Carnival!

Rachel's preschool, St. James Lutheran Church, had a carnival Friday night -- it was a fundraiser for the school. All the kids were told to wear costumes, and Rachel looked ADORABLE in the fairy princess costume that her friend Devin got her for her birthday (paired with the fairy wings that Grandma/Grandpa or Aunties Amanda/Jenn got her, I can't remember who). Rachel is a very popular kid -- as soon as she and Drew arrived (I got there about a half-hour into it), two girls came up to her and said, "Rachel, c'mon!" and they all ran off to try the games. I caught up with a couple of moms, who raved about the kindergarten program at St. James which made me think that maybe we should leave Rachel there for another year. We had hoped that starting next fall our financial condition would improve dramatically once we stop paying preschool fees, but if the kindergarten program is so good (and, most crucially, the classes are smaller than our neighborhood school's kindergarten), and we'd have to pay our neighborhood school for after-care, we may as well just keep her at St. James. Bonus: When Rachel's in first grade, we'll be able to take her to St. James during Portland Public Schools' numerous holidays, in-service days, days off just for the hell of it (really, I'm joking, but it's true: PPS kids seem to spend more time out of school than in). So, bottom line, we likely will keep Rachel in St. James until first grade (2014). We are praying that our cars hold out until then so we won't have to start car payments again until she's at Alameda Elementary.

Anyhow...the carnival was a lot of fun, and she has a new friend, Giada, who has asked her mom for a playdate with Rachel (just as Rachel has asked me to arrange a playdate with Giada), so...I'm sure we'll get the kids together. As soon as I figure out when my Africa trip will come through.