Christmas 2017

Man, this was a good one -- if somewhat fraught. First: it was a WHITE CHRISTMAS! So rare! On the morning of Christmas Eve it started hailing. Then there were snowflakes intermingled with the hail (or was it sleet?). Then it was just snowing, and we got at least an inch, and then some freezing rain to seal the deal.

In any event, that was Christmas Eve and I'm here to talk about Christmas. It was so icy on Christmas Day that Grandma could not traverse the treacherous 25 feet between her front door and our back. We have a wheelchair for such emergencies, but had loaned it out in the spirit of Christmas, not expecting snow and ice. No matter. We had our Christmas at our house and then brought Christmas to Grandma -- her gifts from others (there were many) and her gifts to the girls (a dress for Elizabeth and a shirt and pants for Suzanne, who has stopped wearing dresses), plus a plate of the wonderful breakfast Barb had prepared.

I said in the first sentence that this Christmas was somewhat fraught. That was because I decided to get the girls video games for the Xbox. They already play Minecraft on the Xbox, but also play a random assortment of games on our phones, our computers, and Grandma's iPad. I've started to notice that some of these games are kind of trashy, and most of them have ads I'd rather the girls not see. So the relatively expensive but ad-free games on the Xbox offer -- I think -- a better overall experience. On the other hand, I don't want my kids to become video game fiends*, and by exposing them to "the good stuff" (what one writer described as "the apex predator of entertainment") I run the risk of doing so.

But so be it. It is done.

The girls loved, or at least liked, all of their gifts. (Although, Suzanne did opine: "It was weird to get a video game for Christmas.")  They got four board games, all of which we played and all of which were fun. They really liked the antique patent medicine bottles they got from Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary. And the mermaid gear they got from Uncle Scott and Melissa. And all the rest of it.

And beyond the gifts, we watched three Christmas movies in three days (Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, and A Christmas Story -- Barb and Elizabeth liked Miracle best, Suzanne and I liked Elf best. Sorry, A Christmas Story). We spent many hours with our friends. We Skyped and talked with family. We snuggled in bed under warm covers. We had a blast playing with the guinea pigs we are taking care of, and the dog (good old "Uncle" Charlie) we are taking care of. We crunched through the frozen snow and admired the winter wonderland that comes so rarely to Portland.

Merry Christmas!

*I imagine future generations laughing at me for this sentence.

Suzanne got an odd marble-based version of Connect Four from Santa. At least it's made of wood!

Elizabeth got a wooden travel chess set from Santa. Our neighbor boys, the Swans, were eager to destroy our girls on the battlefield of the chess board. Both of them are former chess club members. 

Elizabeth loves her mermaid pillow. When you stroke it, the scales turn from teal to purple. Just like a mermaid...?

Barb received a really cool and very old cookbook based on Long Island recipes. Even if she never makes a meal from it (fingers crossed, I don't think I like sweetbreads), it's an interesting read.

Christmas Eve

Skating on neighbor Maggie's front porch. The neighbor boys (Reed Swan, pictured) refer to themselves as The Shorties because they vow to never wear long pants.

Frozen Fifty-First Ave.

Some girls simply prefer cloaks.

Aaron and Wendy and the crew came over at ten a.m. and then a freezing rain storm hit and they couldn't go on to their next engagement so they hung out with us. What fun! The children were so thrilled to have a white Christmas Eve that they spent much of the day out of doors. That was nice for the adults.

A Volvo as it should be. Two days later we took the car out and the snowman was still on it. Barb and I were both tempted to drive around until the little guy fell off, but prudence got the better of us and I scraped him off in the name of safety.

posted from Bloggeroid

Five Fifty

Suzanne likes jigsaw puzzles. She had previously completed puzzles with a hundred or maybe a hundred and twenty five pieces. But for her birthday she received a puzzle of 550 pieces.

Five hundred and fifty!

Today, one week after her birthday, it was completed. Suzanne put in the very last piece, but she was assisted in completing the puzzle by many people, mostly Barb and Elizabeth.

posted from Bloggeroid

Elizabeth's Stage Debut

After months of memorizing, singing, blocking, and rehearsals, last night Elizabeth finally appeared on stage in Willie Wonka Kids, an abridged version of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. She played three parts: Grandma Georgina, an Oompa-Loompa, and a squirrel (in the book, the squirrels are the means of Veruca Salt's demise; in the movie it's the golden egg sorter).

