We have never spent Christmas in Portland, but have heard about all the festivities that take place with the family. For the past few years, Dan and Kathy have hosted Christmas Eve at their house and we were going to get to participate!
But there was a lot for the parents to do before Christmas Eve and we thought we'd take the boys off their hands and go to the movies.
Polar Express was playing at the
St. John's McMenamin's Theater. (They like riding in someone else's car - so we packed them in and off we went.)
McMenamin's is a chain of brew pubs that are known through the Pacific Northwest (mostly in Portland) and a few of them have theaters. (The McMenamin's brothers buy old buildings and convert them to brew pubs, restaurants and some with lodging options.)
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| No theater-style seating at McMenamin's! It's all about the comfy couches and tables. |
It's been great fun at the Mooregon house...we've played old-school (and new-school) Scrabble, worked on several 500+ piece puzzles, played Wii, eaten some good food, consumed some tasty wine and beer. :o)
Another indoor activity and pre-requisite for Christmas Eve was decorating cookies! These boys are quite the artists.
Cousins from Seattle arrived and the REAL fun was about to begin. (After being in the car for 3 hours, the girls had lots of energy!)
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| Grace, Carrie, Nate, Chris and Ella take over the basement. |
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| A friendly game of Wii among cousins. |
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| Heated competition at the air hockey table. |
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| Chris vs Auntie |
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| Nate vs cousin Grace |
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| The boys time how long cousin Ella can hang. |
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| All about the competition! |
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| Grandma (Kathy's mom) gets in to cookie decorating with Ella and Grace. |
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| Uncle Frank and Nate do a little Wii-ing. |
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| It wouldn't be Christmas without a visit from Santa! |
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| Nate, Santa and Chris |
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| Santa and Leann |
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| More cousins and more competitions! |
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| Carrie vs Grandma |
Something different this year - a Felize Navidad themed Christmas Eve dinner. Homemade tamales, authentico Mexican rice and beans, Sangria, and cerveza. Tasty!
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| A Christmas tradition - scratchers! And Grandma comes ready to pay out on the spot! |
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| The Slaters - Mark, Susan, Chery, Stu, Greg and Kathy |
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| More treasures! |
We've had so much fun introducing friends to "Left-Right-Center"! We played with the immediate family during the week and then introduced the Slater clan to the fun.
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| Mark, Leann, Frank, Susan, Susan, Stu, Claudine, Cheryl, Greg, Grace, Kathy and Carrie |
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By the third round, the little kids were participating!
Stu, Claudine, Cheryl, Greg, Grace, and Catie |
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| Presents! |
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| Traditional PJ's from Grandma |
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| With the kids being all different sizes, this is the first year they weren't ALL matching. |
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| Not only did Grandma do PJ's, the kids got Snuggies! |
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| "Snuggied" and ready for a movie. |
We had a great time with the Slater family and appreciate them including us in the fun!
We scheduled our return trip home on Christmas, thinking it would be a "day less traveled". For the first part, that was true. But by the time we got to Houston, there were a lot more travelers.
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| Over Colorado |
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| May be dinner on Christmas but we've had a great 2 weeks spending time with family in San Francisco and Portland. |
A very
Merry Christmas was had by all and appreciate all the folks affiliated with our travel who traded time with their family on Christmas to help others reach their destinations.
**The blog won't be updated until early next year. We are heading to Atlanta to cheer on the Seminoles in the Chick-fil-a Bowl over New Years.
Happy New Year from the Crazy Travelers!
