Thanksgiving and Holiday Fun Stuff

The Racoon Racers and Families

The Belmont-Smith Family arrived Wednesday night after an arduous drive up I-5 and we kicked off the festivities the next morning with the Turkey Trot Fun Run. It seems more and more people show up each year to enjoy a run/walk around the Lake Sacajawea. We met up with several groups of friends and it was a great time to catch up with people we haven’t seen for a while. Jill and Cole were the only two from our group to finish the whole lake this year. Way to go Cole. We headed home to clean up, eat some yummy Thanksgiving dinner and watch the Seachickens lose once again. Sigh. Football in Washington this year leaves much to be desired.

Jill and Cole approaching the finish line

We braved the crowds Friday morning for some super deals and then began the process of decorating the house. Although not done, the house is beginning to look festive and the mood is starting to feel a lot like Christmas.

Geo-caching

Dan and Jill "working" the GPS

We decided to try our hand at a fun activity called Geo-caching. Simply put, this is like treasure hunting with a GPS. We went to http://www.geocaching.com/ , typed in our zip code and found several “caches” right here in Longview. So we downloaded the coordinates and headed out to find the stashes, trade a treasure or two and leave our name in the log books for future geo-cachers.

Hollow tree - one of the hiding places

The kids had a blast looking for the hiding places and opening the boxes to find what lay inside. This was a great way to get outside and move around without having to find a place to hike. And it was great for getting the kids to use their observation skills. There are over a half a million geo-caches around the world, so it is something we have decided we can so as a family when we visit places.

We found it!

Lanna showing some treasures

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ruiz and Belmont-Smith Families
Turkey Trot - Thanksgiving 2008