Another Guest Post by Weegee

Thought I'd waited long enough for my second visit to Portland to get my own suite in the new house, but my timing was off and I found myself rooming with Esme, who's up long before the sun, and is still in her zebra phase. So it took a bit of time to recover enough to do some more guest posting.

From what I can tell, winter in Portland is just like summer. Rainy. This time I didn't bother getting out of my pajamas for pretty much my whole visit. Besides, my clothes were covered in dog hair so no one could tell what I was wearing. Barely left the house, since I figured I'd watched enough episodes of Portlandia to know all that I needed to know about the city.

Anyway, all anyone is interested in is what Esme and Auden are up to, and since Esme's in school now, I mostly hung out with Auden.

It turns out Auden's relationship with his nanny is just as tight as Esme's is with hers.

























Galloping on all fours is still Esme's primary mode of transportation. Here she is heading down the hall to the laundry room, where Auden is watching his nanny going round and round in the dryer.































Anke and her unseeing eyes and unhearing ears.  I was happy and relieved to see her again, and pretty sure she was happy to sniff me.













Waiting for breakfast













The one pic I got of the entire family including Anke.













Sad and lonely trike in the rain.













We were quite crafty, being in Portland and all:

Hand-sewed some clothes for Violet.

























At the prospect of new pants, Violet gets about as excited as I've seen her.  (Incidentally, the clothes ended up on Esme's horse.)













Also made Valentine's Day cards and a tea set.

























Meals were the usual adventure. This will not end well...













Auden the zombie. The scab between his eyes blends right in.












Esme looks civilized in comparison.













Esme's permanent teeth are starting to come in.













Heading off to school.













Auden longs to go to school too.













Then he wants to go outside and help Mooga wash the toilet.































It stopped raining just as I was about to leave, so we had a chance to do some jousting in the yard...

























...and hanging out (yes, literally) in what Auden calls 'the jungle.'


















Auden studying my pores on the way to the airport.













And that was it. The sun came out just as I was arriving at the airport. I'm sensing a pattern here.