New recruits for the Timbers Army

Audrey and Kate went to see a Portland Timbers game today with their friends Eliot and Julian and Jackson. They parked their car at the Lloyd Center and took the MAX up to Jeld-Wen Field. It was the reserve team playing the reserve team of Chivas USA from Los Angeles. Audrey dressed up in green to help cheer on the home team, which won the match (apparently the reserve team has a better record than the Timbers' first team). The girls were into the game for awhile, but soon were more interested in eating stadium food (pretzels and nachos) and drinking lemonade. Audrey noticed the scarves some of the Timbers fans wear and wanted to get one. They left early to try to beat the rush but still had to cram into a packed MAX train.

Reunion

Yesterday was Mama's 20th high school reunion. She and several of her friends got together and made a weekend out of it, including meeting up for a picnic and playdate with all of the kids at the playground in Washington Park. Audrey and Kate got to hang out and play with Jackson, the Olson and Hildenbrand kids, and Jonty and Amelia Priestley, who Audrey and Kate only see once in awhile because they live in England.

Downtown outing with Dada

After saying goodbye to Rachelle and her boys in the morning on Thursday, Audrey and Kate ventured downtown on the bus and MAX with Dada on his day off (after Kate helped Audrey get ready by giving her a pretend manicure). Their first stop was a farmers market at the World Trade Center, which hadn't quite opened yet. To kill some time, they checked out a THINK City electric vehicle, dabbled their toes in a fountain on the waterfront, and explored the event space in the Trade Center where Mama and Dada had their wedding reception. They had hoped to see the flag-lined hallway they had seen in Mama and Dada's wedding pictures, but unfortunately the flags had been removed. Once the market was open, the got some food and listened to some marimba music. They ran into quite a few of Dada's coworkers. They then headed up to Pioneer Courthouse Square to hear another concert, stopping on their way to grab a treat at Coco Donuts.

House guests

Audrey and Kate are hosting Benjamin, Bradley, and Jordan Mulder, their mom Rachelle, and their dog Abby at their house for a couple of nights. The highlight of their time together today was going to the All Comers Track Meet hosted by Portland Parks and Foot Traffic at Grant High School. Audrey and Kate ran in a couple of running events, and Audrey tried out the high jump (she was really into the award ribbons). Jordan tried out several of the events.

Payday

We've decided to start giving Audrey an allowance of a dollar a week to help her learn about money. Today was her first "payday." She picked out three containers at IKEA that will help her divide her allowance into amounts she will spend, save, and donate. (We realized later maybe we should have had her pick out three identically sized containers so as not to subtly imply some uses for money are more or less important than others; we did manage to talk Audrey into making the "Save" container the largest one.)

Berry picking

After Mama and Dada picked them up from their weekend at GG's this afternoon, Audrey and Kate went to pick blueberries at Lolich's Family Farm. They helped their parents pick about a half-flat of berries.

Weekend at GG's

The girls stayed over at GG's house this weekend while Mama and Dada took a short trip to celebrate their anniversary. They got to see the family-friendly musical duo the Alphabeticians at Tanasbourne. They also went out for frozen yogurt, got to stay up late (since they both took long naps after the concert), and played at a park.

Swim session cessation

Audrey and Kate's swim lesson session at Grant Pool ended on Friday. Audrey will repeat Otter again, and Kate passed from Goldfish to Penguin. The summer swim teachers have a last-swim-lesson custom wherein all of the classes form a large circle in the pool and sing "Motorboat." Audrey and Kate also have a last-swim-lesson custom wherein they go out for a treat. Honey and Honey Grandpa tagged along for a trip for ice cream from Salt & Straw.

Uh oh . . .

And so it begins.

Audrey's salon

Audrey's been practicing her styling skills this week, mostly on Kate, who's been a good sport about it. On Tuesday Annalise came over for a playdate, and among other activities they played hair salon. Yesterday, Audrey helped get the family ready to go out by wetting and brushing Kate's hair.

