We had a weekend jam-packed with fun activities and events - we were out and about nearly all day both days. After a busy week of school and work and sports, both kids tucked into bed early tonight, without complaint, after nearly falling into their dinners. And now it's late Sunday night and I'm wishing that I had one more day of the weekend in which to relax, get some chores done, putter around the house and kitchen, answer emails... Although it's more likely than not that if I did have a free day tomorrow, I would head out into the world again, in search of a pumpkin patch or a fall hike or something else.
On Thursday night, Steve took Sebastian to see the Women's Major League soccer championship game at Providence Park. Various friends were in the stadium - the Hoangs, the Bedards, the Reulands - confirming for me, once again, that this is a pretty small city. :) The game itself was apparently lacklustre, but it's always fun to see a live sporting event. (And Seb got to see Frances, which made it a worthwhile evening in and of itself.)
Friday evening, Steve met up with a work colleague for dinner while the kids and I made smoked salmon sushi rolls for dinner. It was so much easier than I expected or remembered! We'll definitely have that for dinner again.
On Saturday morning, Liesl had dance class and then we went to Powell's Books (for a gift) and the library (to return and restock). We returned home to eat lunch and pick up Sebastian, and headed to the SW for his soccer game. The Eagles played well - Seb scored 3 goals - and Liesl played on the playground with her new soccer buddy, Diya (Nathan's younger sister). After the game, we went to Custer Park for an afternoon birthday party. It was a gorgeous late-September day, sunny and warm and crisp, and the sun getting low enough by the end that the light slanted through the trees. The kids played with their friends, whacked a pinata, and ate cake. We had dinner at Teote - arepas and pork and beans and plantains - before returning home to sleep.
Today we caught an early Max train to the Northwest Children's Theatre in order to see a 10 am performance of Elephant & Piggie, a musical based on the popular Mo Willems children's books. The show was short and sweet, with the characters enacting the storylines of six different books. There was quite a lot of singing and dancing - more than Seb wanted, perhaps - and some audience participation. We got to have a fun conversation later about the concept of the 4th wall, and breaking it, plus how the production accomplished some of the special effects, and the point of the stage wings, and why the actors didn't wear face masks to look more realistically elephantine and swinish, and the similarities and differences between the books and the play. It was worth it for the conversation alone.
We had lunch at the Hoangs' - sour fish soup, a Vietnamese specialty courtesy of Cuong - which was delicious. Fish, tamarind, okra, taro, bean sprouts, tomato, pineapple, cilantro, over brown rice - so good and comforting and homey. I brought a kale-apple salad and an apple cake, for a little unholy mixing of east and west culinary traditions. And then we went on a long ramble through Marshall Park, the kids running ahead and around us, throwing rocks into streams, Seb tossing his football to anyone who would play catch, Liesl and Camille pretending to talk on their cellphones (sticks)... a perfectly lovely day with friends.
To bed, to bed - another busy week ahead. It must be fall.
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