Ellie Clements

This Hawaiian princess can’t get enough of reading

This summer in particular, Ellie has really dived in to reading. Most mornings, I can expect to find her on the hallway floor, in front of her bookcase reading to herself, or if it’s a really good day, reading to Ellie.

Our first family camping trip

This summer, we finally had the equipment and the support to do what we’ve wanted to do since moving to Portland: go camping.

We were invited by some friends to go car camping with a whole bunch of families, which sounded ideal because there would be plenty of confident hands assisting us, and lots of other children for the kids to play with.

So, off we went. We went to Barview Jetty Campground on the Oregon coast, which was flush with the amenities that would make Martina in particular comfortable, such as running water, flush toilets and hot showers.

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.

Ellie’s first year at school complete

And just like that, Ellie is no longer a kindergartner. Today is Ellie’s last day at school before the summer break, and they had a school assembly where parents were invited to come along, so I broke away from work to attend.

Each grade sang us a song, and several groups were highlighted and praised for their efforts and achievements during the year. This included the top two boys and girls in each grade from Running Club, where the kids are allowed to voluntarily run around the track at recess and have their laps recorded by a teacher. Apparently, Ellie was one of the top two girl kindergartners (out of ~40) that ran the most laps throughout the year, so she got a gift card and recognition for that.

A surprise in the trunk

After leaving my trunk open to take some things inside, I came back in to find these two fools hiding out in my trunk!

Trying Daddy’s glasses

Daddy has been in the market for some new glasses, which means kids trying on adult glasses and looking hilarious.

Lilac Days

We had heard about this small lilac garden in Washington, about an hour away from us, that had the most beautiful display of lilacs, so we took a trip up to see them and we weren’t disappointed.

The kids humoured us as us adults walked around, but they made the most of it too, and enjoyed smelling the lilacs, not to mention that we got some adorable pictures of the kids.

Mismatch Day at school

This year, Ellie’s school hosted a “Mismatch Day” where the kids got to wear a mélange of different pieces of clothing and accessories.

I think Ellie nailed it.

Visiting the Cherry Blossoms in Portland

We live in the PNW because we love everything about it, and we live that reality out. At every opportunity, we’re out seeing all of the beautiful sites around us.

For whatever reason, in the first two springs here, we didn’t get a chance to make it down to Tom McCall Waterfront Park to see the cherry blossom trees blooming in early spring, but we didn’t make that mistake this year.

We have a lot of cherry blossom trees here in Portland and they’re just a beautiful adornment to an already beautiful city.

Helping to change the oil

Ellie has always been mechanically inclined. She wants to know how things work and to see what goes on, so I’ve always been happy to have her join in when I’m doing things like changing my oil. Not only does it feed her interests, but I believe in the importance of teaching all kids – but especially girls – how to do basic things in life, like simple maintenance on your car.