The Cook Family Adventure Blog: 2021 off with a bang

Hello 2021! The Pandemic continues but at least the weather is reasonably nice. We got out into the snow, including a hike in the mountains on a snowy / rainy day.

Skiing at Ski Bowl - Elliot really took to skiing this year and, by the end of the season, was really able to ski independently. She would lap the magic carpet all by herself and, with a boost, could ski the beginner chair lifts. Weston loves the idea of skiing but is still working on the balance and strength to really make it happen (and patience) and there are a lot of snacks involved in ski days.

More hiking!

Snacks while hiking - an essential part of the hike! They are really good about sitting in a line here because they are getting hot chocolate - not usually this organized ;)

and bike riding in the city even in the middle of winter. Wes is on a peddle bike and a tearing it up next to Elliot - they are a pair of speed demons!

The kids continue to grow up and Wes is becoming a loving, supportive and thoughtful big brother. He loves Fiona and really likes playing with her and making sure she is safe and happy.

And Fiona is developing into a young woman in her own right - strong willed, talkative an adventurous. Look at that hair!!

As the pandemic wore on, we started trying to do special days with each of the kids - to try and get some 1:1 parent / kid time. Here are Wes and Crystal enjoying a snack at our local coffee rosters.

And Elliot on the ski hill with Mom! Elliot really shreds the sicky gnar pow at this point and is legitimately fun to ski with!

We still had family adventures, however, and this is us up sledding at White River snowpark on Mt. Hood - we met some friends up there for a sledding day and a fire / roasting hot dogs to follow!

We also took some time for ourselves through the winter - scheduling some childcare to make time to go on an adult ski day....although the weather didn't really cooperate.

As time went along, we planned our last trip with Andrea - to Black Butte Ranch in the winter! Snuggly baby Fiona! Look at those teeth!!!

And Wes drove the car a bit, or at least pretended to!

We skied for the first time at Cooper's Spur - on the far side of Mt. Hood, and it was GREAT!!! A bit of a longer drive, but very few lines, great snow and very accessible lifts for kids. A hit for sure and we will definitely be back!

I told you....she shreds the sicky gnar pow!

Through all of this - Elliot was in Pod Kindergarten. With the pandemic, her kindergarten instruction was all online and we partnered with four other families to hire a teacher (Bella!) to run a full day of in-person kindergarten based on the PPS curriculum. Rotated houses each week and the kids got some consistent instruction, a solid group to learn with and really did better than we hard dared to hope at the beginning.

and Fiona is pooping on the potty!

One fateful day, Wes was very quiet at nap time and only later did mom discover the extent of his coloring from a stashed marker.....

the true extent......smh....

no wonder he was quite for over an hour!!

Snowpocalypse 2021 brought us a series of winter days with a few inches of snow in Portland, however because it stayed cold - the snow stuck around longer than usual. The roads were never plowed and we had a blast getting out and sledding / skiing / walking through our snowy neighborhood. The kids loved sledding down "suicide hill" and the uniqueness of true snow in Portland was not lost on us.