While at Ocean City, New Jersey we stayed at The Tahiti Inn.
As you can see, this helped feed Dad’s Tiki obsession.
The big win for us was being just a half-block off the beach and boardwalk.
The waterfall feature is blocked by my hat. Dang!
If any tiki fans are reading this, at the south end of the boardwalk you can find Dole Whip!
Shady Cat continues to find his turkey costume oddly comforting.
Garage sale!
I seem to be the only one in the family who actually likes to wear hats.
Not pictured is ball cap from the Valdez Pipeline I picked up.
Not the worst one dollar I’ve ever spent at a garage sale.
That’s another story altogether.
Chloe takes her cake baking very seriously.
Presenting… A raccoon cake!
And it is delicious!
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!