road trip!

We left on Saturday morning to drive down to Sacramento, to celebrate Christmas with the Avery/Lees and the Avery grandparents. We stopped in Eugene for lunch and an extended walk on the riverfront; we love the trails and parks in Eugene and Jasper was so happy to romp with us and in the dog park. We continued south to stay the night in Ashland, which was festively decorated for Christmas, with lights on all the downtown trees and buildings, and the shops full of clothes, books, and trinkets. On Sunday we drove the rest of the way, this time stopping at a dog park along the river in Redding before arriving in Sacramento at 4. The cousins were super excited to see each other and Kim had made an amazing beef pie and baklava for dinner.

On Sunday morning the children, Steve and I took Jasper for a walk over to Capitol Park.

 

Then we returned home to construct and decorate gingerbread houses. It was a full family affair, requiring a parent and child to make each house.

 

 In the afternoon, the grownups baked and shopped and wrapped and talked, while the children constructed giant forts, danced to music, painted their faces, and played. It's great to be together again for another holiday.

winter break adventures

We have been having a fun-filled first week of winter break. Sebastian has been participating in a soccer camp through LYS in the mornings - 9-10:30 - which is a great way to wake up and get out his excess energy.

On Monday, we had lunch at new Chinese restaurant - Din Tai Fung - which is famous in its other locations for excellent xiaolongbao. They were indeed excellent and we were very happy. Afterwards, we wandered the Wash Square mall for an hour, window-shopping and feeling nostalgic for our childhoods, when the mall was the big, only place to find new clothes and toys. Our kids are rarely in a mall - maybe once a year? - and they were thrilled to go in and explore a bookstore and Lego store and sports store.

On Tuesday, we visited OMSI with some new friends, the Sterlings. The family moved to Portland this fall and Seb has become good friends with their son Sam; they also have a 2nd-grade girl, which is delightful. We had dinner at their house on Sunday night and then met up at OMSI to see the King Tut exhibit and explore the games, puzzles, and challenges of the great hall.

On Wednesday, there was soccer camp and hip-hop class, I went climbing and running, and the kids were delightful together. They got into their heads to play a bunch of practical jokes on us, and the results were hysterical. And then we hosted some friends (again, with two appropriately aged friends for our children) for dinner - lasagna and gingerbread! - which was very fun and sweet. Sebastian was really excited to have one of his friends coming for dinner, and thus vacuumed the whole house, helped me put the extra leaf in to expand the dining table, and set the whole table.

And then today, Thursday, we drove out to McMinnville to play at the Wings and Waves Waterpark with the Foleys and Qualls. We had never been to a waterslide park before; the first ride down was terrifying. And the second (on a different slide) was equally terrifying - it was so dark in the tunnel! You couldn't see where you were going! But we got over it and went again and again, sliding, playing in the wave pool and vortex, and warming up in the hot tub. It was fun to be there with friends that the kids could explore and hang out with. But now I'm exhausted - it was 111 steps to get up to the top of the slides, and I'm definitely feeling all of those stairs now. 

Tomorrow will be a quiet day - laundry, library, cleaning up, work for me, maybe homework for Seb, and packing to get ready for our trip to Sacramento. 

the Nutcracker

We went to see the OBT's Nutcracker this afternoon with 8 mamas and girls from Liesl's GS troop (and a few younger siblings). We all got very fancy and met up for lunch ahead of time at Nel Centro, and it was a magical day. Liesl's enthusiasm for the Nutcracker is undimmed, and she and Nora were delighted to be there again.

caroling by the GS troop

Liesl and her GS troop, organized by the inestimable Courtney, rehearsed a dozen Christmas carols last week and then sang to various teachers after school yesterday. They got all dressed up in festive clothing and hats and toured around the school, popping into classrooms to sing two songs to each teacher. It was adorable and fun and sweet - really a wonderful little activity for her troop to bring some Christmas cheer.

Xmas cookies

We made brown sugar butter cookies and gingerbread cookies - rolled out the dough, got out all of our cutouts, and made dozens of yummy treats. We have inherited the red shapes of my childhood, with cute decorations and details on the trees and Santas and presents - they carry a lot of happy nostalgic weight for me, and the kids love them, but they are actually terrible for cookie-making. The dough always gets stuck and the cookies rip. But every year we try again!

No photos of the finished products! Forgot to snap one before I packed them all away. And now they'll disappear into hungry bellies.

gingerbread houses

We bought, constructed, and decorated the Trader Joe's gingerbread houses again this year. It's one of my favorite traditions - the scramble to secure a kit (they sell out by early December), making the icing and plastering the thing together, and then going all out on the decorations. I always either raid the Halloween stashes or buy additional candy in order to add more pizzazz to our houses. And I buy two, so the kids each get their own. And then of course, we all look forward to the annual smashing of the houses during January.

 

We had another somewhat quiet weekend. Liesl was sick again, and it was blustering and freezing outside, so we stayed in and played. I took a photo of our living room, with evidence of a painting project, puzzle, snap circuits, latch hook craft, remote control car, Mancala, and of course many books. We were busy and mostly happy.

 

Liesl beat me twice at mancala and then twice at this memory card game. She won by a lot. She was super delighted with herself.

 

What would a cozy weekend be without baking? I made a sticky cranberry gingerbread and it was delicious.