apple picking

On Sunday, after Sebastian's soccer game, we went to our usual place to pick apples - one of my favorite fall traditions! We've done it every year since the kids were tiny, and I love it. I love being in an orchard, gathering fruit, bemoaning the over-gathering of fruit, and then cooking and baking with my bounty. That being said, these photos are not representative of our actual experience this weekend. It was hot, we were tired and thirsty and hungry, the trees were rather barren, the wasps and bees were in over-abundant swarms. We picked half-heartedly and then gave up - only 20 lbs or so of mostly baking apples. We may try again, at a different orchard, on another day. Or I might just have to accept that it's not perfect every year.

soccer players

Seb's team is 2-2 so far this season; they've shown a good deal of improvement and are really hard-working - but they're still inconsistent and undisciplined in terms of ball-handling and passing. Still, it's becoming more and more fun to watch as he gets older and the game starts to cohere. Sebastian has scored about one goal per game, although his great strengths lie in dribbling and passing.

A big post-goal grin. Our Liesl is a scoring machine, logging two goals each game the last two weekends. It's fun to see her out there with her teammates and friends, the Blunicorns.

more updates on Jasper

In very exciting news, our friends the Qualls (children in 5th, 3rd, and 1st grades at FPE - Liesl and Campbell are really close and take ballet and play soccer together) were so inspired by our puppy that they went and got Jasper's brother from the breeder. We re-introduced the two puppies to one another after school on Wednesday and then again on Friday, and they were so fun to watch. They wrestled and jumped and chased each other around and around - it was great.

He's a bit like our baby at the moment... and so we are finding everything about him endlessly interesting. I assume our infatuation won't last, but in the meantime he's a really cute and sweet puppy. We took photos of Jasper's first bath. He seemed to find it perfectly tolerable and didn't whine or attempt to escape the tub.

McNeil Point mama hike

It was a little smoky because of the Eagle Creek fire - not nearly as bad as Portland, which was hazardous-level - but we ventured out for a 13 mile mama hike up McNeil Point at Mt. Hood. It is a spectacularly beautiful trail through lovely forests, across mossy streams, and then across a volcanic rock slide up to a stone shelter and then finally up up up (700 ft in 0.4 miles) to the point. It was amazing - felt like we could reach out and touch a glacier. I love being so high on the mountain that it feels like you could touch the top.

 Casady, Michelle, Anne, and me. Hood is behind us and would be visible on a clear day.

 You can see the scorched and burned forest on the hillside in the distance.

The sun came out on our way down - a bit of a breeze took the smoke towards Portland and away from us. We were really tired by the end, but happy - it was good to get out and be away and moving for so long in good company.

soccer, ballet, school

We are back in the full swing of fall schedules. Both kids have soccer practices and games and swimming lessons; Liesl also has ballet and an after-school drama class. Our weeks have filled up quickly!

Liesl played soccer games last Saturday and today - she was super excited that they won today and that she scored two goals. She also really loved her first ballet class - three of her best school friends are in the class with her (Nora, Campbell, and Nina) and she is thrilled. The cuteness factor is over the top with these little ones.

Sebastian had a tough loss in his first soccer game of the year, but he played really well and scored a spectacular goal in the first half (dribbled around lots of opponents, put on some nice moves and fakes, kept his cool when confronted, and drilled it in). The school had back-to-school night on Thursday and we had the opportunity to go into their classrooms and see their desks and hear about the curriculum. Sebastian's class had these cool biographical poems posted on the wall.