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.

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.

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.

Return trip to the "Other Portland"

Audrey and Kate enjoyed their staycation in NW Portland last fall and wanted to go back. Either because she misheard or misunderstood "Northwest Portland," or because it felt so different from her own part of the city, Kate once referred to her trip "to the other Portland." The name stuck, and Mama arranged a return trip to "The Other Portland" this weekend.

After getting settled in at the Inn at Northrup Station and watching some cable TV, Audrey and Kate headed up to Northwest 23rd to have dinner at Little Big Burger, do a little toy shopping, and eat some gelato. The next day, they went back to the toy store, rode the streetcar to the Central Library, then went back to get their car and head to a showing of "Mary Poppins" at the Northwest Children's Theater.

Settling into kindergarten

Kate's transition to kindergarten continues. Today she went to the computer lab with her class for the first time, met her fifth grade buddy, MacKenzie (whom she wanted to make a card for), and went to a special assembly with African drummers to kick off the Run for the Arts. She also got hot lunch for the first time, choosing chicken nuggets and grapes.

A "Frozen" evening

Audrey and Kate went to see the new Disney movie, "Frozen," with their friends Charlie and Finley this evening. They enjoyed the movie, as well as the movie popcorn (Kate helped finish off a large tub of it). The movie had opened today, and so they got to see one of the first showings in Portland. It was their first time seeing a wide-release, first-run film in a "real" theater (usually they go to the Kennedy School to see movies ending their theater run).

Jackson's superhero birthday party

Audrey and Kate went to help their friend Jackson celebrate his sixth birthday with a superhero-themed party at his house. Audrey wore her Batgirl Halloween costume and Kate went as "Awesome Girl" using an improvised outfit of one of Audrey's leotards and a cape Audrey made with the letter "A" on the back. They got to eat a lot of Doritos, run through a sprinkler, do a water-ballon toss, and try on an Incredible Hulk set Jackson got as a gift. They also had a chance to take a few whacks at a dragon piñata, which Audrey did but Kate didn't want to.

The girls stayed for a barbecue, after which they and the other kids came up with the idea of making "hot tubs" using some 5-gallon buckets and water from an outdoor hot-water tap. The fun continued into the evening with a movie, "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," in Jackson's back yard.

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.

Performance day

Today was a big day for Audrey and Kate. At mid-day, Kate and her preschool friends performed the play they have been working on for several weeks, "Foolish Rabbit's Big Mistake." In the evening, for Audrey's last day of dance lessons with Ms. Kat, Audrey and her classmates danced selections from the ballet "Coppelia."

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.

Christmas cookies with Brin

After the first rehearsal for the church Christmas pageant this morning, Audrey and Kate got to hang out with their friend Brin. The three girls and their moms went to watch a community theater production of "The Princess and the Pea." Then they came back to Audrey and Kate's house to make Christmas cookies and have dinner.

Preschool play

Audrey played the part of the elephant in her preschool's production of "Who's in Rabbit's House?" on Friday. She did well, remembering her lines (albeit with some prompting). She also welcomed the audience to the show at the beginning. Mama, Dada, Kate, and Honey came to watch.

"Nutcracker" with Brin

After working hard to learn and perform parts from "The Nutcracker," Audrey got to sit back today and watch others perform it. She went to see a community production of it at a high school in McMinnville with her friend Brin. In the meantime, Kate and Dada enjoyed a quiet day at home and a trip to Jim and Patty's.

Audrey dances "The Nutcracker"

Audrey's last ballet class was on Tuesday. She and the rest of her class performed some scenes from "The Nutcracker." GG, Nana, Honey, and Honey Grandpa were on hand to watch. The performance was about what you'd expect for three- and four-year-olds, but Audrey showed off how her coordination and poise is much stronger than when she started the classes.

Showtime!

After another rehearsal last Sunday morning, the girls were ready for their big debut in the Christmas pageant that evening. To liven things up, the organizers had the angels skip down the aisle, which both girls did fine with in practice. However, in the live performance, Kate tripped a couple of times on her way down the aisle. Perhaps she was nervous, or maybe tired, since she had, as usual, skipped her nap, and had been celebrating Great-Grandpa Darrel's birthday at Grandpa Dave and Judy's house. But she shook it off and both girls made it up to the front. The biggest angels took care to move other kids out of the way so that Kate (the smallest angel) could see and be seen by the audience, which included GG and Honey and Honey Grandpa.

Our little angels

Audrey will be an angel in our church's Christmas pageant this year, and Kate may too, if she can hold it together (it will be at the 6:00 p.m. service tomorrow, and she hasn't been napping lately, so she may not be at her best). Today was the first of two rehearsals (the pageant directors are quite serious). They had the angels practice skipping down the center aisle hand-in-hand; Kate looked particularly cute as she skipped holding the hand of a girl who was about 8 years old. She'll definitely be the shortest angel in the heavenly host. They both followed directions well. Afterwards, they joined the other kids for a lunch of hotdogs and cupcakes to celebrate the birthday of Jesus.

Pinkalicious!

Mama won two tickets to Pinkalicious: The Musical this evening, so she and Audrey went to see it. Pinkalicious was a favorite book of Audrey's, and she really liked the stage version as well. Her favorite part of the show was the part with Dr. Wink.