home photos

Staying-at-home and social distancing continues, sadly. We have fallen into a pattern of sorts, where I do some yoga and walk the dog, and then work from 9-3 while the kids do their distance learning and read books and watch videos and play Fortnite (and Seb walks Jasper at noon), and then we go out in the afternoon and play sports together for an hour or so, before dinner. We'll play basketball, baseball, soccer, downball, biking, walking, frisbee... And then in the evenings, if it's nice, we sometimes have another round of play, this time with Steve too. It's a perfectly fine rhythm, though lacking in excitement, and Steve and I worry about the amount of screen time both kids are getting.

We printed out and hung up some family photos in the living room, and continued working on the house cleanups - we've done Seb's and Liesl's rooms and closets, and the garage.

And my favorite thing of all: Seb has learned to make pancakes from a boxed mix. He's very happy and proud of his newfound ability to make one of his favorite foods.

disc golf

Seb and I drove across the St. John's bridge on Saturday to play disc golf at Pier Park in north Portland. We'd been there once before and had a great time. The park is huge and spacious; the trees are enormous and lushly green; the disc golf course has official maps, tee boxes, and goals; we were excited to go somewhere new and have fun. Except that because of Covid-19, they'd taken out all of the actual goals!!! Why??? Other people had kindly stuck branches in the metal holes left behind, so we were still able to figure out where we were going, but it was sadly deflating to discover the goals missing on the first hole. But we kept going and did have a really fun time together.

Jasper had a great time tromping around the woods with us, and behaved himself impeccably - didn't chase after or run off with any of our discs! So he got to ramble off leash and sniff some new smells.

We bought Jasper some new tennis balls that squeak very loudly when he chews on them - he loves them, of course. But when Seb and I were playing basketball in the undercover area at the school, we found the constant squeaking to be quite annoyingly loud. So I took away the ball and put it up on a pipe, certainly within Jasper's reach, but obviously away. And then Jasper sat and STARED at his ball with unfixing attention for 15 minutes. We were so surprised and then amused, and then curious about just how long it would go on. He finally did go and grab the ball from its perch, and then curled up with it, very satisfied but also a little more careful (he kept giving me the side-eye).

marble run

On Saturday, Liesl and I spent over three hours clearing out and cleaning up her closet - old and outgrown clothes, toys, and books; old twin-bed sheets; random papers and projects -- and reorganizing what was left. It's amazing -- you couldn't see the shelf before because it was covered in clothes and boxes, and stuff was spilling off the top shelves. She's so happy with her expanded space, especially as her closet is functioning as her de facto classroom at the moment.

Liesl spent a few hours last week playing with the old wooden marble tracks - we have a huge box full of blocks and marbles and tracks, which has been sitting in Seb's closet. She and Arianna had a great time setting up various runs on the sloping driveway (and protecting them from the drizzle).

In other news, I sat outside (despite a drizzle) on Friday morning to take my work phone calls and Zoom meetings. Jasper kept me company and I was happy to be looking out at the green space. And I baked a cinnamon donut cake, which was delicious and very akin to a traditional sugar doughnut.

Mother's Day

Sunday was Mother's Day, and it was sunny and unseasonably warm in Portland. Steve made a lovely breakfast of challah French toast with strawberries and ricotta, plus bacon. And then we dragged our over-stuffed bellies for a slow walk in Forest Park along the Ridge trail, the Wildwood, and Firelane 7. The adults enjoyed naps, and then it was a lazy afternoon of reading, Zooming with family, some chores. Both kids took me up on my strong hint that I would like a nature craft present, with clear directions from Karen/Sparky, and I was delighted with the outcomes. And then Steve picked up dinner at Tasty and Alder - takeout meals are such a treat these days - and there was a gorgeous sunset out our back deck.

patio/deck

There is a balcony deck outside our living room, which is obviously unappealing for much of the year when it's cold and rainy. And then in the summer, it gets extremely hot in the afternoons, because it's a southwest exposure. And then given how little time we usually spend at home, making the deck into a usable space has always been a low priority for us. Until now! We are all here, and the deck is shaded in the mornings, and so we've embarked on a low-key project to make it a little nicer. We got colorful planters -- and nice wooden one from Mom Raab - and some new plants from Cornell Farms, and we've planted lettuce and flower seeds in some other planters. We thought about buying chairs, but decided to just put our comfy camping chairs out there instead. They're lightweight and portable, and we'll just bring them back into the garage when the rains begin in fall.

Dwarf red maple.

Liesl and I played some card games and Scrabble outside this morning. Jasper loves lying on the deck with me, curled up at my feet. I've taken a number of morning work calls out there and it's sweet to be outside, looking at the forested greenspace and hearing the birds, with a dog to keep me company.

And then, on an unrelated note, the baking continues: this was a rhubarb upside down cake that Sebastian helped me make. It might be his first baking project and it turned out delicious!

Sweet Jasper enjoying the grass.

sprints and skills courses

We went for a bike (Liesl and I) and run (Seb and Jasper) last week on the Rock Creek and Waterline trails, in Beaverton. We explored a new trail, which led to a new playground (sadly closed), and climbed some trees. The other three stopped there while I rode back to get the car in order to go pick them up. (We'd gone about 4 miles, so Seb was done.)

Liesl and Steve had a session of sprints on the field.

We made another street skills course, with the ladder (icky-shuffle), soccer ball dribbling (including a maradona), rope-jumping, hula hooping, stilts-walking, dance jumps, cartwheels, grapevine sideways shuffles, holding a plank, 10 squats, high knee skips, throwing a baseball at a target, and throwing a frisbee at a cone. Phew!

And finally, into any active life, a little trouble must fall. Liesl crashed on her bike and fell onto her face and hands, giving herself some scrapes and cuts and a big fat lip. Poor baby. She recovered!