Day 195: Sister, Daughter, Mother

July 14

I'm incredibly blessed and proud to be related to these three amazing women.  Also, my daughter should not be nearly as tall as her aunt and grandmother!

Day 190: Waiting

July 9

Vicki broke her finger the day before we left for Seattle, but I didn't believe her until we were already in Seattle.  The doctor we saw there wanted us to get it checked out again in a couple of weeks, so here we are.  As you can see, it was some great mother-daughter bonding time.

Day 181: Vicki and a Fuzzy Ellie

June 30

Not a great picture, but unfortunately the best of the two I managed to take today.  The girls were video chatting with their grandparents, as we do just about every Sunday.

Day 178: Back to Wild Waves

June 27

We returned to Wild Waves and after a few turns on the rides, we hit the waterslides before heading back home.  Definitely a trip to remember, and a great way to end our journey together.  I'll miss these amazing girls!

Day 176: The Disk"o"

June 25

We took Vicki's Girl Scout troop on their last hurrah - a three-day trip to the Seattle area.  Our first stop was the Wild Waves amusement park, where we enjoyed some rides before the rain hit, drenching the unfortunate group of girls who were stuck on the roller coaster.  The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent swimming in the hotel pool, eating a huge buffet dinner, and playing laser tag.  I'd say it was a pretty successful first day.

Day 158: Creekside

June 7

Chris's office designed this amazing camp, and they opened it up again for his office to have a family weekend there.

Day 156: Their Last Parade

June 5

After seven years, Vicki's Girl Scout troop is dissolving.  These girls' interests are changing and they're moving on to different things.  We've always walked in the Junior Rose Festival Parade, and they chose to do it again one last time.  I'm going to miss these girls!

Day 147: OMSI Again

May 27

We took a family trip to OMSI today, and right before we left for home we enjoyed watching this kinetic sculpture, called the Gravitram.

Day 142: Flautist

May 22

Choir concert last night, band concert tonight.

Day 141: Steppin' Out With My Baby

May 21

Vicki's choir sang at the high school choir concert tonight (her middle school choir is not an official school class, but rather an after-school program taught by the high school choir director).  They did two numbers, the favorite by far being this one, for which they all got to wear top hats and do a little dance routine.  (Vicki is 5th from the right.)

Day 139: Sisters With a Cause

May 19

Today was the annual NAMI Walk here in Portland.  We wore these great t-shirts made by my awesome sister-in-law (the rest of the family participates in the Utah Walk in the fall) and walked a 5K in support of those who fight mental illnesses.

Day 136: Sneaky Shot

May 16

They were supposed to be listening to Dad reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, but I think they find it a little boring.  Games on Vicki's tablet are much more interesting.  Sorry, Chris.

Day 133: Another Birthday!

May 13

Every year for his birthday we send Chris on a treasure hunt to find his present.  And each year we have to get more creative with where we hide the clues.

Day 130: Water Balloon Toss

May 10

The middle school had a half day today, so we had a BBQ with our Girl Scouts and planned our trip to Seattle.  Then we made them throw water balloons at each other.

Day 125: Mythbusters!

May 5

We waited until the very last day to do it, but we thoroughly enjoyed the Mythbusters exhibit at OMSI.

Day 120: Festival

April 30

Vicki participated this year in the National Federation of Music Clubs Piano Festival.  She played two pieces from memory in front of a judge, and was awarded Excellent!  I'm so proud of her, and so thankful for her amazing teacher, who understands Vicki's love of music and puts up with her hatred of practicing.  If anyone local needs a good piano teacher, Brooke Baker is the best!

Day 118: Agent Ebert

April 28

Vicki's piano teacher is amazing.  The recital this year had a spy theme, and the programs had a "dossier" for each of the students/spies.  It was awesome.  If you enlarge it, you'll be able to read all about my quirky kid. (And any Speaker for the Dead fans will appreciate her alias.)

Day 110: Robot Geeks

April 22

Today was the first official meeting of the robot club.  In addition to programming the robot, they'll also have to do a presentation, so Chris taught the kids how to use Google Docs.  We have a pretty sharp - and awesome - group of kids in our circle of friends.

Day 89: Shot Through the Head

March 30

The Spoonman is one of our favorite booths at the Saturday Market.

Day 87: Aprons with Grandma

March 28

Another plan was to help the girls sew their own aprons.  They completed all three of these in less than two days, and immediately tested them by baking two different types of cookies.