Kate's first day of preschool!

Yesterday was Kate's first day of preschool. She's trying it out one morning a week (Fridays) through the summer; she'll go more frequently starting in September. Teacher Amy said she did great. It probably helped to have big sister there, although apparently they didn't play together a whole lot. Kate played a lot with her friend Finley, impressed Amy and Karma (the other teacher) with her drawing skills, and ate all of the lunch Mama packed for her. Seemed to be a smooth transition; in fact, when Mama dropped her off asked Kate if she wanted Mama to hang out with her a bit before leaving, Kate said no (she was ready to start).

Swim school

Audrey and Kate both started summer swimming lessons today at Grant Pool, Audrey in the Otter class and Kate in the Goldfish class. It was Kate's first real swimming lesson; we took a parent-child class with her a couple of years ago, but this was her first time in the water with a teacher and other kids and no parents. Both did well for a first day; all of the practice in Hawaii and Sunriver must have helped.

Dirt babies thriving

After a slow start, the dirt babies Audrey and Kate made at the Ag Fest back in April are finally thriving and sporting bushy heads of "hair."

Kate's 3rd birthday redux

Kate was feted at a second, in-town birthday party this afternoon at Peninsula Park in North Portland. The Taylors and both sets of grandparents were there, as well as Uncle Keith and Aunt Allison. It was a hot day, so Audrey and Kate and cousin Lily stayed cool by playing in the splash pad and on the play structures in the shade. Then it was time for cupcakes and presents.

Tooth #2 comes out (and then disappears)

Audrey lost her second baby tooth this evening, a lower incisor that was a neighbor to the first tooth that came out in early May. Unfortunately, she didn't realize it came out and we and she are pretty sure she swallowed it. She was a bit distraught that she wouldn't be able to leave it for the Tooth Fairy, but we told her if she wrote a note explaining what happened the Tooth Fairly will still consider leaving her a gift.

First trip of the season to the farmers market

Although it's been open every Saturday since early May, it wasn't until today that Audrey and Kate finally had a chance to take a bike ride down to visit the Hollywood Farmers Market. A trip to the market is a periodic family ritual, partly to procure some fresh, locally grown produce but mostly for a neighborhood outing and to graze on free samples and a small selection of favorite items (honey sticks, croissants, and horchata or a fresh fruit juice). The girls also like to get their faces or arms painted when the face-painting artist is there. The final part of the ritual is to take a short walk from the Market to The Wet Spot Tropical Fish store to ogle the rows and rows of aquaria filled with exotic fish.

Sticker mayhem

While Mama and Dada were distracted trying to unpack and re-organize after we got back from our Sunriver trip yesterday, Audrey and Kate took it upon themselves to cover Kate and a doll in some of the stickers they got from Grandpa Dave in Sunriver.

Fun in Sunriver

Audrey and Kate had a great time in Sunriver. They enjoyed the nice weather, hanging out with cousin Lily, swimming at the North Pool and the SHARC (Sunriver Homeowners Association Recreation Center), traveling everywhere by bike, getting their nails painted, and a couple of trips to Goody's for ice cream. They were there from June 30 to July 5, and so got to celebrate the birthdays of both Kate and the USA on July 3 and 4, respectively. On the Fourth there was much ado in Sunriver, including fire trucks and police cars to climb on and in, costumes to try out, and (later in the day) bouncy houses to jump around in. They were sad to leave, although there was some consolation in the beautiful weather in Portland they returned to. (If the slideshow below doesn't appear, click here.)

Kate's 3!

While in Sunriver, Kate celebrated her "golden" birthday, turning 3 on July 3. She got to open her presents in phases throughout the day, starting with a veterinarian dress-up costume in the morning and two sets of princess Legos in the afternoon (the putting together of which the whole family got into). In the evening, friends Kyan, Griffin, and Caleb came over to join the festivities, and additional presents included clothes, dollhouse family figurines, and an "animal house."