Babyup!

So, we held Mondo Croquet in the park.
It turned out there was a Samoan Cultural Festival going on.

Ok, so I found the tiki chicken at Goodwill.
It has nothing to do with the Samoan Cultural Festival.

These lovely ladies were part of the festivities.

Chloe is ready to play.

She’s going to be out of town with a friend during the Mondo Croquet World Championships,
but Chloe made a trophy for us!

You can pick your nose, and you can pick your friends…

Hat shopping.

We went to see an interactive art exhibit by these guys: https://www.roboocto.com

And hey, it was pretty darn fun! Both a 14 year old girl and a 55 year old man had a great time.

Surprise Pineapple and graffiti in Russian.

Elsewhere in the city we encounter an electric race car.

Chloe is practicing for the photo to go on her next album cover.

For her birthday we took Chloe and two of her friends to Oaks Park, a small but fun amusement park here in Portland. Above the trio won quite a few ducks in the “Duck Catcher” game.

Chloe’s been here many times over the years, and she has a ritual of playing the fish catching game. Here they are with their prizes.

Rides!

Look! She’s tall enough!

Yes, this is the AtmosFEAR ride, the one you heard about getting stuck with the riders upside down for an hour. The girls rode it several times.

Sadly, The Frog Hopper wasn’t open.

Presents! On the dock on the river.

Last day of school, 2024

Every lake has its monster

Just for fun we rode over to her school.

New art!

Flashback to when Chloe was the littlest Viking.

Foreshadowing

Nature!

Chloe painted this owl for a friend at school.

The artist at work.

Competing at the track meet.

Chloe playing recorder for the 8th grade graduation ceremony.

Use this in case of trouble with the help.

Chloe and her friend Sophia having fun.

Trying on a more formal look

Origami

Origami

The Dark Side of the Easter Bunny

Kitty?

What’s in that hand?

What is that, anyway?

First making comics, then tacos!

Un Sombrero y una niña

Everyone needs two watches when cooking.

Shady Cat

A kitty on a cupcake!

OMSI – The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
Fun place! It starts with a dinosaur…

Includes a submarine…

Launch torpedoes!

Chloe’s not ready to dive!

Many mysterious dials…

So, I started this for Chloe by drawing the first panel with the chicken with a hot dog…
The order of the panels is a little hard to figure out, but let the epic battle begin!

Chloe has one more year at her current school, and we’re planning on getting her into the Arts High School the year after! A few days earlier we did a comic jam with a friend of mine who is a professional illustrator and animator.

We haven’t figured out an end for our Cat and Snail story. If you’re wondering, the first cat is by S. W. Conser, the second by the 13 yr old, and the childish scrawl is mine.

What’s this? Steve didn’t totally forget Fastnacht Day this year? Nope!

But he did forget until the day-of, so we went with this recipe which doesn’t need to raise overnight.

This year I was smart enough to halve the recipe so that we only have too many delicious donut-like pastries around instead of way, way too many.

And they sure are good!

For the second dance of the year, the theme was “Black and White” in hopes the kids would make an attempt at dressing more formally.

Chloe went with white dress shirt, black skirt, stompy-boots and of course, a black tie.
This is the “Before” shot.

Here’s the “during” shot…

…and pooped-out afterwards!

Our cold snap is coming to an end, much to the relief of the people out there who lost power. Ice storm last night and today we went out in a light drizzle to see if we could sled.

Icicle nose!

Setting up the tube…

Introduction to ice on hills.

This time, for sure!

And another victory walk home.