I was really impressed by the costumes and the sets. Some of the kids were strong performers. Elizabeth had great stage presence, I thought.

Teresa, Aaron & Wendy (and their kids), Aaron's mom, and our friends Mark and Erica all came to the show. That's how much Elizabeth is loved by her community.

It was an entertaining show and a fun evening. Elizabeth even got flowers from some of her admirers!

Elizabeth as Grandma Georgina.

The Oompa-Loompas in this production had great outfits -- rainbow socks, lab coats and steampunk goggles. Sorry for the blurry photo -- theatrical photography is tough.

Look at that cute little squirrel!

Suzanne is Seven!

It was a crazy party, full of balloons, cake, beads, kids climbing up the walls (literally), bead-filled balloons, Hot Potato, Musical Chairs and tons of gifts. Not to mention pizza and juice and a "dark room" where the kids would go to giggle and screech. So fun!

There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear. Oh, wait. It's a game of Hot Potato played with a burping pig stuffed animal (visible in Elizabeth's left hand).

Cheers! Kiera, Suzanne, Anika, and someone else raise a toast to Suzanne Hovey!

Wall Climbers Jasper and Anika. Uncle Mark used to do stuff like this. Maybe he still does!

All the chairs were away from the table for Musical Chairs. Kids don't need chairs.

The Gift Opener, surrounded by supplicants and worshipers.

Suzanne is happy, and that is what counts.

posted from Bloggeroid

The Waiting Place

We are waiting for the birthday party to start. As Dr. Seuss observed, no one wants to be in The Waiting Place. It's a slow and dull place to be. But soon we'll be partying!



And for some reason, the girls decided to label their balloons.

posted from Bloggeroid

Deschutes River Redux

Back in early June we returned for the second year to a campground near the place where the Deschutes River empties into the mighty Columbia. It's far enough east of Portland to be in the desert, so it's a very different landscape and ecosystem from what we're used to. There are some nice, easy hikes through the hills and, of course, the river itself, which offers opportunities to splash in the cold water or watch birds, of which there are many.

Suzanne celebrating our arrival. We left a Portland shrouded by gloomy clouds to arrive in glorious sunlight.

Suzanne exploring the riverbank.

The Deschutes River.

Sunset. Pretty darn Western, huh?

Beacon Rock

After a camping trip with the Wheeler-Kay-Cohens in June, we stopped at this awesome hiking spot in the Gorge. It is one of the many places near Portland where, when I go there, I think to myself, "Why didn't I come here fifteen years ago!?" It's called Beacon Rock and (according to Elizabeth, who knows more about geology than I) is a basalt column. Some maniacs built a walkway up it in 1918 (or sometime in the hazy past when people drove cars which were more like carriages with engines). God bless those maniacs, because it is a thrilling hike, full of wonderful vistas and giving you access to these micro-forests on the shoulders of this otherwise inaccessible stone.

Ascending.

That's Kai, Aaron, Wendy and Barb climbing the maniac-built walkway.

Pretty good view.

Kai, Lily, Elizabeth and Suzanne taking a breather after the climb.

The friends in front of the rock.

Sleepover

We are in the midst of a double sleepover. That means that Elizabeth hangs out with her coeval, Jane, while Suzanne hangs out with Evelyn, Jane's sister who is Suzanne's age. It's been fun. These girls are full to the bursting of creativity, although the older girls spent an awful lot of time staring at Jane's iPhone...

posted from Bloggeroid

The Museum of Generations

Elizabeth, Lily, and Freya put together a museum today. I came home from work, and found what I thought was a mess made up largely of my stuff, scattered across the basement floor. Turned out to be The Museum of Generations.

And Elizabeth was kind enough to give me a tour.

