February ended up being a good month, with a lot of snow play and a definite increase in fun in-person activities. And now it's March, and spring is in the air (the daffodils are popping up!)!
Liesl's soccer team practices twice a week and has been playing games every weekend. She is now on the Red team, having been promoted from the Black team that she was on last year. She has played a lot of defense, but just this Saturday got to play striker and scored her first goal for the Red team. Yay! She also had a second chance, a breakaway that she didn't finish but was super exciting to see. She has also played two games for the Black team, since Steve is sometimes their coach (the assistant coaches rotate coaching the Black team games), including a tough one this Sunday all the way in Eugene.
Her dance studio returned to in-person classes in mid-February, and so Liesl has had jazz and hip-hop with her friends and teachers. So much better than remotely over Zoom! The climbing gym also reopened and I've gone twice with Adrienne; I'm weak, especially in the forearms and hands, and feel awkwardly uncoordinated, but am thrilled to be back on the walls (even if the routes I'm on are topping out at 10b's).
Liesl and I also had our second horseback riding lesson, this time with two horses, Billy and Sierra. We practiced walking and giving commands to our horses, and then started learning how to post a trot. It's not intuitive! There's a lot of ungraceful bouncing around. But we both felt a glimmer of what we were supposed to do in terms of rising and falling with the horse's gait, and it was amazing. Can't wait for another lesson this week.
We've also been playing with her hair - french braids and side buns - it's super long at this point, as is mine.
Sebastian's soccer team decided not to field a travel team that played league games (because of concerns about long-distance travel and Covid), but they practice and scrimmage twice a week. It's not amazingly competitive, but it's certainly better than nothing, and it gives him the opportunity to connect with friends and run around. His baseball team has started practices for the spring season, at an indoor warehouse facility, with schedule/games/everything still TBD -- we're just hoping for something somewhat local and fun with his teammates. His Podschool continues to be a lifesaver in terms of giving him structure, in-person outdoor playtime with 4 friends, and an alternative adult to help with homework. Although we worry about the amount of time he spends in his room staring at a screen (for classes, homework, reading books, watching youtube and twitch streams, playing Fortnite...), he is handling the demands of remote learning remarkably well. He has become very organized and disciplined with his schedule and deadlines, and it's really impressive for a 13-year old.
School is still remote, and will be for weeks more at a minimum. It's possible that Liesl will return to school for some sort of hybrid learning - two days, part days - in April, but I'm not counting on it. I won't be back at work in-person until the fall quarter begins in late September and I doubt Seb will return either. We are feeling grateful for the sunshine and longer days, and the hint of summer to come, with hopefully even more opportunities to play and connect with friends.
Jasper and I went for a long, muddy walk in Forest Park on Friday, and he carried a gigantic stick for miles. I had to give him a treat and a different stick to convince him to drop it, even though he was clearly getting tired of carting it around. So silly.
