Christmas Eve

The Olson tradition is to open presents and celebrate on Christmas Eve.  It is Kathy's favorite day of the year and we have always been so happy to celebrate with her.  This holiday continues to be more fun each year as the kids get older!
We let Jeff's parents open their present first because we gave them Oregon Pinot Noir glasses and thought we should test them out that night! 

We also tracked Santa's progress.  When we happened to turn it on he was in Shannon, Ireland.  We were so excited to think that Katie May was just getting her gifts at that very moment.  We actually loved this website and the kids were so excited to see Rudolf leading the sleigh.

Of course it wasn't long before we decided to just open up all the presents.  The kids were in great moods and it turned out to be a great decision.  I was amazed at how quickly the kids would move though presents.

And in typical toddler fashion, all Clare cared about was the wrapping paper.

Ice Skating

We ended our last day in Sun River by ice skating at the village.  The kids had never been before and were so excited to try it. 

A little know secret about Kathy:  she's a VERY good ice skater.  She and Jeff took the big kids out on the rink and skated with them.  And when I say skate I mean they held the kids up with all their might and pulled them around!  Nora and Ronan had no idea what they were doing!

Jeff and Kathy also both took Clare out for a few laps.  She absolutely loved every minute of it.  She really doesn't like to miss out on anything.



Smith Rock

After caving we decided to take Jeff's parents to Smith Rock.  It is such a beautiful area and so different from what you expect to see in Oregon.  The kids love finding all the holes in the rock face and hiding beneath them.  We hike up to an area that gives a pretty view of the area.  I couldn't make it all the way because of the heights.  But Don got a great picture with the two big kids up at the top.

Caving

We went caving at Boyd Cave near Bend.  Neither of Jeff's parents had been caving and we thought this would be a great place to try it.  We have done the lava tubes in this area, but they were closed for the season.  Jeff found this other cave, which is just a tad more "rustic."

There was only one other car parked at the cave and aside from the rails you can see behind Nora there was no indication that this was any more than an empty field.  From the beginning it felt a little eerie.

We managed to get everyone down into the cave.  It was really dark and our flashlights weren't bright enough.  We also started off in the wrong direction and the walls were really shallow.  Kathy and I decided we had seen enough and we took all the kids back up to earth.  Jeff and his dad spent about 30 minutes inside the cave exploring and had a great time.

Sun River

We only spent one night in Portland with the Olsons before heading to Sun River.  We stayed in this beautiful house with a ton of space for running around.  The best part was the hot tub that the kids swam in every day.

Jeff's parents love every minute the get to spend with the kids.  They are always snuggling up with the kids with a book or playing a game with them.  You would never guess that we only get to spend time with them a few times a year.

The lodge had a gingerbread show that we visited.  Nora loved looking at all the decorations.

We took a tour of a chocolate shop in Bend while the boys were skiing.

We also created our own ginger bread house.  I was so impressed with how Nora and Ronan worked together to make such an awesome house.

Zoo Lights, AGAIN

My kids love zoo lights.  They would go every night if we would let them.  The first night that Grammy and Papa were visiting we took them to zoo lights.  I think they were pretty impressed with the display.  The kids had to show them all their favorite spots.

Olsons Visit!

Grammy and Grandpa arrived in Portland a week before Christmas!  In usual Olson style we did some sight seeing before we even made it home.  We stopped by downtown to show off the tree at Pioneer Court House Square.  Jeff's parents took pictures with the kids that they used for their Christmas cards this year.  So cute!
We stayed busy over the course of the next week (as you will see in the upcoming blog posts) and had a great time.

Wii

My friend, Lisa, mentioned that she was getting her kids a Wii for Christmas.  I have to admit that I was a little shocked.  It seemed like our kids were a little young for expensive video game systems.  I had a change of heart when I got home and was reading the newspaper and discovered that a Wii only costs $100.  Not cheap, but significantly less than I would have though.  I mentioned this whole story to Jeff and an hour later we had a Wii and a game for the kids.
It isn't really our style to give the kids big fancy Christmas presents.  Nor do we usually open presents early.  But we were going to be spending the week before Christmas in Sun River and I thought we might need a little something to keep the kids entertained.
The best part was how excited the kids were and they had no idea what they were opening.  Neither one of the big kids had ever seen a video game before, but that didn't stop them from cheering.  Jeff set it up and we've been gaming ever since.

Dinner Time

Bad News:  Clare dumped out the box of noodles I was planning to make for dinner.
Good News:  She was busy the rest of the time I was cooking.

Portland Tree

We took my mom downtown so that she could see the tree at Pioneer Square.  It was the first time this year that the kids saw the tree too.  It was nice to be downtown, even though it was a cold night.

When we came home we made a rice krispie treat Christmas tree.  It was pretty simple to make and the kids devoured it.

We went downtown one other time and were able to catch a family picture in front of the tree.

Nana Visits

My mom came to visit at the beginning of December.  The kids were so excited to see her again so soon after going to her house for Thanksgiving.  It was nice that we had our house decorated for Christmas.

We took my mom to Timberline Lodge and sledding.  The kids had a blast and the snow was beautiful.  I couldn't believe that in all the times my mom visited that we hadn't taken her to the lodge.

Clare had a great time with Nana!

Christmas Tree

We went to a new tree farm this year for our tree.  It was actually a pumpkin patch and ended up being the perfect place for us to get our tree.  Ronan picked out the tree this year and we all agreed that he found the best one.  I love cutting down our tree every year.

We brought the tree home and decorated it together.  We don't use any glass ornaments so that the kids can continually rearrange and play with them as long as we have our tree. 

I'm looking forward to the day when one of the kids can actually play Christmas carols on the piano.  Until then we will let Clare play for us.

Clay

I had this grand plan of going to the Children's Museum and having the kids create Christmas ornaments that we would give as gifts this year.  However, I totally over estimated their skill level and they were unable to create anything that we could give as a gift.  We did have a great time playing with the clay.

Zoo Lights

On Monday night we made a last minute decision to go to Zoo Lights!  The kids love being at the zoo at night and being surrounded by all the lights.  There wasn't a line for the train so we did that too!  I'm sure that we'll be back again soon.

Camera :(

The day that we left for CA, I dropped my iphone into the toilet.  It has yet to fully recover, and I am definitely going through withdrawls.  But to make matters worse, while we were in SLO, I dropped our new camera lens first into the sand.  Of course the camera died too.  But then to really make sure that things couldn't be worse we took the camera back to Costco where we bought it, only to discover that the warranty expired three days earlier.  A little streak of bad luck in the electronics department for us.  As a result, I don't have many pictures from our trip to CA....

The Beach

We had two great days at the beach.  The kids happily ran around in bathing suits and played in the waves!

The Mission

I remember my parents taking us to SLO when we were children and playing in the creek along the mission.  It brought back so many memories being able to watch Nora and Ronan play in the same place. 

SLO Children's Museum

We decided to take a break from our time in Visalia and head to San Luis Obispo for a couple of nights.  They have a children's museum there that we went to the first morning we were there.  The kids had a great time.  The museum was so different from ours and the kids explored every inch of it.



Nora on a police motorcycle.

Ronan riding a horse.  They had an entire stage set up like a Western Town with several stuffed horses that the children could "ride."  I was shocked that Nora wasn't more interested because she is going through a pony phase.

The museum was on three levels and had several unique lookouts and climbing structures within it.  At the top of this staircase it was 90 degree!

Clare is at such an great age for places like this. She really loved looking and touching everything the museum had to offer.