Coffee With Elly

A couple weeks ago, I took the kids to downtown Portland after school to meet Michael for lunch. He came down and met us outside his building and we walked to Pioneer Square and ate sandwiches and popcorn and celery there. Oh, and some Korean dumplings from The Dump Truck, which just happened to be in the square. Yumm! It was nice to see him during the day and good for the kids to have some time with him, too! After lunch we went to OMSI and explored for a couple of hours. The kids enjoyed the new Mazes section and the Science Playground, especially. We have a membership this year, which makes it so one can go to OMSI without feeling like one has to spend all day there to get your money’s worth. I realize that this isn’t how everybody thinks, but for me at least, it’s nice to have the option of a short and leisurely visit, rather than a whirlwind, “let’s make sure we don’t miss anything in the next 4 hours” tour. We can look at the stuff we missed next time! It was a fun afte

My mom and dad came over a few weeks ago to attend a wedding and my dad got a nice picture of the kids before church on Sunday morning! Nice to have a photographer in the family. :-) The other day I saw a bunch of tissues on the floor and exclaimed, "Who got out all those Kleenex? Did you do that, Elena?" She promptly replied, "O-hay! I not do it again!" Earlier this week I was cleaning up the kitchen (perpetually) and I heard Ezra abruptly command Phinehas: "Phinehas! Put some of this on!" as he handed him a container of Vaseline. I didn't realize that Ezra was a self appointed monitor of Phinehas' lip skin quality. But I guess it's good to have a big brother looking out for you? And to prove that Phinehas is not always scowling:

A visit to a park in West Linn on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Loving the winter weather around here!

The beauty of having your kids go to a school that is largely run by friends and family is that when a field trip comes up that your older kids are NOT going to, you still get invited to participate. That's why Monica was able to go to the Portland Aquarium with the K-2 grades earlier this week! She dressed for the occasion in her school clothes I've been accumulating for when she joins the school next school year.  Examining creatures in the tide pools. Two fingers only, please! Slightly horrified by the parakeet poopiing on someone. She tells me she loved this. My sister-in-law watched Phinehas and Elena, so I was just able to watch the field trip without trying to keep track of the little ones at the same time. A nice break in the routine! And so great for Monica to be able to go on a field trip that I didn't have to organize!!