First Day of 4th Grade

September 4, 2013

First day of 4th grade

Summer homework diorama -- MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN

1,000,000 Steps!

In late June, we challenged Henry to walk 10,000 steps per day (4 miles per day) during the summer to remain active. Henry really embraced this challenge and yesterday surpassed One Million Steps -- about 400 miles! We purchased a GeoPalz pedometer on July 2 and began recording his steps online. Geopalz has an award program offering a point for every mile. This certainly helped to keep Henry motivated. Every night we recorded his steps.

Looking back at our summer, we felt like we were so busy, but our schedule was not very different than past summers. On average we walked 5-6 miles per day (14,000 steps). Henry had several days where he exceeded 20,000 steps (8 miles) in a day. We literally walked hours every day to accomplish this goal. We had a lot of fun and some interesting conversations. We varied our paths and routes and mixed in public transportation.

Now Henry is back in school, and soon the weather will change. I know we will continue walking as a family, but I suspect we will not be able to keep up an average of 5-6 miles per day.

A Really BAD hair day...

Have you ever had a bad haircut? I mean a really bad haircut... one that makes you want to cry? Today was a rough day. Henry went to Rudy's in the Pearl for a routine "trim/clean-up". I thought I was clear in telling the "butcher", I mean stylist, that we like his hair "longer". I'm trying to be more relaxed and less of a control freak when it comes to such details. I usually bring a photo (below), but I didn't today. How do you stop someone, once they clearly went too far? Poor Henry was devastated. We keep reassuring him that his hair will grow back fast and he still looks very handsome. The results are undeniable... I did tell him that lots of veggies, exercise, fresh air and sunshine will stimulate hair growth. This is what Henry's haircut was supposed to look like:

This is what it ended up looking like:

(bad haircut from 2005)

A Bagel Experiement... Who makes the best bagel in Portland?

We are always in search of the best bagel in Portland. I've been thrilled with Bowery Bagels, but I have also heard wonderful reviews of Spielman's on SE Division. This morning we decided to put the bagels to the test. We purchased 4 bagels at each location... 2 Salt, 1 Everything and 1 poppy. The prices were the same 1.50/bagel ($6 for 4). We splurged on some Gina Marie Cream Cheese at New Seasons.

The salt bagel from Spielman's had a really hard and thick crust, immediately making Bowery the clear favorite. The Everything bagels were a bit closer, but in the end Bowery won every vote and was the clear favorite. They are chewy and dense with great flavor.

Aulani Christmas

Personalize a photo slideshow

Profile of a Second Grader

Age: 7
Height: 51.5"
Weight: 79 lbs
What do you want to be when you grow up?
"Scientist that works in an Antarctic base"
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Salted Carmel from Lovely's Fifty Fifty
Favorite Holiday: Christmas and My Birthday
Favorite Movie or TV show: Phineas & Ferb
Favorite Dinner: Pesto Pizza

Favorite Animal: Black Panther

Favorite Color: Sky Blue

Favorite Author: Bill Peet

Favorite Place: New York City
Where would you like to go on your next vacation? Hawaii
When and where were you the happiest? Disneyland

Henry's 7th Birthday

Hood River Ride

Halloween Party

 

Phew... That was a lot of work. Homemade pumpkin cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting. It was really hard to get the chocolate frosting right... The cocoa powder made it light brown -- very unattractive. I ended up melting a bag of chocolate chips and adding it in. It worked. The decorations are a bit over the top, but isn't that what six year olds love?
Happy Halloween!

Go Ducks!

We enjoyed another super-fun, fall weekend in Eugene. The Ducks played a great game against Stanford (and won!). ESPN's Game Day crew came to town. We stayed at a hotel with a great pool and had a little pool party with friends. We rode our bikes around town and ate lots and lots of our favorite Eugene treats... Newman's fish & chips and VooDoo Doughnuts. Looks like we will all be on a diet this week ;-)

Profile of a First Grader

Age: 6
Height: 49"
Weight: 66 lbs
Loose Teeth: YES... 2 (Top Center)
Lost Teeth: YES... 2 (Bottom Center)
What do you want to be when you grow up?
"worker/astronaut... my workshop will be in space or under the sea"
Best Friend: Peter and Jack
Girl Friend: Nadia and Zia
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Licorice and Vanilla
Favorite Sport: Running and Biking
Favorite Team: The Ducks
Favorite Holiday: Christmas and Halloween
Favorite Instrument: no
Favorite Movie or TV show: Dr. Seuss
Favorite Dinner: Ravioli with Pesto and Pizza
Where would you like to go on your next vacation? Italy
You did a lot of fun things this summer and had many great accomplishments. What are you most proud of? "Going down the slide at Sellwood Pool and learning to swim under water"

