Spite and Malice

Plenty of spite and malice in last night's card game, which Mali managed to win. Spite and Malice is an excellent name for that game, and we'll go with it since we couldn't find our Skip-Bo cards.
Mali was asleep twenty minutes after we finished playing, and beat me awake this morning - I saw her light come on at 5:30 again.
No snow or ice this morning, contrary to the kid's hopeful forecast, so they're at school.

Early in the morning

Mali and I are still on East Coast time. She is up at 5:30 doing a rug-hook tiger she wants to finish by Christmas. I've been awake since 3:00, and finally got out of bed at 4:00 so I could start work at 5:00 for no real reason.
Mali's soccer game tomorrow has been cancelled because the boys team they were to play can't get enough players. No one here is upset by that. It is COLD here.

It's snowing!

It snowed hard this morning, which got the kids all excited, but nothing stuck around. It's too warm. It stopped for a couple of hours, but is now snowing like crazy, with big, fat flakes. I just opened the front door to check it out, and I can hear the soft fall of the snow just under the clamor coming from recess up the hill.

Home from Florida.

Florida isn't quite as magical when it is below 70 degrees, but we had a great time visiting with Irene and Melissa. We reintroduced them to Skip-Bo, which they introduced to us in an earlier visit (2003?). It's an old game that used to be called Spite and Malice, or Cat and Mouse.

We did manage to get in some good beach time on Saturday when the weather finally warmed up for awhile. The beach was stuffed full of people until a huge black cloud passed over, waking me up to find people packing up and leaving everywhere.

Our trip home was uneventful, and surprisingly uncrowded. The planes were full, but the airports were not. An airport worker told us we were between the morning and afternoon rush.

Photo Shoot

Irene and Susy played dress up with their Mali-doll. Then last night Susy discovered old photos on my PC, including Mali in the red dress in July 2003. Here's the before and after shots, with two of Andrew too.


Mali and Andrew, July 2003 and November 2006

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was wonderful, with lots of great food all cooked to perfection. Melissa took the best picture, so you don't get to see her.

Busch Gardens

Wednesday we drove up to Tampa to visit Busch Gardens. Amazing, going to a family theme park where the theme is beer. The first picture below is in front of a giant Anheiser-Busch eagle topiary. I couldn't help but think of Stephen Colbert.
We didn't get all the way through the park, but we had a great time.

More Florida

Today we head to Busch Gardens in questionable weather. Yesterday we played some soccer on the beach, with poor Mali heading into the water several times to retrieve the ball. (She was wearing the flip-flops.) Afterwards we hit the Y where Mali and Susy swam, and raced, and Mali won. Andrew and I played ping pong, fooseball, and air hockey. Then we headed to Olive Garden for dinner, but I made everyone pose for a picture first.

Cold Florida

No swimming yesterday. The kids wanted to look for shells, so we tried a park I found on the map, but there was actually no beach there - it was mainly for fishing. Then we headed back to the main beach by Grandma's, where they played in the sand. It was windy, and there were a few drops of rain, but no one took any notice except to not get into the water. We may try more beach hopping this morning. It was raining when I drove here (Panera's at the mall next to Grandma's), but now the sun is out. The forecast is for low 60's until Friday. Not to worry -we will find things to do.

Waterpark disappointment.

The YMCA waterpark is closed for the Winter! Apparently, it is too cold. The kids handled the disappointment fairly well, but then they weren't allowed to use the hot-tub (16 or over only), the outdoor pool was full of a swim meet, and then the teen-center closed for the day. We will go back and try it again. Mali is just old enough to use the teen center, which was full of fun stuff. The kids swam with Susy in the indoor pool while I worked out.
Today we will go find a different beach - the kids want to find one with shells. The beautiful one by Irene's is full of nothing but brilliant white sand. We will be swimming there - maybe even today.

Florida!

We made it! We arrived at Grandma Drew and Melissa's house last night in time for a late dinner. This morning Mali and I went to the beach while Susy and Andrew were still sleeping. We saw a flock of dolphins just off the beach, pelican's diving after fish, and short, little sandpiper-like birds sprinting around the waves. There is a craft fair next to the parking lot at the public beach, so we'll all go back to check that out and get in some more beach time. It was cool this morning, but is warming up, so we should be able to get some swimming in.
Update: We dragged Irene to the craft fair. Susy and Mali got some nifty, magnetized jewelry, and I got a totally cool, funky hat made out of honeycomb paper.

Fence Fall Down

We've had stormy weather for several days here. Monday morning I discovered my fence fell over on my apple tree.

Soccer's End

We are back from our weekend tour of Oregon. Medford was fun once we learned enough to discard all our pre-printed directions. We had a fun dinner with the team at an Abby's pizza. Mali's team lost their game 2-0, their first loss in 12 games, and their last game of the season.
Andrew was happy holding a yorkie before the game began. Lobbying for a yorkie of our own has begun in earnest.


After Mali's game we left immediately for Redmond, Oregon, at least once we got the van jumpstarted. Then we raced a storm over the pass and had dinner with Matias and Ethan's gang, since everyone else waited until Sunday to make the trip. The Poi Dogs lost 12-1 or something, and then we raced another storm across another pass. Below is a picture of Mali getting hot chocolate, and a coffee for her mom. Mali has discovered coffee, at least the decaffinated variety. She likes it, provided it tastes like ice cream.

Monsoon Soccer

It is still raining. It may never stop.

Andrew's game in Salem was dry, but the wind was astounding. Balls kicked high into the air would come down going the other direction. The Poi Dogs gave up several cheap goals and lost 4-1. Mali's team played at home under the lights in thick, driving rain, and no one scored.

Yesterday the eXtreme won, 3-2, in more rain. Andrew's game followed immediately, which was nice as there was no need to dry off only to get wet again. The Poi Dogs lost a heartbreaker 2-1 on a brilliant last second shot by the other team.

Tomorrow I drive up to Redmond for work and the big family dinner at the SouthCenter Red Robin.

Halloween Party Photos

I've posted several photos from the Halloween party for Mali's soccer team at the OregonDad Flikr site. Here's the address, click it to go to the site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregondad/sets/72157594360125495/

Halloween

Andrew did not go trick-or-treating, but he did allow his sister to dress him up as a girl. The costume was a big hit at Alana's, where there were thirty-plus kids enjoying Olivia's mother's hospitality.

Sunday's Soccer Halloween Party

Sunday we had the sixteen girls of Mali's soccer team over for a Halloween Party. By winning or tieing all of their last ten games, they won the right to pick their coaches Halloween costume - see if you can spot him in the photo below.
Activities included: Costume contest, Donut-hanging-on-string eating relay race, M&M-on-straw relay race, treasure hunt, and a cake decorating contest.