Last Day of 3rd Grade and Start of Summer

Emily with a friend on the last day of school. 

All done with third grade!

The girls tried out a new art camp and loved it!

A lazy morning of lounging. 

We went to a farmer's market and bought some kettle corn. 

Emily shopping for onions. 

We bought some rosé raspberries too!

MAWS and DD generously took care of the girls so Justin and I could go out for a belated 18th wedding anniversary dinner. The girls had a blast. Thank you MAWS and DD!

A collage of some of the items from our delicious dinner at Paley's Place. Yum!

Tigard Festival of Balloons

Lauren and Emily always look forward to the Festival of Balloons. It was quite hot this year but they still had a blast. When we first arrived they ran across some preschool friends. 

It's hard to see them, but Emily and Lauren are in the back row on the right. 

The Super Orbiter was spinning so fast I could not get a photo of the girls! Lauren was feeling a little green afterwards. 

Emily sitting in a swing chair with Ella. 

Lauren enjoying the calm swing ride. 

Emily likes to sit in the front row of roller coasters. 

Emily is in the front and Lauren is in the very back. 

Lauren and Ella riding a balloon. 

Lauren driving Ella around in a bumper car. 

Emily driving a bumper car. 

Riding helicopters! Ella and Emily are in the green helicopter and Lauren is in the purple helicopter. 

The classic fire brigade ride. Lauren is sitting in the front pretending to eat the plush donut she won from a carnival game. It was a hot but fun day!

Multnomah Falls

Justin and the girls went to Multnomah Falls with Ella and Grandma Rufener. 

Girls in front of the iconic falls. 

Emily "drinking" the water. 

Girls with Grandma Rufener. 

The girls also spent an evening with Ella and Tian enjoying a picnic dinner at a nearby playground.

Grandpa Rufener's 70th Birthday

 

The Rufener family reunited in Oregon for Grandpa Rufener's 70th birthday! We hosted a birthday dinner at our house. Here is Grandpa Rufener opening Lauren and Emily's birthday cards. 

Sarae, Kadin, Warren, Briahna, and Ashlyn came from Illinois to celebrate. 

Scott, Michelle, and Ella came from Virginia to celebrate. 

Singing happy birthday. 

Cheering after Grandpa Rufener blew out the candles. 

The girls enjoyed spending time with their cousins! This was a cute photo I took of the girls with Ella.

School Talent Show, Part 2

The girls both performed at their school's recent evening talent show for students and their families. This week they performed again in a second talent show that was held during the regular school day. Here is Emily performing a taekwondo routine with her friend Scarlet. Emily is on the right. The video is quite blurry but I wanted to post it anyways. :)

Lauren performed "How Far I'll Go"... she sang AND played the piano! 

Taekwondo- Brown Belt Test

Emily and Lauren completed their brown belt testing this week!

Video of the group doing their taekwondo form routine. Lauren is on the left and Emily is in the center. 

Lauren easily broke her board using a spinning hook kick.

Emily has a strong spinning hook kick too.

The girls received trophies from Master Eric for completing two years of taekwondo training!

Field Day, Amanda's Party, and OMSI

The girls had fun during Field Day at school. A friend's mom sent me this photo of Emily with friends. 

All dressed up for Amanda's birthday party! 

This year her party was at Hotel Lucia in downtown Portland. 

The dinner was delicious!

It was a fabulous party!

This weekend we also went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. 

We met up with some friends and the girls had a great time together. 

Emily conducting an experiment demonstrating how chemical reactions can cause liquids to become cool or warm. 

Lauren did this experiment several times... the chemical reaction causes carbon dioxide gas to push the blue liquid from the flask into the beaker. 

Emily in a giant ear! 

Lauren sitting on the giant ear.

After lunch the girls rode on the motion simulator... they did an acrobatics simulation and loved it!

Picnic Dinner and Puppet Theater

When the weather is nice, we like to pick up Subway sandwiches and have a picnic dinner at the park. Emily had a meatball marinara sandwich and Lauren had a BLT.

Lauren made this puppet theater out of a cardboard box. 

The girls made cute puppets representing all of our family members. Top row, from left to right: Grandpa, Tian, Grandma, MAWS, and DD. Bottom row, from left to right: Aunty Kimberly, Uncle Greg, Daddy, Mommy, Kay, Lauren, Kali, Uncle Lane, and Emily.