Favorite Places

Here is a list of my favorite places and the things I love to eat there...
ApizzaScholls (half with onion and sausage and half with pepperoni with olive)
Ken's Artisan Pizza (Soppressata Pizza with olives and arugula)
Screen Door (Fried Chicken and Waffle)
Broder (Aebleskivers, baked eggs, potato pancake, walnut bread, and bacon)
¿Por Que No? (guacamole, sangria, fish flautas, fish taco, simple salad)
Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe (Chocolate Milkshake)
Justa Pasta (Rigatoni, Butternut Squash Ravioli, Alfredo sauce, meatballs, spinach salad, German Chocolate Cake)
Mio Gelato (Yoggi, Pistachio, or dulce de latte)
Lovely's Fifty-Fifty (Salted Caramel ice cream in a homemade waffle cone)
Laughing Planet (Popeye Quesadilla, Ninkasi IPA)
Hot Lips Pizza (Slice of Cheese, Pepperoni or Tomatoes, corn, feta, + cilantro pesto)

Ninkasi Brewing, Eugene, OR (Total Domination IPA)

We have been on a bit on a diet this month... I'm missing these places.

Trip to New York -- June 2010

What a glorious day... We spent the day on the Hudson River with a ride on the John J. Harvey, a historic fireboat. If you carefully watch this clip, you can see the three of us on the front of the fireboat 1:28 minutes into the video. It was a another fun day in the city. I'll post more pictures when I return.

Swim Lessons

Goldfish 2007

Goldfish 2008

Penguin 2009

It has been a glorious summer. Henry completed four weeks of swim lessons. This year he moved into the Penguin level (after 4 sessions of Goldfish). He is much more confident in the water and tolerates much more water in his face. He is not willing to deliberately submerge, but he has "enjoyed" many accidental dunks.

Heartwood Preschool 2007-2009

Jam Session (2009 & 2007)

Not quite hot enough to fry an egg... But close!

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The high temperature reached 106 degrees Tuesday, making it the hottest day in decades in Portland.
Blazing summer heat is the rule up and down Western Oregon as record highs were set for the second consecutive day. More heat is on the way, too; meteorologists expect Wednesday to be just as hot as Tuesday and possibly break Portland's all-time high of 107 degrees.

Young Philanthropists in the News!

Kids Take a Stand for Nature

Two five year-olds hope to save nature, one glass of lemonade at a time.

On a warm spring day in Oregon, young friends Henry Welt and Nadia Schwartz, both 5 years-old, set up a lemonade stand. Charging 25 cents for each big red cup, they decided to donate proceeds to The Nature Conservancy. Within a couple hours, they had $17.25 in a jar. Nadia was in charge of taking the money.

It was a warm day, remember. And when Henry filled the first cool cup for a customer he couldn’t help taking a nice big gulp from the glass before handing it over for a quarter. (He’s since learned to have his own glass.)

During lemonade lulls the two took to running up and down the street ringing a bell. And they even drew a sidewalk chalk lemonade trail to woo potential thirsty passers-by.

Henry always tells his mother that “we need more nature” sodonating proceeds to the Conservancy seemed like a natural fit for the young entrepreneurs, she said. Following the fundraising effort, his mother, Kecia Welt, took Henry to the Conservancy’s Cascade Head Preserve on the Oregon coast. He declared it the most beautiful place he’d ever seen.

“I explained that the land is owned and protected by The Nature Conservancy and the money he and Nadia raised with their lemonade stand will help protect that and other land all around the world. Even though, they are only five, I think they are capable of understanding the value and purpose of the Conservancy,” Kecia said.

To a round of applause in a crowded conference room, the two suddenly-shy kids presented their jar of earnings to the Oregon Conservancy at a recent staff meeting. They then filled out membership forms in careful, crooked handwriting before skipping outside.

More lemonade stands may be planned throughout the summer, too, they said.

Our Trip to the East Coast

Camp Westwind... The ultimate summer camp!