Ellie has been busy with science kits [VIDEO]

For Christmas, Ellie got a few science-centric gifts. Her aunty Nicola got her an electric circuits set, and we got her a 3-month subscription to KiwiCo’s Tinker crates, where she gets a new kit in the mail every month with a new mini-engineering project.

She’s been having a great time over the last few months playing with them and is loving learning about physics, chemistry and engineering.

Continue reading “Ellie has been busy with science kits [VIDEO]”

Christmas 2019

For Christmas this year, Ellie got a nice little array of gifts.

She had asked for lots of books, since she’s really getting into chapter books at school.

Hands down her favourite gift was something that Santa got for her. Ever since going hiking with Daddy, she’s wanted a hiking backpack with a bladder in it for drinking water on the go. Well, Santa delivered and Ellie was over the moon.

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Ellie lost her first tooth

Ellie held on to her baby teeth longer than most of her peers. Today, she lost her first tooth, and it was quite an eventful affair.

After a week or two of it being really quite wobbly, to the point of even being able to lay down on its side, we went to Starbucks, as we do on the first Saturday of every month before our Home Depot Workshop, and Ellie ordered a bagel as usual.

At the conclusion of the meal, Martina stared at Ellie confused and asked Ellie where her tooth was. She reached into her mouth and was equally confused.

Yep, she had swallowed it.

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Ellie building a Lego yacht

One of Ellie’s main Christmas presents was a big Lego yacht: a 600-piece kit aimed at 9-14 year-olds.

Once again though, she proved just how skilled she is at abstract thinking. She did require a little bit of help with this one, mainly to correct a mistake, but aside from that, she built the bulk of this with very little input from any adults.

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Ellie’s kindergarten photo

Since starting school, Ellie has been thriving. She loves to learn and is really in her element in this learning environment.

They’ve already done their photos for the school year, so the other day we got back her kindergarten photo. She looks adorable and so very grown up! Continue reading “Ellie’s kindergarten photo”

Ellie’s first day at school [VIDEO]

This day was a long time coming. I think Ellie’s been ready to go to school for about three years, but she finally got the chance.

We sent her off into the world and she had an excellent first day at school. She rode the bus without issue and forgot about us the second she got on the bus.

Ever since, she’s truly thrived at school and loves going. She’s coming alive with learning new information and skills and will undoubtedly become a very intelligent person. Continue reading “Ellie’s first day at school [VIDEO]”

Ellie’s 5th birthday

Ellie celebrated her fifth(!) birthday this summer. To celebrate, we invited a bunch of her friends to come and celebrate at Enchanted Forest: a theme park based on fairy tales which hasn’t seen too many updates since the 1970s. However, all of the adults agreed that that was part of its charm; it isn’t flashy or over the top, but offers some great entertainment for a reasonable price without going crazy.

For her actual birthday, she was insistent on wearing her princess dress, and looked beautiful and grown up. Continue reading “Ellie’s 5th birthday”

Family vacation to Bend, OR [VIDEO]

This summer, we made the decision to take our family vacation in Bend, OR. Bend is characterized by the high desert climate, notably different from the wetter climate on the west side of the Cascades (where Portland is), but its craft beer scene and its many options for outdoor adventure.

It was a pretty low-key affair and more than anything, it was just a good break from the everyday slog of life at home, but while we were there, we definitely took the opportunity to do some activities that we wouldn’t ordinarily be able to do.

For example, we took Ellie and Jack horseback riding which went really well. Jack definitely needed some convincing, but once he realised he was OK, he loved it up on the horse. Continue reading “Family vacation to Bend, OR [VIDEO]”

December 2017

Last December, we were settling in for our first winter and our first Christmas in Oregon, and we certainly made the most of it.

We took a trip up to Mount Hood to go tubing and build snowmen, we took a ride on the Christmas train, we made gingerbread houses and generally had a jolly old time. Continue reading “December 2017”

Ellie’s 4th birthday

Our sweet baby girl is not so little anymore. As she continues to grow, she amazes us more and more with how intelligent, funny, creative and curious she is.

For her birthday, we went to the Evergreen Air & Space Museum and Ellie had a blast looking at all of the planes and rockets.

Then, her main birthday present from us was a big girl (double) bed which she was ecstatic about. Continue reading “Ellie’s 4th birthday”