basketball games

Both kids had basketball games last weekend -- Liesl's first of the season, and Seb midway through his basketball season now. Sebastian had a double-header at Roosevelt High school on Saturday. His team played really well in the first game and were leading at the half before falling behind and losing at the end. Seb had jammed his right pinky finger playing pickup basketball on Wednesday, and was playing a little tentatively as he tried to protect it. The second game was a blowout against a much stronger, faster, taller, more experienced team -- they lost by 70 points (83-13, I think), which is crazy. The other team kept trapping their point guards (including Seb) at the half line and forcing turnovers, which they put in every time with easy layups. It was tough, and I was surprised that the opposing team's coaches never stepped back from the half-court press or sat their starters -- seemed kind of unfriendly. On the bright side, Seb and his teammates did start to figure out how to get out of the half-court press by the end, so that was useful.

Liesl's team played their first game of the season on Saturday afternoon - they were clearly a little rusty, exacerbated by the fact that 4 out of 10 players had been unable to make the preparatory weekly practices due to dance conflicts (the practice time has now been moved). New for this year: stealing off the dribble! I foresee a lot of stealing, as their dribbling is not as good as their defense. But it's fun to see Liesl running around out there for an hour, taking shots, dribbling down the court, playing good defense, and having fun.

mama hike in Forest Park

On Sunday morning I went hiking in Forest Park with a group of mama friends - we started on Newberry Rd, where the Wildwood trail ends, and walked 8 miles together along the muddy trail. The rain held off and the forest was green and mossy and so beautiful. We had originally planned to go snowshoeing at Mt. Hood, but it's been so warm that only rain has been falling - not nearly so much fun. We decided to stay local instead so that if we got rained on, the drive home would be shorter. It was a great little adventure -- good company and conversation, and this amazing park just 15 minutes from home.

Portland weekend

Since our return from southern CA, we have been in the thick of work/school/homework/chores/scheduled activities. Winter is basketball season for both kids, but Seb's select baseball team has already started indoor practices, Liesl's dance classes are year-long, and both kids' soccer teams play year-round. So we've been busy, and it's been cold and raining (although no snow, tragically). On the bright side, we got a lot of new games for Christmas and have been having so much family fun learning and playing them together -- there's Codenames, King of Tokyo, Carcassone, Double Ditto, and Sushi Go.

Family game night - Family Charades, and Sushi Go - with popcorn

Codenames

 

This last weekend was a nice little break, with very little on the calendar and a Monday holiday. On Saturday morning, we had to visit Office Depot to get a homework project laminated (Seb and friends designed a board game for their strategy games class), and decided on an impromptu bowling session immediately after. And then there were haircuts, and then the kids both went off with the Sterlings to play basketball and swim at their gym (Steve and I took Jasper for a 4-mile run).

On Sunday, we took care of the Sterlings' dog Hugo for the day while they went skiing - so cute! He's so tiny! Jasper was a wee bit jealous, especially because Hugo got to be on the furniture, but the two dogs did very well together.

We ventured out to the Arboretum, mainly to walk across the new pedestrian bridge crossing Burnside, but we did a little exploring and clambering around the redwood deck and other trees too.

Bouldering, Portland-style.

And then we headed over to OMSI to see a special exhibit on Christopher Marley's amazing, exquisite, incredible artworks - he uses insects, butterflies, snakes, shells, beetles, birds, and other entities from the natural world to create these gorgeous patterns and displays. It was truly amazing. I've never seen anything like it.

On Monday, Sebastian had a birthday party at a trampoline gym, so Liesl and I decided to go ice skating together at the Winterhawks rink. She did great and clearly remembered how, although she had difficulty trusting her left leg when pushing off. I love to skate and was happy to be taking some laps with her. The rest of Monday was chores and errands - cleaning and laundry and groceries - getting ready for the week.

Gaviota Wind Caves

On our final adventure day, we drove along the coastline north of Santa Barbara to the Gaviota Wind Caves. The trail started off flat and paved, with gorgeous hills around us, the ocean behind, and turkey vultures swooping overhead. Before too long we started climbing up into the hills, heading for the caves we could see. It was really fun to clamber around investigating them, doing some scrambling and bouldering, and it proved the perfect spot for our annual family photo.

Kim's photobomb! And in the photo below, Seb is on the roof of the cave - you can just see his tshirt hanging down. Holy batman!