Monthly Archives: August 2026

Hellenika and APIA – Cultures Blend and It’s Delicious – August 2026

Au pairs from Peru, Colombia, Panama, Brazil, Slovakia, and France sampled gelato made in the Greek tradition from a family raised in Australia, who found their home in Seattle. It doesn’t get more global than this! Since it’s opening, I have been an uber fan of the original Ellenos yogurt to this Hellenika gelato.  When I asked the owner if we could have a cluster meeting tour of their business, he didn’t hesitate and, in fact, they gave us all the gelato we could eat along with information from their food scientist about how the recipes come together. This cluster meeting all of my loves came together. The love of the Au Pairs and their cross-cultural exchanges, Hellenika gelato, the global nature of Seattle, kindness in the form of Zeus’s Law, the various flavors created for the FIFA World Cup games, and taking pictures of it all.  

Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs

Our next Camp Au Pair theme is Dinosaurs.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to dinosaurs can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Dinosaurs pinboard.

Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings and be sure to take all social distancing precautions.

Field Trip Ideas:

  • Children’s museum
  • Natural history museum
  • Parks with fossil hunting programs
  • Play spaces with dinosaur areas
  • Science centers

Virtual Field Trips:

Toys – Many kids have dinosaur toys already. See what your kids have and think of fun, new ways you can play with these toys with them. Imagine taking a plastic dinosaur and making footprints in play dough to form your own fossils.

Webcam – The Calvert Marine Museum in Maryland offers a webcam where you can watch paleontologists remove rock from around fossils.

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about dinosaurs and fossils. Here are a few to get you started.

Movies – Here are some movies that fit the dinosaur theme.

  • Dinosaur
  • Dinosaur Island
  • Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
  • Land Before Time
  • Lego Jurassic World
  • The Good Dinosaur
  • Walking with Dinosaurs
  • We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story

For older kids:

  • Journey to the Center of the Earth
  • Jurassic Park (which is rated PG-13)

Books – Check your kids’ bookshelf for books on dinosaurs. You can also find many read aloud book videos on YouTube.

Photo: krojotak.com

Exchange Day – Inside Warmth! – July 2026

The au pairs who came out on a cold, rainy night were warm and welcoming. They bonded over foosball and ping pong and too much ice cream with chocolate sauce. We did a touch of line dancing, played our Spotify tunes of the summer and got to chat just a little bit more. Thanks to all who brought some shoes for donating to the J-1 Day sponsored by the Department of State.