Christmas tree

  
On the 6th we walked outside and found a Christmas tree growing in our yard.  Beastly blackberry vines had forced it to grow horizontally for about 10 feet before curving upright, so it’s not the most magnificent specimen (but we probably wouldn’t have cut it down otherwise).  Alice wasn’t impressed. 
  
Standing it up was a challenge that took most of the afternoon and eventually involved support lines strung around the living room.  Alice napped through that part.  We watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas that night and decorated the tree the following day.  It turned out pretty nice. 
  

Gryphon’s Concert

Here’s a distilled version of the Holiday Concert we saw at Gryphon’s school:

And here’s something Gryphon made during his hour of “quiet time” one day:

Thanksgiving

We had a relaxing trip to Bellingham last week. 
 
We looked for salmon in Whatcom Creek on Thanksgiving.
 
 

The next day we did some shopping and the kids went to Nanna’s favorite donut shop.
 
Dar Dar took Gryphon and me to a magic show at Mt. Baker Theater on Saturday.  Gryphon was impressed by the handkerchief that changed color.  We tried to figure out some of the tricks at Red Robin afterward.
 
Then we sawed down a Christmas tree in the rain real quick.  I got to visit my friend Zach and his lady Angela afterward. 
 
We headed home Sunday, and Alice and I did this on Monday:

Breakfast in bed

Gryphon and Alice are doing a good job playing together.
 
Cheri got breakfast in bed on the 16th and 17th for no particular reason.
 
“We’re sitting next to each other, watching a movie.  Gryphon and me.  There’s Alice and Gryphon in their beanbags.” –Alice
 
Alice has been helping out in the workshop lately.
 
 
Cheri’s been painting more, and started up a blog to post the results.  Alice painted a rock until it turned brown.
 
 

Sluicing the hogback

 
We added some blueberry plants and a gate to our garden on the 3rd.
 
Cheri’s parents came up for a visit on the 5th.  The next morning Gryphon’s school had its Veterans Day assembly.  The Kindergarten class sang a song that Gryphon recorded for us to hear back in September:

Afterward we went on a historical walking tour of downtown Port Angeles, which everyone enjoyed.  We learned that the stench of sewage in the port was bad enough that in 1914 the town came together and raised up the main street by “sluicing the hogback”: spraying water on the mountainside, causing a mudslide to fill in between cement barricades.  Spaces next to the barricades became “underground” when sidewalks were built above them, and a small section of the underground still remains.  We also learned that the upper floor of the Family Shoe Store used to be a brothel, and still retains signs of its risqué past.
 
Then I got to fix our washing machine, whose warranty expired a couple weeks before it started pouring water out the door.
 
 
On the 7th we visited scenic Salt Creek despite some rain.  We added hip waders to the kids’ Christmas lists.
 
 
After launching a series of driftwood boats, Boppa and Gryphon came upon some scientists counting fish.
 
  
We picked up a bike from Cheri’s parents’ basement on our last visit, and are in the process of making it over for Gryphon. 
 
Gryphon made a TIE Fighter pancake shooting lasers on the 10th.