Tennis pros

Audrey and Kate joined Mom and Dad for another round of family tennis sessions at Grant Park. Neighbors Elli and Madi joined them for the first two sessions.

Audrey tries SUPing

After trying it out recently during the annual Camp Sherman trip, Audrey went out for standup paddling a second time. She joined Mom's bootcamp group for a SUPing session on the Tualatin River.

The next Venus and Serena?

Mama and Dada have been working to get Audrey and Kate interested in tennis. Audrey's taken lessons off and on, including after school at Alameda, and this summer Kate joined her for lessons through Portland Parks and some family tennis lessons at Grant Park. They're starting to get the basic strokes down--Kate has a good underhand serve--and even occasionally get a ball over the net.

Watching the Women's World Cup Final at OMSI

Audrey and Kate went to OMSI today to watch the US and Japan play in the final of the Women's World Cup, which the museum was showing in its IMAX theater for free. While they waited, they checked out the exhibits -- they hadn't been to OMSI in years, and probably hadn't ever seen the offerings in the main exhibit hall -- and met up with Mama's friend Rachelle and her boys and Kate's friend and classmate Nora and her mom, who also came to watch the game.

Visting cousins and Canada

Audrey and Kate headed north this weekend to visit their cousins Liam and Elsa in Bellingham and attend a Women's World Cup soccer match in Vancouver, BC. They got an early start, driving up on Thursday night and arriving at Liam and Elsa's house a bit before midnight. Kate fell asleep in the car -- Mama and Dada's memories were hazy, but it may have been the first time she's ever fallen asleep on a car trip in her life -- and Audrey dozed a little. 

The next day was low-key and relaxing. Liam and Elsa showed the girls a lake in their neighborhood, and the kids splashed around awhile to stay cool. When they got back, a new pool had arrived, so the kids helped set it up and then enjoyed some more water time.

The next day everyone piled into Audrey and Kate's minivan for the trip to Vancouver. It was Audrey and Kate's first trip out of the country, and they were excited to get a stamp in their new passports at the border. They arrived early, and got some lunch and checked out a waterfront park while waiting for the game to start.

The stadium was packed with 54,000 people who came to watch Canada and England contest a quarterfinal match. The kids cheered on the home-town team, which played a good game but ultimately lost 2-1. Kate and Elsa were especially interested in the game, commenting on and asking questions about everything that was happening on the field. 

The next morning, Liam and Elsa showed their cousins a fun, historic part of Bellingham, after which the girls started the long drive home. On the way, they stopped at the American Girl Doll store in a suburb north of Seattle to spend the allowance and lemonade-stand money they had been saving on Josefina and Rebecca. Kate got Rebecca's ears pierced and bought two little kittens as pets, and Audrey got a "spa treatment" and hairstyle and a karate outfit for Josefina.

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.

Cheering on the Generals

Audrey and Kate and their friend Hannah went to Grant High School tonight to cheer on the girls basketball team in their game against Lincoln. They enjoyed the concessions (and hopefully the basketball, too). One of the coaches let the girls hold onto a few of the basketballs.

Lil' hoopsters

Audrey and Kate started some basketball lessons today at Grant High School. They were coached by Grant student basketball players. They were initially reluctant to go, but participated the whole time and seemed to like it. They practicing dribbling, shooting, passing, layups, and a little defense.

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.

Audrey's first soccer game

Today's was Audrey's first official soccer game, complete with uniform and opponents, the Cubs of the Holy Redeemer Soccer Club. At her level, the girls play three-on-three with no goalie, parents volunteer as the refs, and they don't keep score. Audrey got lots of playing time, and seemed to have a good time.

Soccer start

Audrey's playing soccer this fall, and today was her first practice. She's taken lessons a couple of times before, but this will be her first experience with an organized team playing other teams from across Portland. Her team is the Unicorns, part of the Northeast United Soccer Club. Practices are held at her school, and she knows several kids from Alameda on her team (including her friend Hannah) and on another first-grade girls team that practices with them at the same time.

Sunriver 2013

On Wednesday, Audrey and Kate packed up their stuff at Camp Sherman and headed further southeast to Sunriver for part two of their family vacation in Central Oregon. They shared a big house with Jill and Lily and Cora and GG and Michael. They walked or biked just about everywhere they wanted to go, which was usually either the North Pool or the SHARC (aquatic center). They also took a train ride and got ice cream in the Sunriver village and took a trip with their cousins to a nature center, where they learned about owls and checked in on some other injured birds of prey.

The girls enjoyed having lots of time to play with their cousins, making up games and performances with them (which Kate usually appointed herself the director of). On the last day of the trip, the girls went with GG to Maverick's where, after a handful of tries, Audrey climbed to the top of a climbing wall. (Click here if the slideshow below doesn't appear or doesn't work.)

Father's Day with the Portland Thorns

For Father's Day, Audrey and Kate took in a Portland Thorns soccer game with Grandpa Dave. The girls seemed to like the experience, with getting to eat stadium food -- including monstrously large snow cones that took them almost the whole game to eat -- a key contributor to their enjoyment of the outing.

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.

Bowling

Audrey and Kate went bowling today at Interstate Lanes. It was an outing for families from their church. There were bumpers set up in the gutters for them, but they still needed some assistance from Mama and Dada to get the balls rolling. They insisted on using Dada's ball, even though it was too heavy for them to lift, because it was pink.