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Jake and Emily have had an architect in residence visiting their class for the past few weeks. As a result, they and their classmates designed and built a "city" filled with some really innovative features - a super high speed roller coaster, a roof-top swimming pool, and an ice-cream parlor shaped like a dish of ice cream to name a few.
Here's a photo album of the kids' presentation today where they got to show off all their hard work. Also included are some farewell photos from Sunday, when we sent Drew off for a week at Outdoor School. We're all looking forward to hearing his stories when he returns home at the end of the week.
We finally got around to having a proper birthday party to celebrate Drew turning 13! We had to schedule it right on top of Pat's birthday but managed to squeeze in a celebration for him too.
Drew played the role of a crazy chemist named Dr. Grape for a murder mystery party which we were able to host outside due to some extremely good weather. Here are some photos from his party. A good time was had by all... even the murderer and his victim!
This coming week, Drew is off to Outdoor School.
Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!
Here are a couple of photos from our weekend, which included the kids coloring eggs and an Easter Egg Hunt at Sauvie Island.
This past weekend, Jake, Emily, their fellow Devil Ducks, and many friends and classmates, competed in the 2009 Oregon Destination Imagination State Tournament in Corvallis, Oregon (home of Oregon State University). Here are photos from the big day.
They came home with a 5th place finish and the satisfaction of a job well done.
We searched high and low - from Mt. Hood to the Central Oregon Coast - but didn't find much "Spring" for our Spring Break. Here are some photos... that's us under all the layers of sweatshirts, coats and hats!
Despite the chilly weather, we had lots of fun... a couple of days of skiing at Timberline, a mid-week 13th birthday celebration back in Portland for Drew, and a long-weekend at Gleneden Beach thanks to our neighbors, Joyce & Gerry, who kindly loaned us their lovely beach house.
Mt. Hood got some fresh snow just in time for our visit, and we enjoyed our stay at Timberline Lodge, especially once the kids discovered the game room - somehow they missed that last visit.
Took Drew out to dinner on his special day. Because his birthday always falls during Spring Break, he has to wait to celebrate with friends, but he doesn't seem to mind multiple parties in his honor! He got a bike compliments of Grandma Janet and Grandpa Carl, and on the way to pick it up, an unexpected treat... the chance to play the role of beekeeper at a nearby farm.
It was Whale Watching Week at the Coast. We didn't manage to see any whales passing by, but we did spot a few seals. Spent a rainy Saturday taking in an indoor kite flying festival in Lincoln City... who knew? Also tried our best to find one of the 2,009 glass floats the Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce hides on its beaches during the off-season as part of a "finders-keepers" winter tourism program... no luck there either.
Still, we hadn't seen an ocean since last June. It was fun to be on the water again, even if we couldn't get in!
Saturday was the big day... Oregon's regional Destination Imagination tournament. Jake & Emily's team, the Devil Ducks, gave an outstanding performance, as did the four other teams from their school.
Here's a photo album of some group practices, the tournament itself and the "after-parties". There was much to celebrate! All five teams qualified to move forward to the State tournament next month.
In addition to placing third in their challenge, the Devil Ducks also received a special Renaissance Award for technical innovation related a prop they made to enable Jake to "blow his top" at the end of their performance.
