Oregon Part 3

That ten-days-of-rain forecast didn't pan out in the end.  So we headed out again, this time to George Rogers Park in Lake Oswego, where we saw an imposing raptor of some sort ...

... as well as some lovely scenery ...

... and fun sculptures.

One day, the kiddos enjoyed some special time with their grandparents while all the younger adults went out to take in Rogue One.

The kiddos do adore grandparental time.

We also took advantage of our usual Powells visit to also scope out Blue Star Donuts in Portland.  Sooooo good.

As our time in Oregon waned, Madeline showered ever more affection on her Oregonian feline cousins ...

... and Oliver dressed in NASA swag ...

... and before we knew it, we were on an airplane (!) back to Rhode Island.

(After spending some time in Chicago on a layover, of course.)

I had to go into work the next day, but Summer kept the kiddos busy with art projects ...

... and general merriment.

And in honor of the new year, we took the kiddos to get haircuts.

Then we made fondue for dinner -- yum!

Oregon Part 2

The Christmas season arrived then in earnest.  Presents began to appear under the tree.

The kiddos enjoyed even more quality time with family.

And we got out into a bit of nature again, which thrilled Oliver to no end.

Even thicker fog created an even spookier atmosphere.

But the cool, damp air did not weigh down our spirits!

The festivities began with Christmas Eve dinner.

Stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

And lo!  On Christmas morning, those stockings were full (and then some)!

What could be in them?

Excitement, that's what!

(And Ton Ton too.)

After a brief lull ...

... there was more present-opening ...

... and later came Christmas dinner, for which Oliver got all dressed up.

After dinner, the festivities weren't done yet.  The kiddos had found break-your-own geodes in their stockings, and accordingly we proceeded to break them.

Finally Christmas came to an end with bedtime book-reading by Grandma Mandy.

Oregon Part 1

Waaaaay back in December, we went to Oregon!  On an airplane!

The kiddos were excited to see ...

... and snuggle their west coast family.

The forecast called for rain every day for the entire week and a half we were in Oregon, so whenever there was a break we did our best to get outside.

This included an early visit to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.

Madeline got a rare picture of her parents together with Oliver.

And we all enjoyed the spooky atmosphere created by the fog.

At one point Oliver decided to investigate a fern, remembering that one can find clusters of fern spores on the underside of the leaves -- something I had no idea he knew.

At roughly the same point Madeline decided she'd had enough and was ready to go home thank you very much.

So we turned back.

And this fact cheered her back up.

Our next excursion was to the neighborhood school's playground, where we gathered and sorted over a hundred pine cones (Madeline counted).

Summer and I also snuck out one day to pick up some Dungeness crab, which we'd missed in recent years due to fishery-related issues.

The kiddos helped us pick them (they'd had practice with blue crabs in Delaware over the summer) ...

... and we turned the glorious results ...

... into crab cakes.  Yum.