Methot Family Film Festival

I recently realized that I had gotten really far behind editing and posting videos. For the past couple of weeks I've been catching up and now have ten new videos to share dating back to last summer. Here they are in chronological order. Click each image to watch that video. Enjoy!

During our Seattle trip last summer we visited the Woodland Park Zoo. At one point we wandered into a secluded, quiet grassy area with a couple of benches and no people and decided to pause there for a few minutes. Then we noticed a butterfly that was flying back and forth across the clearing. He or she seemed to be just having fun.

I thought I would try to get the girls to script and act in a short film, teaching them about scenes, camera angles and editing it all together. It turned out to be too ambitious - they had no interest in planning the film beyond a single sentence "treatment" and they certainly had no interest in multiple takes. Audrey's friend Zack had also been bugging his dad Dana to help him make films, so we joined forces. We did manage to capture a couple of shots that followed a story before it devolved into improv. But it was fun. We'll try again in a year or two.

A very brief video of both girls demonstrating their magician skills.

We made our first visit to Santa's Village in June 2011, but it was just Charlotte, Carol and me while Audrey was at circus camp. In October an especially warm weekend was forecast so we headed north for a repeat visit. Temperatures were warm enough that the small water park was even open in the afternoon. We had a blast.

We have developed a tradition of two birthday celebrations for the girls: a "family" birthday celebration and a "friends" birthday party. At the birthday party this year each guest got to "get fancy" with satin gloves (from the dollar store), bouquets and fancy fabric to wrap herself in. For Charlotte's sixth birthday I managed to capture "Happy Birthday" at both celebrations.

Audrey has now attended two half-day LEGO Engineering "camps" at Tufts University's Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO). In December she built a crazy snow plow. On March 31st she attended a camp with a "April Fools" theme and built a waving cartoon hand reminiscent of a jack-in-the-box. Next year Charlotte will be able to go, too.

After some really creative but laborious themed birthday parties at home, Carol surrendered and held Audrey's 8th birthday party at Plaster Fun Time. Audrey invited eight friends and Charlotte got to invite a friend, too. We still can't believe we have an 8-year-old.

Carol surprised the girls one night with a special bath: a bubble bath with glow sticks in it. A huge hit!

Saving the best two for last! One gorgeous evening when I got home from work Charlotte immediately asked me to take the training wheels off her bike. Of course! I took them off and a few minutes later Charlotte was riding her bike in a straight line from Carol to me and then back. Before long she was riding all around the driveway by herself. She completely skipped the dad-running-along-holding-on phase! We were so proud of her. On the next couple of weekends we all went down to the school to ride in the parking lot. Now Charlotte is a pro.

Audrey told us some time ago that she really wanted to learn figure skating. This winter we signed her up for a 20-week session in nearby Medford. Audrey really loved it. She paid close attention and worked hard at all of the skills she was taught. At the end of the season the organization produces a huge ice show in which every skater performs. They are divided into skill levels with each level performing a different program with themed music. Audrey was in "Under the Sea". The whole program was really enjoyable. Audrey liked it so much we signed her up for the Spring session. It's much smaller with more individual attention. Audrey is working on learning to spin. I'm thrilled that Audrey has discovered an athletic activity that she seems to love.