastic about the performers, and I laughed at the absurdity and cleverness of their mime and the expressiveness of their movements. We will probably return for another show in the spring - it was great.