100 days

As of today, Audrey has been in school for 100 days. To commemorate, she and her classmates made some yummy snack mix and received a commemorative poster with a counting exercise included.

Audrey's first "slumber party"

Audrey had her first "slumber party" this afternoon and evening at her friend Hannah's house. After school, Audrey and several other girls walked home with Hannah and her mom. They dressed in their pajamas, ate pizza, set up their sleeping bags, and watched two movies, "Dolphin Tale" and "Cars 2." They also decorated and ate some cookies. The moms came to pick the girls up at 7:30 p.m.

Dress success

Kate picked out and put on an outfit all by herself this morning.

Audrey ties her shoes

With some help from a shoe-tying practice tool that was a birthday gift from GG, Audrey's been learning to tie shoelaces over the last couple of days. Last night she got the hang of tying a bow on the practice tool, and today at school she said she was able to tie bows on both of her shoes. She demonstrated her new skill for Dada.

Weekend with cousins Lily and Cora

Jill and Lily and Cora spent the night at Audrey and Kate's house after Audrey's family birthday party yesterday. Audrey and Kate were excited to hang out with their cousins. The main outing was a walk to Normandale Park for some fresh air and exercise.

Audrey's family birthday party

After parties with her friends and with her classmates and immediate family, the grand finale of the celebrations of Audrey's 6th birthday was a party with family today. (If the slideshow below doesn't appear or work correctly, click here.)

Audrey's Birthday/Valentine's Day

There was much excitement and many sugar-laden treats for both Audrey and Kate today. Audrey, as the birthday girl, was feted at both home and school, and she and Kate both enjoyed Valentine's Day festivities.

In the morning, Audrey opened a few birthday presents, and both girls opened Valentine's Day gifts containing matching dresses, which they both later wore to school. For breakfast they had a sin dawg and scrambled eggs.

Both girls handed out Valentines at school and received Valentines from their school friends in return. Audrey got to wear a birthday crown all day, and the principal paid a special visit to her classroom to give her a birthday card. Mama volunteered in Audrey's classroom in the morning, then stayed for lunch (Audrey "bought" lunch -- pizza -- for Mama with her meal card) and recess before heading to work. Then Dada came to school at the end of the day to hang out with Audrey for the class Valentine's Day party. Audrey decorated and ate a cookie, and looked through the Valentines she had received. On the way home from school, she picked up a birthday gift from her friends Charlie and Finley.

Dada and Audrey then went to pick up Kate, after which the girls opened some Valentine's cards from Honey and Honey Grandpa and a Cinnabon gift box from Grandpa Dave, which had arrived on their doorstep during the day. Then the girls went to pick up Mama from work and go out for Audrey's birthday dinner. She picked a Vietnamese restaurant that's a family favorite, and which the girls call "the chicken noodle soup place." After the family arrived back home, Audrey opened a few more presents and (with Kate) enjoyed one more treat, a chocolate "love bug" from Moonstruck Chocolate (in lieu of a birthday cake).

Valentine assembly line

Audrey and Kate used some new crafting supplies Mama bought to create Valentines for their friends and teachers. With some help from Mama and Dada, Audrey was able to crank out 31. Kate got a good start on her batch.

Audrey's birthday party at SCRAP

Audrey celebrated her birthday today with a party with friends at SCRAP. Audrey selected the theme of "Kings, Queens, Knights and Princesses," and invited some old friends and new friends from school to dress up accordingly and join her for the celebration. The kids got to go "shopping" for a selection of materials from the SCRAP store, which they then used to craft masks and wands. SCRAP provided the birthday cupcakes, which Mama supplemented with some snacks and cookies Dada and Audrey and Kate had made a couple of days before. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and left with a fun goodie bag of SCRAP stuff to play and craft with.

Urban adventurers

Cousins Lily and Cora joined Audrey and Kate for a "staycation" this past weekend at a hotel in the Riverplace/South Waterfront part of Portland. Audrey and Kate got to the hotel and back and everywhere in between using only public transit (although with a big assist from the Taylors, who kindly transported bags to and from the hotel in GG's car). Unusually nice February weather, a free room upgrade from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom suite, the convenience of the Portland Streetcar, and lots of play time with Lily contributed to a pleasant and fun trip. The girls particularly liked having a TV in their bedroom, the swimming pool, and eating Fruit Loops and chocolate muffins for breakfast.

On Saturday morning, everyone ventured out to explore the Riverplace shops and marina briefly, then rode the streetcar to the Central Library for story time. Then it was back to the hotel for a swim while Lily napped. The water in the pool was on the cold side, which didn't seem to bother Audrey and Kate as much as it did Mama and Dada, who tried to stay in the hot tub as much as they could. 

After an ordered-in lunch and rest time, the girls met up with Lily and her sister and parents again and headed out on the streetcar for a ride on the Portland Aerial Tram. They were joined by Grandpa Dave. The Tram was almost shutting down for the day, so the girls had only a short time to admire the view and the reflection garden at OHSU before riding back down. Then it was back on the streetcar for a short trip to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, it was back to the pool and hot tub. Afterwards, Audrey and Kate and Lily took a bath together, then had some lunch while their parents packed up. Audrey and Kate said goodbye to their cousins, and headed back towards home. On the way, they stopped at Pioneer Place to get a birthday dress for Audrey, and Kate picked out a cute hat to wear.