Sledding, Snowshoeing and cocoa at the Mazama Lodge

Abe: We had crazy fun on Mt Hood today because there was 4 feet of new snow, so much we made tree avalanches and got mashed lots by gigantic snowfalls. 

We needed snowshoes to get there from our car, and we went sledding, well I mean saucering - look how fast!!!

We played in the snowcave and had snack and cocoa at the Mazama Lodge - wow whata day.  We slept on the way home. 

Christmas Eve and a picture puzzle

We went to the Christmas Eve candle and carols service at Hope Community Church tonight, and it was nice.   We listened to Dad sing loudly and got to light and hold our own candle.   Dad took this picture and we thought it was a fun puzzle: See if you can figure out

"What's wrong with this photo?"  (clue: several things)

Chess

Koh and I play chess, with each other and mom and dad and anyone else, too.   Koh says he never wins even though he beat me today, which was the first time I think.

Dad says he's pretty sure he didn't play chess when he was 5, but we're smarter than him anyway.

Love Letter from Dad #12

You guys just make my day sometimes.   This week you did it by reversing our nearly 6-year reading habit, that one where your mom and I read to you each night before bed.    I knew the day would come, and I should've seen it coming since you're learning to read in school and we even got some "beginning reader" books at the library last week. 

But it was a dramatic milestone tonight when we did our usual snuggled together night-time reading routine on the sofa, Abe on my left and Koh to the right.  Teeth brushed, pajamas on, 8pm.

Then you READ TONIGHT'S BOOK TO ME, simply taking turns reading each page of "My Best Friend" by Diane Namm.    Only a few words stumped you, the rest you knew or sounded out or figured out from the pictures.   That was really neat, I'm very proud of you.   I want more night reading like that one.

I love you guys,   Dad.

Holiday Express steam train!

Abe: Tonight we went with Rowan's family on the Holiday Express, this hot steam train whose horn makes a lot of noise at our house, but not so much when we ride inside it.

Koh was shocked when Santa came aboard and gave us candy canes.  We walked into every car on the train, even between the coaches in the scary dangerous part, and stuck our heads out all the open windows and gates.

Snowboarding Day #1

Koh: Today we learned to snowboard.  Dad took us to a full-day lesson on Mt Hood, and boy did we like that!   We got our own snowboards and lift passes and rode the magic carpet and shredded down and repeated that for 4 hours.   Rachael was our private professional teacher who was fun and very helpful for us both.



We fell some, but it didn't hurt... except that one one time for me when I cried a little and thought maybe I'd try checkers or skiing instead.   But I rested and build a snowman then I WAS BACK.  Watch me go.

Whooooooopeeeeeeee!!!!!


 

Warm November day

Dad fixed us some nice grilled cheese English muffins, eggnog and cottage cheese and it was so nice we had lunch on the deck in November!

My face, my tongue, my crayon

Koh - I love drawing more than just about anything else.

I get my whole face involved, too, look here.

We love our playground

And especially this seesaw, best for twins.  

Boo!

Guess which one of us is the Hissing Cockroach and which is the Lizard?

Jacob sleepover #2

Jacob came over for another slumber party, and we ate a jack-o-lantern pizza, then made cookies, then watched movies and eventually went to sleep.  

Then we went for a rainy day walk to Tryon Park and found a giant pacific salamander and some juicy juices.

I'm an airplane factory

Abe: I love paper airplanes and I make a lort of them and they fly far, too.   Here's my production for just one day.  

Pumpkin patch day

We gathered our Halloween pumpkins today at the Pumpkin Patch.  And rode the hayride, and got lost in the Corn Maze, and ate some apples, drank some cider and jumped on BIG hay bales, too.

Dress Up Day at Kindergarten?

Abe: The students dressed like adults and the teachers like kids today.

Check out our fine duds!

Where's my tooth?!

Abe: My middle lower teeth have been loose for a month, and today one just wiggled on out.

WOW check out my new smile!  Koh says I can drink with my mouth shut now using a straw through that hole.

I love blueberries and caves, too

Koh: We camped and hiked and skateboarded on Mt St Helens this weekend.  Then we went into this Ape Cave long long dark and cold tunnel, which was the biggest cave we've ever seen.   Photos don't work in there.  It was drippy wet, too.  Plus we went to another cave we had to crawl through, and Dad didn't even fit.  

But my favorite part was the wild blueberries and huckleberries we found all along this trail.  Wow, so many we took some home in a bag.   So good, yum, yum.   We can see why the bears like 'em.  

First day of Kindergarten

Koh: Watch out world, here we come!

