State basketball tournament

Liesl's 6th grade basketball team was invited to the State Championship tournament, held this weekend in Redmond, OR. They finished 3rd in the Portland Interscholastic League and thus earned a spot. We drove out on Friday through a snowstorm in the mountains, arriving safely in time for their 6 pm game.

The competition turned out to be quite fierce, and some of the teams had an enormous size advantage over our team (as well as better shooting skills and game sense). Liesl's team lost their first two games by wide margins. But Liesl played spectacularly well, showing a lot of focus and stamina, fierce defense, and incredible improvement in her ball handling skills. Her coach played her a lot - she got a lot of minutes of playing time - moving around from the 2 position to the 3 and the 1, depending on who else was on the court. 

We went out for pizza on Friday night with Elia at Grace and Hammer pizzeria in a converted church.

 

After the Saturday morning game, the girls got lunch and then spent hours in the Eagle Crest indoor pool. They had chicken fights and color races and they splashed and screamed for hours. It was total mayhem in there. Mieke and I tried to watch, but then fled the premises for a nearby coffee shop.

 

Jasper and I also got in a long trail run on Saturday - 6.5 miles up Cline Butte, which rises above the Eagle Crest development, and out and back along a ridgeline of unmarked BLM lands. It was gorgeous.

The girls played two games on Sunday: a close loss to the top team in the PIL at 9 am, and a win over an arch-rival, Cleveland, at 1 pm. (We had played Cleveland twice before - lost the first game, won the second by one point, and then this time won convincingly 33-12.) It was great to have a win for the final game of the season. Liesl was again fantastic out there - she actually drove to the basket and took a layup a few times, scoring once, getting fouled twice, and just looking so comfortable and awesome.

Diving for a loose ball.

Look at the size of the girl she's defending!!

 

Before the last game, Liesl drew a picture of coaches Naomi and Isabel (recent college grads who were middle and high school basketball teammates and best friends) to give them as a thank you gift.

Back: Coach Naomi; Greta, Liesl, Gwen, Elia, Bailey, Lily, Tess, Ragan, Coach Isabel.

Front: Alli, Campbell, Arianna

snow running

Anja and I are both running half-marathon races this spring; she has a trail race on March 25, and I have a paved trail race on April 16. So our training plan said we had to run 8 miles this week. You would think that the snow-covered trail and 32 degree temperature would be a deterrent, but you would be wrong. We got out there and made it the entire distance, slipping and sliding and getting absolutely soaking wet feet. Next week, 9 miles. We're just hoping for some solid footing.

churro-making party

Seb's Spanish teacher gave them a group assignment to select a recipe featuring a Spanish or Latin American dish, and to cook it together, narrating the process in Spanish, all captured on video, which was to be submitted along with a sample of the food in question. Seb, Peyton, Nathan, and Jack decided to make churros with nutella. They gathered here on Sunday to bake and deep fry; much hilarity ensued. But in the end, they were very happy with their finished product and the video they created.

snow day

Portland got a record-breaking amount of snow on Wednesday -- 6-10 inches across the city. We had great drifts of it up here, closing the roads and creating a winter wonderland. Jasper and I snowshoed up to the cemetery on Skyline Blvd at dusk -- Liesl went out with friends after school and didn't come home until 8:30 - they sledded, they explored, they made snow angels. Seb stayed cozy for hours but then went outside with Jasper at 11 pm -- the two of them running up and down our street, laughing and enjoying the snow together. I only have my own photos, and none of the children, because they were entirely with their own friends and I didn't want to interfere.

And then Thursday was a snow day off from school for both kids. After working a few hours (meeting students over Zoom), Jasper and I had another snowshoe adventure into Forest Park - up the hill to Skyline, down Firelane 3 to the Wildwood trail - 6 beautiful and exhausting miles. Liesl went out at 9 am  and only returned at 5:30 pm, and then went for a second round of sledding in the dark; Seb went out with friends in the afternoon to sled and play tackle football in the snow.

Entering into Forest Park - we had to almost tunnel under these bowed branches.