Snowfall & etc

We had a surprise snowfall this afternoon . . . it caught everybody by complete surprise. We got about an inch of snow over the course of a few hours – just enough to cover everything and build small snowmen out of. It has stopped snowing, but it is cold enough that the snow will stick around at least through morning.

Not long after the snow started, we went to see 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' at the second-run Regal Cinemas by Vancouver Mall. Alex has read the book, and he loved the movie; he says it was exactly like the book. Although there were several good gags, I was a little disappointed in the film.

After the movie we went to Grandma Kennedy's house where Alex played in the snow with Madeline and Everett. We then went grocery shopping, got a couple Red Box movies, and headed home.

We cooked spaghetti with homemade meatballs then retired to our bedrooms to watch the Red Box movies. Alex watched 'The Bee Movie' again. I believe he saw the movie in the theater, and has seen it since, but he does not seem to be bothered by re-watching movies.

Tiffany and I watched 'Julie & Julia'. Before watching, I already had a chip on my shoulder about this movie because I absolutely detest Meryl Streep. I can't really say why. It could be her activism. I am annoyed with entertainers who are also activists; Meryl Streep's activism, however, is not as political as some, and she does support some great causes. Perhaps it is just my perception of her as a snooty snob.

Despite this thing I have against Meryl Streep, she is an incredible actress, and in this film her portrayal of Julia Child was wonderful. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the film. It is the telling of two independent true stories – the first is the story of Julia Child learning to cook French food in post-war Paris, then writing her now-famous book. The second story is of Julie Powell, who cooked all 524 of Julia Child's recipes in one year and blogged about it. I can't put my finger on why I liked it so well, except that it does combine several of my favorite things . . . history, cooking, writing, food, eating, and – oh – did I say food?

I think Tiffany fell asleep a couple times during the movie.

Jake is enjoying another rare night indoors tonight. It's really not too cold for him out there, but he did look pitiful in the snow, begging to come in. Maybe I'm getting soft. Maybe he's just getting old. Anyway, he's warm.

Lost Arrow

Oh, I'm a baaa-aad father!

Alex received a bow and arrow set from Santa Claus for Christmas.  It is a youth-sized bow, but it is compound.  It can put a hole through both sides of a plastic bucket from 20 yards.  I have lectured Alex about not loosing any arrows because if he looses an arrow, it means he was shooting it somewhere he shouldn't have.  In fact, his only targets have been items placed on our berm (giving his target a huge backdrop).

A few minutes ago, I decided to shoot a quiver of arrows before bed.  I shot six arrows at a plastic bucket on the berm, and put one of the arrows through the bucket.  Another four arrows were buried in the ground within a foot of the bucket.  The sixth arrow, however, could not be found.  When I shot it, I heard it glance off the frozen ground and go further up the berm, into the shadows.  In the dark, I was not able to find it.

I had better make sure that I am up before Alex in the morning, and that I find that arrow at first light!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just finished baking for the cookie exchange tomorrow. Tiffany made several dozen chocolate-covered peanut butter balls, and I made five dozen giant chocolate chip cookies. This recipe makes about one dozen 6-inch cookies. Because they are so big, I could only bake four cookies at a time in the regular oven and two cookies at a time in the toaster oven.

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely

Alex’s 500 Piece Puzzle

Alex finished his first 500 piece puzzle tonight. We did a 100 piece puzzle a couple days ago, and Alex seemed to enjoy it . . . actually, I think he just enjoyed all of us doing something quietly in front of the fire together.

We stopped by Michael's to buy a 300 piece puzzle Thursday after school, but he liked the picture on this 500 piece puzzle better.

It took us two evenings to complete, and by the end, he was ready to be done with it . . . I think he's not going to want to do 500 pieces again for a while.

Alex’s Lost Tooth

Alex lost a tooth last night in bed. He is upset that he put it under his pillow in the middle of the night, but he didn't get money. The tooth fairy must have already made her rounds when he lost it.

Library Opening and Christmas Concert

When Tiffany and I picked Alex up from school today, we went straight to the new Cascade Park Library, next door to the Firstenburg Center, where they had their grand opening from 4 to 8. Tiffany and Alex were among the first few people in the building when they opened the doors; I was parking the car, so I was 5 minutes later.

We spent 20 minutes wandering through the library. It is a large, very open space with dozens of internet terminals, very nice reading areas (including one with very comfy chairs in front of a fireplace, looking out a window at a small wooded alcove). The library has self-checkout; I am not sure how this works, but it appears to be something similar to the self-checkout lines in the grocery stores. Today the library is well-stocked, with many of the books being brand-new. It is obvious that much time and effort went into staging.

