East Portland Sunday Parkways

Audrey and Kate rode with Mama and Dada in the last Sunday Parkways of the season today. This one was in East Portland. Highlights for the girls included running into Jackson and his parents along the route and a stop along the Springwater Corridor where they got to climb a pile of gravel and get "salmon hats" to go on top of their bike helmets (the hats were to raise awareness of efforts to restore salmon habitat in Johnson Creek). They also checked out a "hydro-fiets" (a "ride-able water filling station") Jackson's dad Ethan had brought to the event and had some cotton candy. They played for a bit in a playground at the end of the route, then headed home, stopping at Burgerville on the way.

Monkey bar skills

Audrey tells us she's been practicing climbing the monkey bars at school. The effort has paid off, as was apparent today when Audrey demonstrated her skills at Grant Park.

Bike ride

Audrey and Dada rode their bikes together on a short trip through the neighborhood this evening. It was Audrey's first and longest bike trip where she was riding in the street untethered to Mama or Dada's bike. We rode down Klickitat to 47th and came back on Siskiyou.

Rail day

While Mama and Audrey were gone for an out-of-town birthday party today, Kate and Dada decided to head down to the grand opening of the Oregon Rail Heritage Center. Turns out today was also the grand opening of the east-side loop of the Portland Streetcar, so Dada thought it might be fun to ride the new streetcar to the train museum. As we probably should have expected, there were some opening-day glitches, and we had to wait almost 45 minutes. When the streetcar finally came, it was standing-room-only, which made the trip somewhat unpleasant. So we were both a bit annoyed when we finally got down to the Rail Center, and Kate was consequently not feeling very photogenic.

But we tried to make the best of it. Honey Grandpa met us there, and it was fun seeing the historic locomotives and the new building that houses them. Kate even recognized the locomotive -- the Spokane Portland & Seattle 700 -- that pulled the Santa Train we rode last December; she remarked that it was missing the Christmas decorations it had when we last saw it. There was a band, a Lego train display, speeches by local dignitaries, and lemonade and cookies.

The thought of the return trip home on public transit seemed daunting, but Grandpa offered to drive us. Walking back to Grandpa's truck, we had to wait for a couple of freight trains to pass. So we had lots of train exposure today. We stopped at a food cart pod on Belmont on the way home.

Back to school night

Mama and Dada paid a visit to Audrey's school this evening. We got to see Audrey's classroom, the table where she sits, and some of her artwork. We also heard from her teacher, Mrs. Davidson, what the school schedule is like and some of what the kids are currently reading and studying (it includes Henry Huggins and worms). She said Audrey is "studious" and good at listening and following instructions.

Music class

Kate had music class in preschool today. The teacher, Adam, uses the Music Together program, which the girls participated in from time to time when they were smaller.

 

Sunday school

Although they missed Rally Day last weekend due to their camping trip, and despite getting plenty of school already in the last few days, Audrey and Kate biked to church this morning to attend Sunday School. It was Kate's first time in a Sunday School class; up until now, she's just hung out in the nursery with Mama or Dada (or both). The most memorable thing for her from the class was the snack, apparently. Later, they biked over to the Lloyd Center to have sushi for lunch.