Alligator art

Kate and Audrey started the first of several summer camps this week. Audrey is doing a rock-climbing camp at the Circuit Gym, and Kate is in an art camp where she is making crafts out of recycled materials. Today she brought home a creation she's been working on most of the week, an alligator made out of a pair of pants, a binder, stuffing from a futon cushion, and other salvaged items.

Auction art

Mama and Dada went to the Alameda Elementary auction this evening, where they got to see the finished products of Audrey and Kate's class auction projects.

Easter prep

Audrey, Kate, Lily, and Cora got in the Easter spirit today by decorating eggs.

Leprechaun visit

Audrey and Kate made leprechaun houses last night in preparation for St. Patrick's Day. They were rewarded with a couple of visits from leprechauns today: once in the morning, when the leprechauns left chocolate coins, and once in the afternoon, when they left "Irish potatoes" and geodes. The leprechauns also visited cousins Lily and Cora next door, and visited Kate and her kindergarten classmates at school.

New neighbors

Audrey and Kate were excited to meet the new neighbors who moved into the house next door this weekend: their cousins Lily and Cora (and their parents, of course). With the house spruced up and habitable -- save for the driveway that's still torn up for sewer work -- the Taylors began moving in on Friday (February 6). The four girls had lots of time together over the weekend, starting with Lily helping pick up Audrey and Kate at the bus stop. The fun continued with lots of playtime, dancing and skits, dinners, hot tub time, and Sunday School.

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."

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.

Children's Gym camp

Audrey and Kate both spent some time at the Children's Gym this week. Although officially a "summer camp," the girls just attended on Monday and today. They had done a camp together at the East Portland Community Center awhile back, but this time they were separated into different groups based on their age and didn't see each other most of the day (so was perhaps Kate's first real "camp" experience). The girls got to do crafts and use gymnastics equipment, as well as play outside at the Buckman School playground and do some climbing and bouldering at an indoor rock gym, both of which were nearby. Today, they both had open gym at the same time, and were very excited to see each other and play together.

Pilot Camp with Cecily

Audrey started up another summer camp this week, this one at the University of Portland. She did it with her preschool and kindergarten friend Cecily. It was a more loosely organized camp, especially compared to Grace Art Camp and Spanish camp, and was held in the basement of Howard Hall at the University. Audrey was a little nervous at the beginning, and said she almost cried when it was announced the group would be playing "Red Rover" because she didn't know how to play. But the rules were explained and she was relieved and enjoyed it and mostly had fun the rest of the camp. The kids got to do a lot of swimming in the pool, played Connect Four, did a few crafts, tossed egg-drop parachutes off the top of the soccer stadium grandstand, and got to explore the campus as part of a treasure hunt.

Pasaporte a Guatemala

After a weekend to recharge from Grace Art Camp, Audrey headed off to another summer camp this week. It was a Spanish camp at a synagogue in Northwest Portland. Her friends Hannah and Lilah did the camp with her. It was an immersion camp, with most instructions given in Spanish. It was challenging for Audrey at first, but by the end of the week she had picked up some vocabulary and simple phrases. She also learned a bit about the art and culture of Guatemala and other Central American countries, making a pyramid, a colorful serpent (snake), and Guatemalan "worry dolls". One day after Dada picked them up, Audrey and Hannah enjoyed some gelato on NW 23rd.

Grace Art Camp

Audrey had her first summer-camp experience this week. She participated in the Grace Art Camp at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church. She got to try out many different styles of arts and crafts -- music, dance, glass-making, painting, etc. -- centered around the theme of the Yangtze River and Chinese culture. Her friends Hannah, Cecily, Lilah, and Jackson did the camp with her. This evening the campers performed some of the songs and dances they learned during the week, including the Grace Art Camp theme song, which everyone, including Mama and Dada, had stuck in their heads all week. As a treat, after the performance Audrey and Kate and Hannah went out for frozen yogurt.

Park concert with Lily

Lily invited Audrey and Kate to join her for a concert this evening at Willamette Park. The girls enjoyed making pirate hats and eating snow cones Grandpa Dave bought for them.

Audrey's kindergarten concert

All the kindergarten classes at Audrey's school convened to sing together in a concert this evening. It was conducted by the school music teacher, Mr. Cheek. Audrey, who has not been feeling well but nonetheless wanted to go to the concert, stayed home with Dada and skipped dance class during the day to save up her energy. She went with Dada to pick up Kate from preschool and Mama from work, and then to her favorite sushi restaurant for a quick dinner before heading to the school. GG and Honey and Honey Grandpa came to help cheer her on, while Kate got to hang out with her good friend Finley. The evening also doubled as "art night," so Audrey got to show off some of her artistic creations in her classroom. Then it was off to help celebrate Dada's birthday.

Fernhill Fun Run

Audrey and Kate accompanied Mama to a "$5 5K" run at Fernhill Park this morning. Before the adult race, there was a 1K "Fun Run" for kids, which the girls participated in. Audrey ran ahead while Mama helped Kate (who stumbled a bit at the starting line but otherwise ran well). The girls also enjoyed the snacks and the crafts and bounce house that had been set up to entertain kids while their parents ran the 5K.

Eggs with Olivia

Although Easter was more than a week ago, Kate and Audrey finally got around to dying Easter eggs with a kit Mama had bought. They dyed the eggs with their friend and neighbor Olivia.