One thing the library does not have is adequate parking.  Of course, parking was a nightmare for the grand opening.  It shares the Firstenburg Center parking lot, and no additional parking capacity was added with the addition of the library.  The Firstenburg parking lot has always had a questionable capacity, so I fear that the addition of the library may be too much for the lot to handle.

We saw Mayor Royce Pollard, who was going to give a speech sometime around 5:00, but Alex was too shy to approach him and shake his hand. Instead, we settled for just seeing him from 20 feet away.

Finally, we decided that we did not want to stick around for the speeches, refreshments, and entertainment so we left about 4:30.

After eating dinner, we were off again to the Battle Ground Community Band's final Christmas concert, at The Quarry Senior Living. We had a fair-sized audience and played well. Alex was well-behaved, possibly because he brought his Nintendo DS.

Inner tubing at Aubrey Watzek Lodge

On Sunday Alex and I went to the Aubrey Watzek Boy Scout lodge on Mt Hood to go inner tubing. We met Aunt Melissa, Uncle Steve, Hailey, and Hayden. Tiffany didn't go because she was nervous about not being able to make it to the lodge; it turns out she was right.  The trek from the parking lot to the lodge would have been taxing on her even when she has her full strength - since she is still recovering from her last broken leg, she would not have been able to make it.

We were planning on leaving home at 7:30 in order to get to the lodge at 9:00. We had a late night last night and ended up getting much more sleep than planned. After eating breakfast, packing changes of clothes and food (Alex had to take a thermos full of hot chocolate), and just a generally hectic time of preparing, we left home about 10:00. We made several stops along the way. First we had to get gas. Next, we stopped at Wal-Mart to get Alex some snow boots. We stopped at Fred Meyer in Sandy to get a Sno-Park permit; they didn't have them, so we stopped at a gas station to get a Sno-Park permit, coffee, and candy bars. The last 10 miles of driving was on packed snow, and the last 4 miles (on Highway 35) had signs saying chains are required. We had four studded tires on the van and were doing just fine, so I didn't put chains on. This was upsetting Alex; I'm not sure whether he was nervous about getting a ticket or about having an accident. (Just after seeing the first little bit of snow outside of Sandy, Alex had quizzed me about all the things that make our van good in snow . . . studded tires, front wheel drive, ABS, equal weight front and rear, etc. . . . and he wanted to know how each and every feature helped in the snow.  I think he was nervous.)  With all of these stops, we pulled into the Aubrey Watzek parking lot about 12:30.

From the parking lot, we hiked 200 yards into the woods. There really weren't any obvious signs of a permanent path, but there was a trail where a sled had been pulled through the snow; we followed the sled tracks. When we finally came upon the lodge, we were amazed. The lodge is a fairly rustic building on the edge of a hillside clearing. A long inner tube run down the hill was populated by about a dozen people. We went inside to warm up.

The inside of the lodge was very warm, and had a rustic oaken aroma, either from the wood-burning furnace in the basement or from the wooden structure itself. There is a large lobby with a huge fireplace, couches, and tables. There are also four dormitories on lofts overlooking the lobby. Each dormitory sleeps 30 people on triple-stacked wooden bunks with 2 inch pads. There is a bathroom and a large kitchen in each dormitory. The kitchen is stocked with basic cooking implements, from forks and spoons to large stock pots. There was an urn of hot water and a gallon-sized can of powdered cocoa waiting for us in our dorm. The window in the kitchen overlooks the sledding hill, so you can sit at the table and see everything that is going on in the snow below, all while sipping coffee or hot chocolate in the warmth of the lodge. On this particular day, there were only about two dozen people at the lodge.

We wasted very little time putting down our loads and getting out on the snow. Aunt Melissa, Uncle Steve, Hailey, and Hayden were already waiting for us.

Alex took an inner tube half-way up the hill and sat to watch the action for quite a while. I coaxed him to slide down, but he wasn't quite ready. He said he would do it later, but just wanted to watch for a while. After 5 minutes of coaxing, he finally took the plunge.

Throughout the day, Alex only slid down the hill about half a dozen times. He spent most of the day digging holes in the snow and building walls. He went in the lodge a couple times to drink hot chocolate, but then went right back out. He had a blast. Hailey was quite a daredevil, sliding down the hill from farther up than most of the adults would start . . . even Hayden seemed to enjoy sliding. Steve was carrying him on the tube, and he would cry when the ride was over, then point up the hill as if asking to go again.

At 3:30, Alex finally came in the lodge for the final time to eat and pack up to go. We heated up some of the SpaghettiOs that we had packed in – they were about the best SpaghettiOs I have ever eaten. The lodge closed at 4:00, and we were heading out the door right at 4:00.

