Olympia Trip and The Polar Express

So, one of my favorite Christmas stories is the Polar Express.  I've always heard that people will take their kids to places to ride a train and experience the story in person.  I got on line and discovered they had one at Mt. Rainier.  Of course I HAD to get us tickets.  I also thought that since we would be in the area, we could just spend the whole weekend in Olympia.  Jake and I really liked the town when we interviewed there over a year ago.  We also told the kids that we would take them to explore it for themselves.  I booked us a hotel by the waterfront and we had a BLAST!

For the first time, Jake and I booked 2 rooms.  One for us and one for the kids to share.  They ended up being across the hall from us.  We ate at a few places I had discovered on my previous trip.  I even took them to my FAVORITE toy store.  Jake told Allie she might sleep better at night if she had a GIANT OCTOPUS.  So she got Ollie.  Owen even got a harmonica.

The evening we did the Polar Express was EPIC.  They had actors dressed as the main characters.  We had a cookie and cup of hot chocolate.  Santa even walked around greeting everyone and giving them a silver bell (just like the book).

I'm so glad my family indulged me and went on this adventure with me.  One of my favorite Christmas memories.

It's starting to look a lot like...

We are very excited for this year's Christmas.  My mom and sister are living in Spokane.  We are so thrilled, we even got them stockings!  My mom actually sent a large rubber maid tote with gifts for us, with Jen's stuff when she moved here not knowing she herself would be here too.  So on top of those, she has been busy buying other gifts.  This Christmas is going to be a BIG one!

Jesus Christ Superstar

 As a fun treat, we all went to see the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.  Jake and I had seen it back when we first started dating in the mid 90's.  But when we mentioned it, both kids were excited to see it.  So I got us tickets and we went.  Our seats were really good.  The cast was AMAZING!  Even Allie posted about how much she loved it.  This was definitely a high light this year.

Sac Volleyball Season 2019

Allie was on the middle school 7th grade JV volleyball team.  They let anyone who wants to play be on the team, so the skills were varied from group to group.  Allie's group of 7 were GOOD!!!  They only lost the first set they played.  That's the entire season!!!  She had a ton of fun and even made a few good friends.  Club Volleyball will be starting in January, but the intensity is much more.  So I'm grateful she had this season to just have fun!

Club Volleyball 2019-20

Allie loves volleyball.  She endures the activity with passion that I can't explain in words.  The entire time she is on the court, there is a smile on her face.  So when club volleyball tryouts came, we had to go for it.  There were 2 teams she seemed interested in, Club South Volleyball and Rivals Volleyball.  She was a part of the Club South Volleyball Juniors last year, but this year she would be trying out for their club league.  I'll be honest, I NEVER fit in with the parents of this club.  But I went and watched my daughter enjoy the time.  So I was interested in the other team, even though they had practices 20 minutes away.

Her first tryouts were 8-10 for Club South.  There were over 25 girls trying out for the 8-10 spots.  She had fun, but she wasn't sure about the coach.

Her next tryout was 11-1 for Rivals.  There were about 20 girls trying out for maybe 2 teams.  She had fun, AND liked the coaches.

I know she was tired and hungry by the time the second one started, but she gave it her ALL!  Before the tryout was over the coaches walked around pulling each girl out of the scrimmage game (one on one) to talk about what they thought.  I quietly sat there watching them pull most of the girls for this chat.  I said a prayer and next thing I knew, they were talking to Allie.

She came running over to me with a HUGE smile and a piece of paper.  They wanted her to be a part of the 14U teams.  I couldn't be more proud of her.  We signed and returned the paper right then.  The best part is this league is more my speed and costs less than the other teams.  Bring on the Club Volleyball Season 2019-20!!!