Glacier National Park Vacation

Koh & Abe: We drove in the van a long ways for our summer vacation, all the way to Montana and back. But it was worth it. Check out our highlight reel: Glacier National Park Vacation

You are my Sunshine

Koh: You are MY SUNSHINE. Grandma helped us build these rockin' Tinker Toy guitars with built-in microphones, and she taught us this song.

4th of July fun

Our pal Santi came over for a 4th of July BBQ and we romped and dog-piled in the grass, ate some hot dogs and rode a skateboard that Grandpa Tim brought us.   

Then we lit sparklers, smoke bombs and crazy fireworks like "chickens-laying-eggs" and watched the big show on the river while the full moon rose.  Wow, that was a fun day! 

Family trail run - our first

Koh: Dad was real impressed with me when I ran some trails along the Deschuttes River this weekend on our camping trip.   I jumped rocks, turned corners and avoided every rattlesnake.  I'm fast and I especially like the downhill parts best.    He said mommy would be very happy with my new skills.  I fell and cried only once.

So tonight after dinner back home I took the whole family out and was the leader for our first all-family trail run in the nature park by our home.   Wow that was fun, look at me in this video.   I fell and cried only once.   We're going to do more of these, mommy says.

Dad's day hike

We took dad, both our horses and both our moms out hiking today.  Isn't that weird how mom is in two places at one time?  She told us she could do that.  

Then we went for ice cream . . . yum!

I love watermelon so much I'm speechless

Koh: I wasn't hungry at our beach picnic tonight, but i ate the watermelon anyway.  I love sand and I love watermelon.

Finally, we graduated

Abe: We're not good students (we can't even read), we skipped school two days every week, we don't pay attention to our teachers, we push other kids on the playground - so boy were we surprised when they let us graduate.   Dad says we can get used to it since schools graduate plenty of illiterate kids every year, whatever that means.  Anyway they had a party with my classmates and we had lots of fun at the park.

Antique restoration team

Koh: Our Nana Jo had a pal named Helen Jewitt who hand made this table in 1971 with no nails, just wood dowels holding it together.

40 years of love made the top a little rough, so today we sanded and finished it on a sunny day in our yard, with Dad helping us out.

Angel's Rest but we don't

Abe: We've been to this classic Columbia Gorge hike here a lot and we like it so we went back for more today.   Everyone on their own now, up 1500' feet and down over 4.5 miles.    

Today LOTS of wildflowers, slugs, bugs, holes in the ground, special treats, water, clinking rocks, climbing rocks, mud, peeing in the woods and more.   

Then look - - - how cool are we at the top?  

Look at this, Dad

Abe: nobody showed me this advanced yoga move, I just invented it then showed Mom and Dad.  Do you like it? 

I love carnivals, elephant ears and cotton candy

Koh:

Dad, don't make me punch you

Easter and 5th birthday party month

We got to go to Grandmas for Easter and two other birthday parties for our pals Santi and Maelle.  

We like parties and people and cake.

First baseball mitts!

Abe:  Wow, what a day.  Grandma brought us our first baseball mitts and then she and daddy played with us in the yard.   This is really cool.   We had baseballs but no mitts, and I just finished my first baseball "camp" so I was ready.  

This was a good day, even though it ended with dad hitting me in the mouth with a fast pitch.

THANKS GRANDMA!!!

Triple Haircut Day

Koh: We all got our hair cut today - another dining room special.  Can you tell who's who?   Can you tell which one is the professional cut?   Daddy paid us money and candy this time.   I like that.

Here's a magic trick I won't do again

Abe: I love magic and practice new tricks with my magic kit I got for Christmas.   This week I did my best trick ever: I made this marble disappear.

I mean POOF it was gone and it made me cry because it hurt a little bcause I never swallowed a marble before and it was an excellent trick because nobody could find the marble, not even the magician.

Better yet the TRICK LASTED FOR 3 DAYS!   Everybody was watching for when I made the marble reappear.    We waited and waited.    Then POOP, I mean POOF - I made it come back.  But it was dirty and wet and I'm not going to do that trick ever again, that was crappy.

We love our mom and our grandma and flowers

Today we shopped for pretty flowers for our mom and grandmom and had a project to put them in vases with decorations and water.   Ssssssssshhhhh! (don't tell 'em, it's a surprise)

We went to college early

Mommy took us to her college today, Pacific University, where we got to play in the gym, see her dorm, eat tasty yogurt in the student union, walk all over amid tall trees and even watch the girls varsity lacrosse team whip on the opposing team when we sat way up in the top row of the stadium.

We're gonna go to college too, that looks cool.

Mommy's note: I had just run a muddy 25K at Hagg Lake, that's why I'm walking around wrapped in the kids' blanket. Mark said I looked like a homeless person.