Outdoor School

Every 6th grader in Oregon has the opportunity to go on a six-day Outdoor School experience, focused on environmental field studies, which is publicly funded by a state bond. Outdoor school has been running for 40+ years and is a classic experience for kids growing up here. Sebastian and all of his WSMS classmates left on Sunday afternoon - Seb will be a camp called Arrah Wanna, near the town of Welches on the outskirts of Mt. Hood. It's unseasonably cold this week and there was a foot of snow at Hood over the weekend, so we made sure he packed extra layers. (The kids will sleep on bunk beds in cabins; there's a giant dining hall and meeting room, but most of the daily activities are intended to be outside, exploring plants, rivers, trees, wildlife.) Seb was nervous, of course, but also excited for the adventure, and we were proud and relieved that there was no doubt he would go.

Here he is with his "block" friends Omri, Jaxon, and Cameron, getting on the bus.

The house is quiet without our boy, and our weekly schedule is suddenly half empty. I bought less than the usual quantity of food. We can't wait for him to come home on Friday and to hear about the adventure.

cross country relay

Sebastian ran a 5x1 relay race on Thursday - five team members each running 1 mile - and to our astonishment, his team won against 51 other middle school teams. First place! He was asked by a couple of the fastest 8th-graders at West Sylvan to join their team, which obviously made Seb feel pretty special, and the team won easily. The coach marked Seb's time as 6:08 for the mile, which just blows my mind, especially since he said he felt like he could have run it faster. !!!!

Can't wait for the next meet, to see what fresh surprises our boy has in stock for us. I knew he was a good runner, but I was not expecting him to be competing at this level in 6th grade.

soccer road trip

Sebastian's soccer team had two games in southern Oregon this weekend - Saturday afternoon against Medford, and Sunday morning against Grants Pass. So coach John rented a 15-passenger van and we piled the boys in for a two-day road trip. I rode along with the boys and the assistant coach drove separately (with a few of the boys and another parent). It was fun -- occasionally loud, and the drive was long, and they lost both soccer games, but the boys seemed happy to be together. The hotel had a pool for them to swim, they played with a bouncing ball in every parking lot they could find, and we stopped for a famous In N Out burger after Sunday's match.

Playing charades. Ridiculous and funny.

The mad push to get into (and out of) the van everytime we stopped. They were ridiculous funny.

I went for a walk along a gorgeous little stretch of the Rogue River this morning, while the boys warmed up for the match.

first cross country meet

Sebastian joined the cross country team at West Sylvan this fall and has been practicing three days a week since the end of August. The team is big - 90 kids - with boys and girls from 6th-8th grades. Thursday was their first meet of the season, at Overlook Park in NE Portland. The runners were given the choice of running a 2k or 3k race, with the assumption that the 6th-graders would run the 2k and the 7th/8th would run the 3k. Sebastian decided to run the 3k, the only 6th-grader to do so, because he's been running really well and feeling pretty confident.

This race was part of a trail series sponsored by a local track club, and so there was the opportunity for 3rd and 4th graders to run a 1500 m race just before the middle schoolers arrived. We entered Liesl into the race along with two of her soccer team/school friends. She did so well - amazingly well - and showed a lot of grit and determination. She started off too fast and then clearly felt it, so she had to really focus to keep running until the end. She came in 3rd out of all 3rd grade girls and was super proud of herself. In the photos below she's lined up at the start line with Sienna and Bailey to her left - Bailey came in first (of all girls) and probably third overall.

Sebastian started out strong, among the first ten or so runners after the initial dash, and easily maintained his speed and standing throughout the race. Up until now, I would have said he had one speed, which is obviously pretty fast, but comfortable for him -- he never seemed particularly tired or sick-feeling or red-faced at the end of a run or race. So I was curious to see if he could find another speed in a truly competitive situation.

And they're off! Sebastian was one of the smaller kids out there, for sure.

 

And here's where things got awesome, because this was the final straightaway to the finish line, and this kid clearly expected to kick at the end and pass Seb. And Seb just looked over at him and  decided that that was just not going to happen, and he indeed found another gear. He sprinted up this whole final stretch and finished 10 yards ahead of the other runner. We were delighted. He felt sick afterwards and exhausted. We were also delighted by that. :) He came in 3rd place of all the 6th/7th grade boys running the 3k (I would estimate 100 kids, from 4-5 Portland middle schools, ran this race with him). Pretty fantastic for a first meet.

Anyway, it was a terrific start to the cross country season. We were so proud of both kids for their effort and determination.

Blunicorn team photo

Liesl's rec soccer team, the Blunicorns, had a scheduled team photo on Monday at 6 pm. Rain started falling heavily -- it was just pouring -- in the middle of their photo session and then a double rainbow appeared overhead! The lower rainbow was almost neon in its brightness and intensity, and was entirely complete from end to end, making a perfect arc. I've rarely seen a rainbow so spectacular. Given that our girls wear distinctive rainbow socks for their team games, it felt like the heavens were putting on a show just for us.

Coldwater Peak hike

On Saturday, Anja and I hiked 14 miles up to Coldwater Peak, on the north side of Mt. St. Helen's. We started at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, from which we could see the part of the mountain that had blown off in the eruption. We then hiked along a ridge and across the plain that had been covered by ash and magma, seeing Spirit Lake and St. Helen's Lake, still littered with dead tree trunks. The day started off windy and cold and cloudy, but cleared up so that we could catch glimpses of the surrounding mountains (Rainier, Adams, Hood). The trail went through a natural stone arch, which was really cool, and we saw a herd of elk (bugling!) and a solitary, well-fed mountain goat (who seemed equally interested in us!). It was a spectacular adventure day.

I was surprised by the number of wildflowers still in bloom - foxglove, lupine, paintbrush - so pretty.

That's Coldwater Peak up there - the last 3/4 of a mile was straight up.

 

At our lunch picnic spot, with St. Helen's Lake, below us, and Rainier in the distance.

A mile-long detour up to Harry's Ridge, overlooking Spirit Lake.

Looking back at our trail, which ran along that ridge and up to the peak.

Our view from the observatory, after coming down and finishing the hike.