Robot Suzanne

Bad news, everyone. We woke up today to find Suzanne gone and this unconvincing robot doppleganger in her place.

posted from Bloggeroid

Smith & Bybee

The day after Thanksgiving, it's traditional for our family to go for a walk in the woods. This year, we went to Smith and Bybee Wetlands, right here in Portland. Elizabeth had gone there on a field trip a few weeks ago. It's sprawling, preserved wetlands on the peninsula where the Willamette and Columbia Rivers meet.

We've been enjoying a beautiful autumn this year, and while today was much colder than the oddly-warm weather we had on Thanksgiving, it was great to be out. We had a nice walk, saw some birds, and soaked up some much-needed sunshine. As they say in Westeros, Winter is coming.

Suzanne loves Elizabeth!

That diamond-shaped marker above Elizabeth's head is the height of the water during the 1996 flood. This flood occurred six months or so before Barb and I moved to Portland.

A walk in the woods.

You can't see them, but there are lots of mallard ducks and one heron in this landscape.

Suzanne scoping the heron. The monocular she's got hanging around her neck (a gift from Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary) is useful, but less powerful than the binoculars. 

You can see why waterfowl would like this place.

Giving Thanks Even Though It's 2017

At the risk of dragging politics into a family fun blog, 2017 has been kind of a bummer. Let's leave it at that. Nevertheless, we've got a lot to be thankful for here in the Larrison household. We are all healthy. I am employed. Barb is in the process of starting a business. The kids like school. We live in a great community. We have good friends.

For Thanksgiving we had Brian and Teresa and Riley and "Uncle" Charlie the super poodle over for dinner. Barb worked her butt off all day, but I think she felt it was worth it. The feast was stellar, the company was great, and we had a good time. I think even Grandma liked her small amount of socializing, which was good to see.

Barb stuck by tradition, and wore her grocery sack pilgrim bonnet, heedless of the fact that she was the only one.

Grandma doesn't have a lot of stamina for socializing, but she seemed to enjoy what time she had.

Barb took this nice picture of all of us. Hey! Where am I? 

Elizabeth and Riley.

Riley, Brian and Teresa enjoying their food.

Brian, attacked by children! I'm sorry to report he didn't survive.

River Rats

A great Oregon tradition is that of the River Rat. Oregon is laced with wonderful rivers, and the River Rat wants nothing more than to float all day on the cooling river waters, butt securely ensconced in an innertube, sipping on a Clamato or (if under the age of 21) maybe a Sprite.

Back in early September we met Aaron and Wendy and their kids out at one of these rivers (I'm sure Barb knows... but I'm unsure... The Sandy? The Clackams?) and spent a really nice afternoon with a surprisingly diverse cross-section of our fellow Oregonians floating, swimming, and chilling. It was a great spot that I hope to return to again. The bonus was the river water wasn't the typical Oregon ice-melt, so it was actually pleasant to be in without the need to become numb first.

Chess Mates

The strangest, most unexpected consequence of going to the Maryhill Museum (which is awesome, by the way) was that the girls developed a desire to learn how to play chess.

The museum has an impressive collection of chess sets (including one based on the comic strip The Wizard of Id, which Elizabeth loves), and a giant plastic chess set that visitors can play with. So, when we were there I gave the kids a down & dirty chess lesson. I'm not good at chess (Anson used to regularly own me in that game, for which I will always resent him), but Elizabeth in particular really took to it.

So the girls played some games at home (we have a chess set, which I won from Aaron by way of coin toss many years ago). Then, a month or two ago, Elizabeth used her place mat as a chessboard, in order to stave off the boredom induced by the adults talking. Perhaps not regulation, but impressive.

Long Time Coming

A long, long time ago, Barb and our kids and another family went to Canon Beach, OR for a day trip. Elizabeth really wanted to do some window shopping in this cute little touristy town, but there was no time. So she expressed the desire to go back for a weekend with Mom, sans little sister. When Suzanne got wind of this, she pumped the brakes, hard. So last Christmas (2016), I encouraged Suzanne to give as a joint gift to Barb and Elizabeth a certificate saying she was okay with Elizabeth having a Mommy-Daughter weekend in Canon Beach.

And in Mid-October (2017), ten months later, it finally happened! 

There were bunnies all over the place, which reminded me of the Zombie Christ shoot.