hiking

This morning we went on a little hike from Burnside up a steep set of stairs (264! we counted! thanks, Bompy) into Washington Park. We crowed when we were finally higher than a big apartment building we could see. We ran around and under big trees. Liesl whacked clumps of dirt and leaves and trees with a big stick.  We balanced on stone walls and ducked under bike rack "tunnels".  At the end, Seb said, "I love hiking. It's my favorite thing to do with you, mommy."  I think the move to Portland will feel entirely worth it to me if he can sustain that feeling for his whole life. :)

During his post-lunch, pre-nap writers workshop, he chose to draw a picture of our morning hike. You can see the tall building, the stairs, the trail, the crazy trees, and the #20 bus that runs along Burnside.

We also visited the Portland Central Library and happened upon a storytime for toddlers. Liesl happily jumped right into the action - amazing how different she is from Sebastian, who never wanted to join a crowd of children, never would have walked up to a teacher to introduce himself, and really hasn't ever been into a library storytime.