Spring Break Adventures

Our first adventure this week was a trek to the top of Beacon rock. I have lived here most of my life and driven by the formation more times than I can count but I've never stopped to hike to the top. The weather was cool but dry which was perfect because we got quite warm as we hiked. Magen was a reluctant participant but she admitted that it was pretty fun.

At the top we had a birdseye view of the Columbia River, it was beautiful.

When we got back to the bottom we had a few snacks and then headed home.

Magen entertained us on the way home with her front seat dance routines to various Taylor Swift songs, sorry I didn't get any pictures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon_Rock_State_Park

March Madness

I just wanted to show how our family celebrates March Madness. Everybody gets a bracket sheet (except Cameron because he is way too cool) and with no knowledge of the teams abilities, other than their ranking, randomly choose who we think will win each game. Just before the kids go to bed Steve helps them highlight or cross out the teams. The current leader(s) is declared and then it's time for bed. This has become a much anticipated event and a fun tradition. By the way, for the first time ever I am currently in first place.

Mackenize on Stage...... and looking "HOT"

Last night we had the pleasure of watching Mackenize perform in a play called "Hansel and Gretel and Fretel" She was the narrator and she did an excellent job. She has been attending practices twice a week for the past two months. This is such a popular event at the school and so many 4th and 5th graders want to be involved that they separated everyone into four groups. Each group practiced acting out a "new" version of popular fairy tales. They had two groups perform on Wednesday and two groups on Thursday. All of the students had to be there on both nights because they all participated in the singing portions of the play. It was very entertaining and the music, scenery and costumes were amazing.

With the lights, a stocking cap and a long sleeved flannel shirt Mackenzie was HOT! Her cheeks were pink and we could see how uncomfortable she was. As soon as the play was over she wanted to go outside and cool off.

Good Job Mackenzie!

Back for some blogging

Wow, the past 11 weeks has been intense. I took my last final yesterday and I have over two weeks of magnificent freedom. I have a long list of things that I have put off that need to be done before I return to school and one of those things is to get my blog up to date. When I first started my blog the main purpose was keeping a record of what happens in the lives of the Hollister family. I plan to eventually put my blog into a book and keep it as a type of journal. For this reason I want to fill in the blogging gap of this past few months.

One of the funnest things we have done this winter is cheer for our favorite high school basketball team, the Columbia River Chieftains. Steve announces the home games and whenever possible we join him. I have a friend that I sit with, we sometimes chat, well okay we always chat but we are multi-tasking, we always know what is happening in the game. The team had a great season and several trips were made to Tacoma to watch them participate in the State tournament. We were thrilled when they won their semi-final game and had the opportunity to play in the championship game. Sadly they didn't win but getting 2nd in state is a huge accomplishment.