Audrey and friends in "Aladdin" at Concordia Drama Camp

Audrey and her friends Monica, Audrey P., and Ella S. participated in a drama camp hosted by Concordia University this past week. They took part in a production of "Aladdin" (which was closer to the original version than the Disney version). Audrey played a merchant and a servant, and sang in a song.

Camp Sherman 2017

No sooner had Audrey and Kate unpacked their suitcases from their Alaskan adventure then it was time to repack them for a trip to Camp Sherman for the annual Gutzler family gathering. After soaking up plenty of screen time on the car ride down, they got settled into their Lake Creek Lodge cabin (#13 again this year), met up with the full complement of Gutzler/Taylor/Williamson cousins, then headed over to the "food house" for a delicious dinner prepared by Mark and Sharon (one of their last, as Mark and Sharon later announced they would be hanging up their Camp Sherman chef hats).

This year's camp theme was "Harry Potter." Sharon secured some Harry Potter robes, wands, necklaces, and glasses for the kids, and mixed up some butterbeer and provided a pinata in the form of a Golden Snitch. Audrey worked with Dad to prepare a series of Harry Potter-themed activities the kids participated in over several days: a Sorting Hat ceremony; a game of Quidditch utilizing pool-noodle "brooms;" a "torchlight" march to "Lake Hogwarts" (the fishing pond); a taste-testing of gillywater (mint water), butterbear, and pumkin juice; and a potions class in which they made Felix Felicis (glitter slime) and Tiger's Eye (a customized potion created with random ingredients harvested by the kids). Audrey served as "Head Girl," explaining Harry Potter to those who hadn't read the books. Aunt Marcia added to the fun with rock-coloring, shirt-making, and rootbeer-tasting activities.

Aquatics featured prominently this trip. The kids spent a good portion of each day in the swimming pool. They also hiked along the Metolius River to check out the old family cabin and the nearby swimming hole, stopping for ice cream at the Camp Sherman store on the way back. They made good use of Lake Creek, catching fish, crawdads, and insect nymphs; taking a short creek walk; and floating down the creek on pool floaties. Audrey and Mom went to Suttle Lake one morning so that Audrey could try stand-up paddle-boarding (she enjoyed it, despite the windy conditions).

On the last night, the kids enjoyed s'mores and sprinting. On Friday Audrey and Kate said their goodbyes and headed home, dropping Kate off at a friend's bounce-house birthday party in Beaverton on the way.

Camp Sherman Trip 2016

Audrey and Kate traveled to Camp Sherman this week for the annual Gutzler family gathering. A move to a different cabin this trip was a source of some concern for them at first, but was quickly forgotten once settling in and meeting up with cousins Lily, Cora, Liam, Elsa, and Wyatt. The group did not venture too far afield from Lake Creek Lodge (save for a shopping trip for Audrey into Sisters with Mama, GG, and Morgan). They were content to stuff themselves with lots of yummy food and sugary drinks supplied by great-uncle Mark and Sharon (margarita mix--sans tequila--proving a surprise hit), dress up in superhero garb supplied by Sharon, play in the pool, walk to the Camp Sherman store, and pose for lots of photos. New activities tried out this year were catching crawdads and baby fish in the creek to be "pets,"roasting marshmallows for s'mores in a new fire pit, a short creek walk, studying amphibian life along the fishing pond at dusk, and the kids getting some limited freedom to wander the resort on their own. (More Camp Sherman photos here.)

Mardi Gras

Audrey and Kate celebrated Mardi Gras today with their cousins Lily and Cora. Kate found the baby Jesus in the king cake.

Church pageant

The final act of Audrey and Kate's festive Sunday was performing in the church Christmas pageant. As with last year (and the year before that), the girls chose to dress as angels. While skipping down the aisle, Audrey lost her shoe and had to wade back though the multitude of other angels to retrieve it, but made it to the sanctuary in time for the singing. Grandpa Dave and Honey Grandpa came to watch.

Christmas outfits

Audrey and Kate model their Christmas ensembles before heading off to the birthday party for Great-Grandpa.

Kate's Beauty Bar

Mama let the girls look through and try on -- and try out on her -- some surplus makeup items this afternoon.

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."