Halloween 2013

Audrey and Kate had a busy, fun, sugary Halloween night tonight. They rushed home from ballet (Audrey) and preschool to get ready for trick-or-treating. GG, Aunt Jill, Uncle Mark, and cousins Lily and Cora braved rush-hour traffic to join in the fun. Everyone enjoyed a festive Halloween-themed dinner of "mummy dogs" and some creative and healthy side dishes prepared by Aunt Jill before suiting up and heading out on the candy hunt.

After hitting a few neighbor's houses, the girls met up with Audrey and Kate's friends Charlie and Finley and headed towards the "Holiday House," which, as always, was drawing a huge crowd and dispensing loads of candy to a long line of trick-or-treaters (one of the owners said on the news that she had candy for 3,000 people). Elvis was back after taking last year off, and there was a Voodoo Donuts van selling donuts and a rumored flash-mob performance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance (although we didn't actually see it). The kids met up with Hannah and Noah at the Holiday House and continued trick-or-treating for a bit before heading home to count their candy and get it ready to donate to the "Candy Witch."

School Halloween party

Audrey got warmed up for Halloween with a costume parade and class party at her school this afternoon. Dada came to watch the parade and help out a bit with the party. The kids rotating through five stations of games and crafts, including making skeletons out of Q-Tips, decorating pumpkins, and playing "mummy bowling."

Cute carvers

Audrey and Kate prepped for Halloween this evening by carving pumpkins with Mama.

Call Me Maybe

Kate sings along to the Carly Rae Jepsen hit.

Aunt Jill's birthday/Halloween preview

After helping Mama assemble a Halloween costume, Audrey and Kate put on their own costumes and headed over to Grandpa Dave and Judy's house for a celebration of Aunt Jill's birthday and Halloween. They got to play with cousin Lily and help Aunt Jill open her presents -- the bubble wrap for one gift kept the three girls occupied for several minutes -- and blow out the candles on her birthday cake.

Tall Paul

On the way home from Audrey's last soccer game of the season at a park in far-flung St. Johns, Audrey and Kate and their friends Hannah and Noah stopped in Kenton for lunch. Afterwards, they checked out the Paul Bunyan statue.

Staycation in NW Portland

After Audrey's soccer game this morning and lunch at Grand Central Bakery, Audrey and Kate packed up and headed to the Inn at Northrup Station in Northwest Portland for a weekend "staycation." They liked the hotel's bright colors and funky-modern decor -- Kate called their room "the loveliest hotel room ever!"-- and especially liked the free candy in the lobby. The hotel was a short walk from NW 23rd, so the girls headed that way to take in the sights and do a bit of shopping. They had dinner at Little Big Burger and went back to the hotel to watch a movie before going to bed.

The next day, they got up and partook of the hotel's free breakfast offerings, then rode the Portland Streetcar to Powell's Books. They rode the streetcar back to check out, and then went on a short hike in Forest Park before having lunch at Laughing Planet and heading home.

Preschool pumpkin pickers

Kate went to the pumpkin patch at Lee Farms in Tualatin with her preschool class today. There were farm animals to ogle, apple cider and doughnuts to sample, and pumpkins to pick. Mama came along for the outing.

2013 Apple Festival

As they have the last couple of years, Audrey and Kate went to celebrate fall at Portland Nursery's Apple Festival today. It was a beautiful, warm day. After taking in many of the kids' activities and enjoying pizza and caramel apples, the girls were joined by their friends Hannah and Noah.

Farewell party for Stella

Audrey's friend and "bus buddy" Stella is moving to North Carolina. To say goodbye, Audrey helped host a Halloween-themed farewell party for Stella. Audrey helped Dada design a scavenger hunt for the party. In addition to doing the scavenger hunt, the girls (Audrey and Stella and their classmates Eloise and Elsa) made Halloween cards, made and ate pizzas, danced in the dark with glow sticks and watched an "Eloise" movie. Kate stayed right in the mix with the big kids, although was not a fan of the big girls' singing of songs they had learned at school.

Finley's birthday party

Kate helped her friend Finley celebrate her fifth birthday today at a "Sofia the First"-themed princess party. There was dressing up in princess outfits, a scavenger hunt, and lots of treats.