mom and dad visit

Mom and Dad came to visit us this week, and we've had some fun adventures and good conversations. They went to see a Pixar exhibit at OMSI on Wednesday, spent Thursday wandering and shopping in the Pearl (we met for lunch), and then on Friday (while dad was at an LPGA golf tournament, about which more below), mom and I went kayaking off Sauvie Island. It took us longer than expected to find a boat dock on the water - there was a lot of fruitless driving down dead-end roads that failed to reach projected large bodies of water - but we eventually made it out on the water and had a wonderful time. It's possible we went farther than we should have, and committed the cardinal error of leaving the upstream paddle for the way back, but we made it back safe and sound!

On Saturday, we all went to watch the Cambia Classic Portland Open, an LPGA event held here annually. We wandered a little but mostly followed the young Canadian golfer Brooke Henderson, a two-time winner of this tournament. Dad was very happy to teach the kids about what makes a good golf swing, how the tournament is structured, what to watch for during each hole, what caddies are for, what sand traps are about, and to generally share his undimmed enthusiasm for the sport.

At the 4th green, one of the volunteers who was charged with holding up the Quiet Please sign asked Liesl to come help her out. With some reluctance, Liesl agreed, and did a great job. Her Canadian flag headband tickled all of the Canadian fans who were following Brooke, and many took photos of her.

It was a hot day and we'd walked miles, so we rewarded ourselves with cones at Salt and Straw before returning home. The sunset was gorgeous.

mini-golfing

We went mini-golfing on Sunday at Eagle Landing in Happy Valley - the course was pretty and green and had fun water features. Despite my stiffness from running HTC, it was a good outing (Liesl picked the ball out of the cup for me).

Hole in one!!

Hit my ball into the water!

first day of school!

First day of school today - 3rd grade for Liesl and 6th grade for Sebastian. Liesl has Mr. Langton and is in class with some friends, so she was happy to head off this morning. Middle school is a whole new world: a larger school (900 students), starting and finishing later (9:15-3:45), taking the bus, different teachers and classmates for every subject, lockers and 3-ring binders, school-sponsored sports. Seb was understandably nervous about figuring out the schedule and school building and the unknown of teachers, but he had a great first day and luckily has multiple friends in all of his classes. Off we go!

Hood to Coast relay

I was invited by a group of neighborhood moms to join their Hood to Coast relay team, and agreed despite my anxiety about the commitment and exertion required. The race begins at Timberline Lodge up at Mt. Hood and goes 199 miles to Seaside, on the coast. Teams are made up of 12 people and each person run 3 legs of the race, with mileage of 16-20 miles per person. We started at 11:30 am on Friday and finished at 6 pm on Saturday, running through the night along various paved and unpaved country roads and trails. We were split into two vans, with runners 1-6 in the first and runners 7-12 in the second; I was runner 11 (so I ran legs 11, 23, and 35).

In the van on our way to the first exchange, where we met up with Van 1 and our first runner took off.

My first leg was 5 miles around 8:30 pm along the Springwater corridor trail in SE Portland - I started in the light and ended in darkness.

My second leg was 4.5 miles at 7 am on a gorgeous back-country stretch of Rd. 202 near Vernonia/St Helens. My third leg was the hardest - 7 miles on a gravel trail near the coast. I was really proud of myself and felt that I had trained hard and that it paid off - I ran 8 1/2 min miles for the first two legs and 9 min/mile for the last one. I was really nervous before the third leg and the first two miles were super hard, but then I found a sweet spot and a groove and it felt really great all the way to the end.

It was fun to be in the van, part of a team. We got exhausted and dirty and sweaty and hungry and sick together - we also felt exhilarated and happy and cheered each other on the whole way. It was a great group of women - Cassandra, Kelly, Christie, Caroline, and Carissa - most of whom I didn't know very well before the race, but who I really appreciated.

How many times have you run Hood to Coast? Caroline was the winner, with 6! Many had 4 or 5 under their belt, and there were two of us newbies.

It took us 30 hours; average pace of 9:10 per mile. We came in 448 out of 1200 teams, and in the Womens Submasters division, we came in 7th.

Bend soccer tourney

We were back from camping for a day, and then on Friday morning packed up again and headed to Bend for Sebastian's soccer tournament. He had a game on Friday night, two on Saturday, and one on Sunday morning - a demanding schedule, given Bend's higher altitude and the boys' ongoing adjustment to a bigger field (with more space to cover, and hence more running).

The first three games were tough losses -- 2-0, 7-0, 8-0 -- against some really good teams. Their opponents definitely had some kids who played at the Premier (top) level in the state, and in general they were much more disciplined and in better condition. But our kids kept their spirits up, which was good to see, and kept trying until the end. Sebastian was mostly on defense, with a couple of stints on offense and midfield. Coach John said that they'd gotten unlucky in the tournament draw and had played the top three teams in our division. On Sunday, they played a consolation game that they won easily, 5-1, which was fun (they scored goals!) and made the long drive home a little happier.

On the bright side, we ate at Spork, one of our favorite restaurants, and the team went tubing on the Deschutes River together on Saturday afternoon, which was freezing and terrifying and fun, and we had an outdoor pool party at the hotel on Saturday night, which was really fun and relaxing for both kids and adults.

Timberline Lodge

Before we drove home on Wednesday, we decided we had time for a few last adventures and stops. Our first was at Little Crater Lake, which interested me because it was close, and because Crater Lake is beautiful, and because it had been recommended to me as a hike (at least, I thought so). We drove 2 miles along the most infernally pot-holed road to get there to the trailhead, which we couldn't at first find, and then walked a quarter of a mile to see this tiny, buggy, super unimpressive pond.  The kids are indicating their rating and displeasure in the photo below.

To be fair, it was super deep (35-40 feet) and a lovely blue green color in the center, but it was definitely not worth the journey. So we went back to the car and drove to Timberline Lodge, which we had been to before, but not all that often, and so not really remembered by the kids. We investigated the historic building, peering at the giant fireplaces and the restaurants, and then headed outside for a short hike along the PCT/Timberline trail.

And then we headed home, hot and tired and a little hungry, back to Steve and our home. Showers and beds and hot running water are always so welcome after a camping trip.