27 March 2011

We're nearing the end of a monster-long Spring Break (12 days!) Brandan took a few days off in the middle of the break and we took a little road trip to the Portland/Vancouver area. We stopped at Silver Falls state park on the way. A nine mile trail encircles 10 waterfalls. We hiked to 2 of the waterfalls. Here we are in front of South Falls.

Here's a photo of Sophie in front of Lower South Falls. This waterfall is shorter than South Falls, and prettier. 

This photo of Helen is so dark because she is standing behind the waterfall. The trail went behind both waterfalls, a neat feature of the hike. Abe liked throwing rocks at the backside of the waterfall.

 

We warmed up after our hike at a terrific lodge built by the CCC during the Great Depression. The park volunteers kept a large fire burning in a huge stone fireplace.

 

We stayed with our friends, Tim and Kirse, in Vancouver and our kids' favorite activity of the trip was playing with their kids. Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of them. While their kids were at school, we had fun playing in Portland. Tuesday we spent the day at OMSI-- a science museum that encourages (demands?) interaction with the exhibits. Here Brandan shows Abe how a DJ adjusts the speed of two turntables to mix music. Brandan was a DJ in high school for a rap band.

 

This photo shows Helen playing a whack-a-phone. This instrument may only exist at OMSI. You play it by hitting the ends of pipes with the soles of rubber flip flops. We'll be watching for this musical technique at the conference center during General Conference. 

Here's Gibson inside a model of a Gemini space capsule. Except for his feet not reaching the ceiling, he looked pretty snug. It's hard to believe this tiny spacecraft was built for 2 adult men.

 

Back in Vancouver, we drove past our old house. While Brandan was in residency, we lived in a duplex at the very edge of the hospital parking lot. Now it is just a grassy spot at the edge of the parking lot.

 

We spent Wednesday at the Portland Zoo. The kids started the day with lots of energy. Here they are pretending to be baby eagles. 

Surprisingly, they ended the day with plenty of energy, too. We certainly didn't expect to see every animal in one visit, but they just kept going and going and going. . . The animals, on the other hand, were mostly sleeping-- a good reminder that real life, even in a zoo, is not the same as a television nature show.

 

Back at home, we celebrated Gibson's 4th birthday on Saturday. Brandan made delicious pancakes for breakfast. Yoda tasted much better than you'd expect anything 900 years old to taste.

 

Here's a photo of Gibson warming himself over his birthday cake. Four candles seemed like a small bonfire to him. Gibson directed Becky, Sophie, Rylee, Abe and Helen while they decorated his cake. He wanted a basketball/Star Wars/Buzz Lightyear cake. We pretended the Star Wars action figures were playing basketball and Buzz was the referee.

 

20 March 2011

Sophie dressed up as Princess Paralysis for Spirit Week at school. Invented by Sophie, Princess Paralysis is a cross between a super hero and Fancy Nancy, freezing criminals in their tracks while looking fabulous.

For Twin Day, Sophie made matching T-shirts for Rylee and herself. Here's the front view.

 

And here's the back.

 

Helen played the violin at her Spring recital this week. She played 3 songs, pizzicato and with her bow-- Au Clair de la Lune, Bake a Cake and Itsy Bitsy Spider.

 

St. Patrick's Day marked our 16th wedding anniversary. We celebrated on Saturday by eating lunch at an Irish Pub (can't believe we haven't thought of that before) and renting Segways.

 

13 March 2011

Out with the old and in with the new-- we've outgrown our old family night wheel and it's time for a new one. The kids are old enough now to plan their own lessons and activities. We're looking forward to some terrific family nights with more variety. Brandan has never, ever picked the family night treat-- an essential part of a solid FHE-- tomorrow will be his first turn.

This summer Brandan and Becky will become parents for 9 teenagers as part of our stake's youth handcart trek. This week we got the names of the kids in our pioneer family. We were so excited that we packed up some cupcakes and our kids and drove around to meet them. If we were excited before, we're over the moon now-- what a fantastic group of kids! The trek is in July so we have a few months to prepare and get to know each other.

 

The kids didn't have school on Friday. Becky was horrified at lunchtime to see Sophie mixing Ranch dressing and ketchup together (ketchup and ranch are not Becky's favorite condiments when they're separate.) Sophie says all her friends at school eat this--it's the new fry sauce.

 

Sophie wowed us at her piano recital on Saturday. We listen to her practice every day, so we thought we knew her song very well. She played "Folk Dance" by Kabelevsky with wit and style-- an appreciative murmur swept the chapel after her performance and her teacher was thrilled.

 

6 March 2011

It was a sad day back in 1995 when Bill Watterson stopped writing his Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. The comics page has never been the same. Fortunately, Calvin is alive and well at our house-- we all like reading the old strips. Here's a photo from earlier this week. You'll have to imagine the belly laughs and giggles coming from the couch.

Becky cleaned out the pantry this week and was struck with the variety of flours we use. The photo shows the more unusual ones. We also have plain wheat and white flour. A few years ago we didn't even know the available alternatives to wheat. In case you can't read the labels, pictured are sorghum, xanthan gum, garbanzo & fava, gluten free pancake mix, coconut, rice, potato starch, buckwheat (despite its name it has nothing to do with wheat), quinoa and tapioca flours. With this assortment we can make a pretty tasty variety of wheat free foods for our kids with allergies.

 

On Saturday we cleaned out the mudroom. We don't have a basement, so our mudroom serves as a general catch-all and storage area. We're thankful to limit our mess to one 7-1/2 by 15-1/2 foot room-- we'd hate to have a full size basement to clean out.

 

Gibson is a dedicated worker when Brandan is around. He likes helping Brandan on all his projects.