Halloween at Alameda

Halloween is a big deal at Alameda Elementary, we've come to find out. Audrey got to bring her costume to school today, and her class had a Halloween party. In the early afternoon, the kids in the school -- all 700 of them -- got into their costumes and paraded around the block (apparently a school tradition). Mama and Kate came to watch the parade. All of the teachers were wearing costumes. Audrey's teacher, Mrs. Davidson, was dressed as Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" (we're not sure how many of her kids know who Dorothy is), and the school principal, Mr. Laurie, dressed up as a bunny.

Fall festivities

Audrey and Kate had a fun-filled fall day yesterday as they prepped for Halloween. They put up some Halloween window decorations, made caramel apples, carved their pumpkins, and enjoyed some apple cider and caramel corn. They helped Dada light the first fire of the season in the fireplace, and later curled up on the couch to watch "A Bug's Life."

Crafty day

Audrey and Kate kept busy today with lots of fall-themed crafts. When they went to Sunday school this morning, instead of going to their classes the kids were treated to a fall celebration. The girls got to paint mini-pumpkins, make wax-paper "stained glass" with leaves and crayon pieces, and help create a mural of the Bible's creation story.

They then decided to capitalize on a break in the rain and headed over to Portland Nursery on Stark Street for the last day of the annual Apple Festival. They didn't have a lot of time, as Audrey had a playdate with a kindergarten friend to go to, and in the end other than tasting some apple cider the girls didn't do any apple-related activities at the Apple Festival. They did paint another couple of mini-pumpkins, tried out some hula-hoops, went on a scavenger hunt, colored, ate some pizza, and got their face (Audrey) or Arm (Kate) painted.

Dinner (rain) date

Audrey and Kate weren't about to let the rain stop them from dining out at the neighborhood Cha Cha Cha Taqueria this evening. They had quesadillas, naturally.

Pumpkin patches

Both Audrey and Kate got to go to the pumpkin patch this week for school. Audrey went to Sauvie Island on Tuesday and Kate went with Dada to Lee Farms in Tualatin today. She enjoyed looking at the farm animals, sampling apple cider, learning about different varieties of pumpkins (the "Cinderella" and "Long Island Cheese-Wheel" were two favorites), and of course, picking out a pumpkin to take home. Her friend Daeja rode back to preschool with her.

School skills

Audrey and Kate are both picking up new skills at school. Audrey's starting to put letters together into "words" based on their sounds. In the picture below, she wrote "Bunnies eat carrots." Last week, Kate learned to sew and made a pumpkin pillow.

Chico visits Kate

Chico, Heartwood Preschool's "class pet," came to stay with Kate over the past week. He's been to our house a couple of times before when Audrey was at Heartwood. Kate had fun taking care of him and showing him a good time. He slept in Kate's bed one night, although he's quite big for it so most of the time he's slept on the floor in her room. We thought about taking him to Camp Sherman with us, but decided it might be best if he stayed home to guard the house for us.