On the way back to the van, I slipped in the snow and fell. I was carrying a grocery bag full of clothes and food, and a cup of hot coffee. Neither spilled.

The drive home was uneventful. Because it was just Alex and I, we decided to detour to Powell's Books to pick Alex up another Star Wars book. He has read all of his Star Wars books many times, but he says he doesn't like any of the other Star Wars books he has seen in the bookstores. He was amazed at how many Star Wars books they have at Powell's, and easily found one he was interested in.

We arrived home at 7:00, just in time to eat dinner and go to bed.

It was a great day; the only thing that would have made it better is if Tiffany would have been able to enjoy it with us.

Santa Claus

Yesterday, Alex visited Santa at the Belmont Firehouse Museum. Santa was really great – he addressed Alex by name as soon as he came around the corner, helping to dispel any notion Alex may have had about this not being the REAL Santa Claus. The firefighter garb didn't seem to bother Alex at all.

Alex asked for an electric scooter. When pressed for another choice, Alex couldn't think of anything else he wanted. Santa said that if Alex wouldn't tell him, he'd get a CHICKEN . . . to which Alex responded that he already had two, and more would be just fine.

After Alex got off Santa's lap, he said that he wanted a Transformer Construction Devastator. This is the large robot at the end of Transformers 2 that is made up of 6 other robots. It is insanely expensive, and must be a nightmare to transform. Nonetheless, I think Santa heard Alex talking about it . . . I believe I saw him taking notes.

Alex’s Martial Arts Graduation

Last night, Alex graduated to Yellow Belt in his Martial Arts class (Karate and Kick Boxing). He is extremely proud.

Grandpa and Grandma Kennedy and Grandpa and Grandma Wiser all went to see the graduation, along with Tiffany and I; it was held in the Evergreen High School Auditorium, and was packed. Along with about 10 other students, Alex performed several Karate and Kick Boxing moves and combinations in front of several hundred people.

MMD Support Group Christmas Party

Tonight we went to the MMD Support Group Christmas Party. It was a pretty big turnout – I would guess about 25 people. The party was at a home on the north shore of Jantzen Beach Island, and the Christmas Ships paraded by during the party.

Alex was pretty bored, but didn't act too bad, all considered. We went straight to the party from school (after Chess club, which he isn't too enamored with, anyway); then, the party was mostly an adult event, and there was no room in the house for the few children present to run around. On top of it all, we had already warned Alex that many people there have Myotonic Dystrophy, so they either walk with a cane, or have trouble standing or walking, and so are prone to falling when children bump into them.

We watched the Christmas ships – me and the children from the deck overlooking the water, and most of the other adults from the bay windows directly behind us (it was about 20 degrees outside).

New Oven was a Bargain!

Tomorrow will be two weeks since we got the free oven from Craigslist. We have been using it quite a bit, and have not had any trouble with it since I cleaned it.

I think we ended up getting a bargain.

Clark County Walk and Knock

This morning Alex and I, along with many others from his Cub Scout Pack 545, volunteered with the Clark County Walk and Knock. We spent about 2 hours going door to door, asking for food donations for the Clark County Food Bank. I was actually surprised by how much food we got.

Larch Mountain Climb

This morning after dropping Alex off at school, I climbed Larch Mountain, a 3500 foot summit in East Clark County.

I had talked to Alex about doing this, and was planning on just driving around the area to see how close you can drive to the summit. I found that the closest point you can drive to is a mile and a half away, and 800 feet below. I parked the truck and, since I was THIS close, decided to hoof it.

The walk took 45 minutes. It was 1 ½ miles, with an 800 foot elevation gain. Most of it was through a clear cut, offering magnificent views of both Vancouver and Camas (and beyond!) Higher up, however, I walked into the trees and also into the clouds, so by the time I summited, the view was gone. The last ¼ mile was through snow.

At the top of the mountain, I came around a bend onto the summit, and there before me were two giant radio towers. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had endured this strenuous hike in near-freezing temperatures, and instead of a territorial view, I got radio towers. Quite anti-climatical.

I had begun driving toward Larch Mountain at 10:00 this morning; I parked the truck at 11:20; I summited at exactly noon. By 12:40, I was back in the truck. It was a cold, dry day, but once I got into the clouds, it was much colder, and the summit was fairly windy.

When I got back to the truck, my fingers had begun loosing feeling, and I was ready to just sit with the heater on for a few minutes.

As an aside, as soon as I turned the first corner on the walk, I began wondering whether I had left the truck lights on. All the way up and back, I was thinking I would probably come back to a dead battery. It's a manual, though, and was parked on the top of a mountain. I figured I could pop the clutch. Thankfully, I had turned the lights off, and the truck started right up.