Violet goes sledding

I’ve been asked a couple of times this week with our huge snowstorm, “Did you take Luke and Violet out to enjoy the snow?”  Let’s just say that a couple of feet of snow is just not much fun when you’re only 1 year old.  I mean, really, is this the face of someone who is enjoying themselves?

You can’t tell, but she is perched atop Livvie’s snow fort “with a real life tunnel to crawl through!”  Violet was the only twin that braved the elements for a sleigh ride.  Luke slept through the fun.  Violet wishes she was so lucky.  This was after Michael pulled her and Olivia up and down the street for awhile. 

Olivia did a great job of holding onto her sister while sledding.  We bought a big purple sled for just this purpose, but I really didn’t think it was going to see so much action so soon.  Usually, any meaningful sledding involves a trip to Mt. Hood.  Very thankful we bought sleds early this year.  We’ve learned the hard way that in Portland there’s a short window to buy sleds, mittens and children’s snow boots.

This might be considered a smile…..perhaps.

Sledding

Michael, Papster, and Olivia went sledding on Saturday.  Michael, Jen, and Olivia went sledding again on Sunday.  And then, Michael and Olivia went again on Monday!

This hill might not look steep from this angle, but it was perfect for us.  We were on the leeward side of Franklin school which meant we weren't blasted by the wind ("it's so blustery" says Olivia).  There was also a nice arc to the hill that kept us out of 52nd (well, most of the time it did). There wasn't much snow yet, but we got plenty more in the next couple of days.

 

The twins haven't been out in the snow since Winter Storm #1 (we're on #3, but #2 was such a bust it's hard to count it).  They have made some major milestones of their own this week.  Violet is now signing "out" back to us which makes all of the months of signing to them worth it.  Luke and Violet are also making major strides across the room.  They are both comfortable walking and have been really showing off for Grammy and Papster (except when they need to get somewhere fast).

Violet has figured out how to put the big blocks together and takes short breaks from dismantling them to actually do a little assembly. 

Weather drama

Poor Eliz was forced to drive up from San Francisco.  She missed a connection in Dallas and basically couldn't get another flight into Portland before Christmas.  She was able to get to SFO, spend the night at Schnerbs' house, and then drive up without a problem today.  Deb decided to wait it out in Arcada another day and hope for a break tomorrow.  Cat's flight into Portland is late Wed. and we are due for more snow Wed. morning.  We are only thinking positive weather thoughts.

Snowing in Portland!

It doesn't snow often in Portland and when it does it tends to cripple the city. So, it was a big surprise to wake up to a couple of inches of snow this morning! The city doesn't have any plows and state law doesn't allow salt to be used on the roads, but the biggest problem is the people who abandon their cars. We're not sure where the people go once they get out of their car in a snowstorm, we've just seen the empty cars on the highway.  They don't even pull over, they just abandon their cars in the lane.

It took about 45 minutes of prep to get snowsuits, shoes, jackets, and gloves located and on.  Violet lasted about 5 minutes once we got outside. She was not amused. In this photo, you can see how they both ditched the gloves pretty quick and no amount of conversation could change their minds. Neither Luke nor Violet liked walking in hard shoes, so they attempted to crawl on naked hands. Violet complained quickly, but Luke lasted a little longer because his hands slipped inside his jacket and he crawled around on his sleeves down the street. No walking. I guess we will have to wait till next year for snow angels in triplicate.

Livvie had fun, snowballs, snow angels, writing in the snow, playing chase. But she soon was too cold and retreated inside for hot chocolate. It's cold, real cold, about 10 degrees with the wind chill. We're out of practice with this kind of gusty, frozen weather.

Naturally, we didn't have enough milk and eggs. The lack of whole milk is quite a problem when 2 members of the household still get most of their calories from milk. The first snow storm of the year and we were flat-footed and under-prepared. At least we can claim Michael's "surgery" as out excuse for not preparing for the biggest (only) snow storm of the year! Lucky for us we're only a block from the store.

For the video fans, there is a little taste of our lovely snow day over at YouTube.

MudBowl

The annual MudBowl was held in the park between Amryn and Phoebe's house on Saturday.  We arrived late (typical) and didn't play in the game, but we had a great time with the girls.  Deb left the game at half-time to join us playing catch-ball.  Olivia is starting to make up new games and new rules.  Catch-ball's rules vary by day.

 

Amryn and Olivia took Violet for a "walk".  It was maybe a tad quick for poor Violet, but I think it was mostly enjoyable because of the attention from the older girls.  We hit the playground next.  Luke and Violet got to go for a swing.  You can see how ecstatic Luke was about the opportunity below.

Luke and Violet had to endure the chilly weather without an afternoon nap.  Violet does better at this than Luke.  It started to get cold as the sun set, but we got this nice family portrait almost by accident as it went down.  Another beautiful day in Oregon!

 

Festival of Trees

The Festival of Trees at the convention center was not quite what we had in mind, but the kids didn't seem to notice. They had model trains, a craft area, face painting, Santa pictures, very amateur singing and dancing (and baton twirling!), an ambulance (the event was sponsored by a health system - not Legacy, the OTHER health system), and a teddy bear hospital. Teddy Bear hospital was the favorite. This picture belies how crowded in there it was. 

Michael rescued the twins from the chaos of patiently waiting to bandage, mask, and prepare for surgery Olivia's newest best friend, Harry (his name was later changed to Rudolph for seasonal reasons). Poor little guy was covered head-to-toe in bandages and band-aids by the end. While Livvie enjoyed all the kiddie events with her cousins, friends and Aunt Deb, the twins spent much of their time crawling around in the corner of the room or ruthlessly pulling their parents hair whilst being carried on shoulders. Goldfish, a couple bottles of milk, a chance to get out and walk around, staying out well past their "normal" bedtime - actually, it was a banner night for them. I'm not sure what I'm complaining about. We met a bunch of friends there and every single kid had a great time at this event, it's worth the four bucks.

Ok, Olivia wasn't really happy at this moment in time, but the girl was just told that she had to leave this magical wonderland. You'd be grumpy, too. Even if you had a lovely commemorative snowman on your cheek.

Some days things work out really well with the twins. After staying up that night for the Festival of Trees, the twins slept in until 9am the next morning.  They were awake by 8am actually, but they hang out in the crib talking to each other softly.  It is really sweet to lay in bed and listen to them, there are worse ways to wake up.  We went in to get them when Olivia hopped out of bed and came upstairs to briefly snuggle and then harass us out of bed.