A Busy Start to December full of Friends and Skiing!

 It has been a busy start to December! In addition to it being Winter Spirit Week at Shorecrest, we had a lot going on at home! We got our Christmas tree decorated so it really feels like we are in the spirit! Charlotte and the other freshman girls are practicing for the GFL girls flag football game this week. The coaches and managers, also 9th graders, have done an impressive job organizing practices, writing plays, figuring out the uniforms and promoting the game. I’m excited for the big match up against the sophomores this Thursday! Our Book Club had our annual Holiday Party and it was just the right mix of reflection on the year, vulnerability, and humor. My Book Club friends are THE BEST and Amy always hosts this party to the max! Edison had his first SC swim meet Thursday, I couldn't go but Sadie sent me videos! He did great and it’s looking like he might be a backstroker this year for the team. Both Edison and Charlotte hosted sleepovers here after the dance. That was fun having a house literally FULL of teenagers. Luckily Reed was invited to his own sleepover at his friend’s house, so that was super helpful. Edison’s friend David came by Saturday afternoon and the boys detailed their cars… oh to be 16 again!

Finally, we capped off our week with a giant POWDER day at Stevens Pass Sunday. The snow was epic, especially for early December. We were able to meet up with the Birgfelds and skied with Craig and Bryn all day. We also met up with both Miles and also Robin and Lu on the mountain. I love running into ski friends and going for some laps. It is feeling like it will be a great season! Knee update - holding up well. I crossed a couple mental hurdles today of doing powder runs off the groomers and going down some steeps off Seventh Heaven. The brace is a pain to put on, but once in place it isn’t very noticeable and seems to do the job well. If this is the new normal, I can handle that.

DECEMBER - Winter Pep Assembly, Spirit Week and Winter Formal Dance

 Winter Spirit Week at Shorecrest was huge and included spirit days, our Basketball Kick-Off Night, the Winter Pep Assembly, and our Winter Formal Dance. We haven’t pulled everything together like this for a big Winter Spirit Week since pre-Covid. I was really proud of my students for working so hard to make each of these events really special. I am so tired! over 20,000 steps on Friday alone. But it is worth it!

We got very positive feedback for the Winter Pep Assembly. The students tried to involve a lot of people, make it entertaining and high-energy and have a fun storyline. The premise was that the Grinch had stolen SC spirit/ colors and so it was a white out.

The decorations for Winter Formal Dance were incredible - this is probably the best planned dance I’ve seen and the flow and vibe was really great. Everyone who came had a blast. In addition to the dance, we had a games area, patio area (with heaters!) and karaoke. Daniel came to DJ and did an incredible job reading the room and tailoring the songs to what the crowd wanted.

Thanksgiving Vacation: Swim Banquet, Great Wolf, Family Time, Cabin, Skiing

 Amazing and full Thanksgiving Vacation. We tried to make the most of it! We started the week with Charlotte’s Swim Team Banquet. The coaches had wonderful things to say about each swimmer - it was really cool to celebrate all the girls! Then Reed and I kicked break off with an overnight to Great Wolf Lodge with two of his friends on Tuesday. Wednesday I saw the Dusty 45s, a great local rockabilly band play at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard. After a little Turkey Trot on the Burke Gilman with the Birgfelds and Emilia, we hosted my family for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. It is so fun to have all the kids playing with each other and also really great to have time to catch up with everyone. Floyd made his incredible Swedish Meatballs and Edison cooked the turkey with lots of butter and spice and it got rave reviews.

The kids and I trekked out to the cabin Thursday night with Sadie for the second half of break. Cabin time included: movies, pumpkin pie, hot tubbing, walking around town, board games, and a couple projects. We have gotten a lot of snow in the mountains already this year and Stevens Pass Ski Area opened early! We got to ski both Friday and Saturday and the snow was excellent (for November). My knee held up okay and I love my new Nordica Santa Ana skis. Our first day was a bit of shakedown with Reed losing his ski pass, requiring a long wait in the guest services line, and also forgetting his helmet, goggles and gloves (we improvised pretty well, but it wasn’t ideal). I’m glad we had this day to get ourselves squared away and in better shape for next time! Charlotte and I got to ski on Saturday with Jess and there were hardly any people there. We were able to do hot laps on Skyline and it felt like spring skiing with the sunshine and mild temperatures. I am remembering now how much I love skiing!!