And she pulled it off!
She was at a party with her Teen Gang on Halloween night.
Not holding my breath on getting photos of what they were up to.
Chloe shows off her prized McDonald’s French Fry phone, circa 1999. We were on our way to visit Goodwill locations in search of costume parts. Who knew they’d be SOLD OUT a week before halloween?
Though Chloe is very proud of the caterpillar beanie baby she found.
Dinner! Starring Chloe’s favorite ingredient, Giant Hunk o’ Meat!
The cauliflower didn’t go over as well, sadly.
Dad took a neat photo.
Dad’s bike got stolen, but I got it back!
I have no idea where the kiddo got her love for Waffle House, as there aren’t any on this side of the Mississippi. But for some reason she loves Waffle House so Mom and I got her a mug.
We went and saw Akira and Ghost in the Shell at the Hollywood!
Chloe footwear and her custom-painted Meatwad bike helmet.
Chloe shows off her concert schwag – nerd glasses from Weezer!
Chloe declared it Clown Week at school.
And I thought I was the one enabling the kid to buy weird stuff at Goodwill.
Chloe and Lisa went to see The Dresden Dolls, and apparently it was a Big Deal that Chloe got to meet Amanda Palmer.
Ok, well. This happened:
––> Appendicitis happened. <––
Fortunately she was in good hands and the surgery went well with no complications.
The next day she was healing up at home.
Portrait of the artist as a young girl.
Fortunately Chloe was well enough to start school on time.
And, she now has her learners permit! Drivers of Portland, watch out!
Before all that happened, Chloe and I went on a bike ride.
And Chloe demonstrates how to eat meat.
She also likes the pirogies from the Eastern European markets near my place.
Grama Diane and I went to Chincoteague Island.
Afterwards we headed up to our cabin at Peck’s Pond in the Poconos.
Out in the canoe with Mark and Nicole!
We found an active beaver lodge at the north end of the lake.
We didn’t see any beavers, they must have been sleeping.
We also spotted a turtle! This is the first turtle I’ve seen at Peck’s Pond.
I don’t know where they were hiding before, I’ve been going up there for fifty years now…
We also had a deer in the yard and we spotted wild turkeys.
I don’t know how this is possible given that the nearest location is on the other side of the country, but Chloe is crazy for Waffle House. So mom and I went to the one in Allentown and got her a mug.
We met a friend to pick up some bowling balls, because Mondo Croquet!
Kiddo didn’t plan it, but she’s sporting her Kill Bill shirt.
Which is also from a bowling team. Sea Shell Fine Seafood forever!
Here’s me and Kid Banana.
I’m attempting to use one photo to show how we’ve loaded the bike. Chloe insisted on buying a Yamaha synth keyboard, untested and probably broken. Well, for $5 we’ll see. Then there’s the box of prizes lashed to the other side. And on the front? Two more bags of cargo. And also my backpack, hidden on my back.
Fine Seafood! On the bike path!
For me a long-ish bike ride is just Wednesday. Yet taking La Kiddo along brings back zee memories… Dad/Brent/Pop-pop used to take me along when 20-something him went riding through the PA hills with his pals Blair and Court.
And here I am 40 years later.
I killed the kid. 16.5 miles of biking.
But she bounced back for pizza.
She rebelled against the concept of taking a photo for the old folks at home, and wanted to do an arty photo.
So here it is.
Well, at least the pizza we made was mighty good.
Portrait of a teen waiting for the train.
Dad on his way home.
Chloe has an obsession with tiny plastic babies. She gave one to a pal, and here is Tiny Plastic Baby.
A little blast from the past for you, right here on the Wayback Machine.
Dig, dig, dig… oops!
First there was cake! Chloe made her own.
That’s Brian Bell from Weezer, Chloe’s favorite band.
After that they all went roller skating.
The photos of that have been redacted in concern for National Teen Roller Skating Party Security.
When I met up with her later she wanted to go to the big Vintage Mall called Memory Den.
That is actually a lamp shade she’s hiding behind.
And here’s a Peters family portrait. That’s Dad, Chloe and Furby figure.
Chloe counted up her collection and she’s got 12 of them now, and two knock-offs.
And then, The Big Banana Car! Chloe was on the back of the big bike and I had to pedal hard to catch up.
Would you believe the artist there in the driver’s seat did most of the work on The Big Banana Car in Quakertown and other places in PA?
Here’s a more complete photo taken in Key West.
The Big Banana Car was hard to top, but we did stop by Mr. Plywood’s famous sign.
From there I took Chloe to the top of Mt. Tabor, an extinct volcano. She got to see some lava rock.
Teen moment – “I’m going to go roll down the hill, Dad.”
Then there were pierogies and ribs for dinner followed with more fooling around in the park.
What the heck are we going to do next time?
Here she is on her way to the last day of school.
Remember the Big Pants we found back in May?
Well, Chloe took them to school and here she is wearing them with a friend.
Those sure are some big pants!
Summer in Portland has started! June is here and this is the tale of two bike rides. Last week we could see the temp was going to rise into the high 90’s to numbers too complicated to contemplate. So we decided to go to the river.
Here’s Chloe and her bike helmet she painted after the Meatwad character from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon.
From our meeting place in downtown we rode on my big bike down the greenway along the river. Here we are on top of the Sellwood Bridge. Chloe hasn’t ridden her bike on a ride this long before, and with the crazy heat I decided it would be best if she was a passenger on the back of my bike.
AQUA TEEN!
It is indeed nice down at Sellwood Riverfront Park in the cool waters of the Willamette river.
You’ve heard of that guy “Jesus”? Well, he’s more than your Mexican gardener. Meanwhile, Chloe has gotten so into the band Weezer (she’s wearing a Weezer t-shirt in the above photo) that here she is showing us how to accept Weezus into your heart.
We rode back into town.
If the art ain’t good, then Goodwill don’t have it, none.
Just like any normal teen, Chloe requested a bowling pin for an early birthday present.
By the time we go on the train we had ridden the entire river loop around the city. Both sides of the river, from north to south. We were both pooped, but what a great day!
Here I have my bike loaded up with Chloe’s bike. For today she was going to go on the longest bike ride she’s taken to date. One of the things you can do with a cargo bike is tow other bikes.
CUTE!
On the waterfront I spotted this goose family, keeping the little ones cool in a puddle by the walking path.
We were on the west-side greenway, headed to the big Goodwill in Sellwood.
We rode about 15 miles on this day. This being Portland, almost the entire trip was done on bike paths.
Lunchtime at New Seasons! Chloe survived the big hill!
Speed Racer! Chloe briefly absconds with a little-kid scooter left abandoned on the sidewalk.
After an hour at the Goodwill “bins” dad is going a wee bit bonkers.
Here I am imitating “Art”.
Go, Chloe, Go!
From Sellwood we took the Springwater Trail to the 205 bike path.
And we made it back to my place! Total milage of about fifteen miles.
Chloe made it, but we were both ready for a sit-down and dinner.
Just to show off how great this bike is, here’s a shot from this morning when my housemate Drew and I hauled home 5+ metric grocery bags on it.