Kindergarten concert/open house

It was Open House night for grades K-2 at Audrey and Kate's school this evening. GG, Honey, and GPA came for the event, which was kicked off with a concert by the kindergarten classes. Afterwards, Audrey and Kate showed off their classrooms and recent projects and artwork.

Have passports, will travel

Earlier this month Audrey and Kate applied for passports. They arrived in the mail this afternoon. The girls will get to use them June for a trip to Vancouver, BC to watch a quarterfinal of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Audrey Oxbow Park class field trip

Audrey's class went with a couple of other second-grade classes on a field trip to Oxbow Park today. (Dada went along as a chaperone, but got there late, as he and three other dads that were driving together got lost on the way.) The kids looked at animal tracks, looked for insect larvae and nymphs under the rocks in the river, and took a hike through some old-growth forest. Audrey was happy her friend Kamea was in her group.

Memorial Day beach trip

Audrey and Kate took a trip to the "beach house" in Gleneden Beach for Memorial Day. In addition to their usual coast activities -- swimming in the swimming pool, dining at Mo's, and watching a lot of cable TV -- the girls also helped Dada celebrate his birthday and checked out a few beaches they hadn't been to before (the beach on the Salishan Spit, Nye Beach in Newport, and the beach at Fogarty Creek State Park).

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Audrey and Kate helped Dada celebrate his birthday today at the "beach house." They helped Mama make a cake, and helped Dada blow out the candles on his cake.

Kate dances with Ms. Kat

As with Audrey, Kate's kindergarten class got some dance lessons from Ms. Kat thanks to the money they raised with their Run for the Arts. Today was their final performance.

Kids lead the church service

To mark the end of Sunday School for the year, this morning Audrey and Kate and the other kids at Augustana helped out with the 8:30 church service. Kate was a greeter and helped bring up the gifts -- she carried the wine jug -- and Audrey read the First Reading. They also sang some songs they had been practicing.

Kate gets a library card

After watching Audrey's piano recital, Audrey and Kate had some time to kill before a play they were going to see ("The Little Mermaid" at the Northwest Children's Theater), so they stopped by the Northwest Portland branch of the library, where Kate applied for and received her own library card.

Audrey's first piano recital

Audrey had her first piano recital today. She played a song she had been practicing on a Steinway grand piano at Michelle's Piano Company.

Sweet Science

Inspired by the crystal-making kit Audrey got from the Easter Bunny, Audrey and Kate decided to do a project on crystals -- specifically, sugar crystals -- for their school's science fair. With help from their friend Hannah, they learned about crystals and how sugar is made, then did an experiment to see which type of sugar -- raw, table, brown, or powdered -- made the best sugar crystals (i.e., rock candy). With help from Dada, they set up the experiment and monitored it for a week, then wrote up their results and presented it at the science fair this evening. 

First Communion

Audrey and Kate had their First Communion this morning. They got to use the chalices and bread they made in their communion classes. Grandpa Dave and Honey and GPa came to watch. They were asked to say a few words at the 8:30 and 11:00 services, and were treated to cake during the Sunday School time. Afterwards, they went to brunch at Lucca.

Checking out a new park

Audrey and Kate and their friend and neighbor Olivia biked over to check out the new Khunamokwst Park today. They stopped for frozen yogurt on the way home.