Tesla!

After 13 years of driving our Honda Civic, of relying on one car despite our busy schedules of work, school, and activities, and of cramming all of us and Jasper and stuff into a small sedan on road trips, we finally bought a new car. We are the very happy owners of a blue Tesla Y! We had intended to get a car in the spring, but then once Covid hit and we had nowhere to go, we decided to delay until fall. We expected to wait 6 weeks, and thus put in our order on Friday night. Lo and behold, we got a call on Saturday that we could pick it up on Tuesday! Eeep! So we did.

 

 

 

 

The kids were thrilled, of course, especially Seb (for the cool factor). (Liesl, who picked the blue color, is also pretty excited for something so new). Steve loves the driving experience, especially the acceleration. I feel intimidated by the touch screen controls and the whole newness/expense of this thing, and have been driving the Civic around today instead. But I'm sure I'll get there!

happy weekend

We had an almost normal weekend here, and it was so delightful. Liesl had soccer practices on Friday and Saturday; Seb had soccer practice and baseball practice. I picked up library books from our local branch (the line was so long!), bread from Grand Central bakery, ice cream pints from Salt&Straw, and xiaolongbao from Din Tai Fung. I have been running almost every day since the air cleared, and feeling very happy about it. 

On Sunday morning, Seb and I drove out to the Banks-Vernonia bike trail and biked 12 miles up into the forest. The way up was really fun and we both very much enjoyed our new bikes. But then we turned around to head down, and it was SO COLD. We were freezing the whole way down because of the wind, the lack of sun, and our lack of proper clothing (particularly gloves). We laughed about it, but also agreed we would never again go on the Banks-Vernonia in the morning. 

In the afternoon, Liesl and I went with Arianna and her mom Denise to Smith Barn, a local orchard, to pick some apples and pears. We picked far too many, of course, and then the girls had fun climbing a huge tree (a walnut tree, as it turned out), feeding the goats, and in general clowning around. I failed as a photographer, distracted by the pounds of apples, the girls, conversation, etc. But I am sure I will have fun baking with all of these fruits!

A small sampling of our apples, in the fridge. They are small but very crisp and perfectly tart.

Liesl's art

Liesl has been painting and drawing a lot more in recent weeks, some as a result of school assignments, and it's been fun to see her work.

A painting of Clear Lake at sunset, with our kayak and paddles in the foreground and the ospreys in the sky.

A school assignment to draw a self-portrait in the mode of Picasso. I liked both her original black and white sketch and the colorful version.

 Family portrait.

twinsies

The wildfire smoke continues to permeate our city and home. We have learned a new vocabulary surrounding the Air Quality Index (AQI), with various colors denoting our spot on the spectrum (green-yellow-orange-red-purple-maroon). Portland has been in the maroon (hazardous) zone for the last week. 

Steve ordered air purifiers last Tuesday, expecting them to arrive Thursday, which they did not. According to Amazon they went out for delivery on Saturday and then... nothing. Nothing arrived, and they had no answers to our questions. We escaped to a downtown hotel for three nights because the room was advertised as a wellness space with in-room air purifiers, and it was indeed more breathable. Poor Jasper was pathetically sad to be left behind each evening and Steve and Liesl grew tired of being trapped inside one small space (Seb and I returned home each morning to take care of Jasper and work here). In good news, one air purifier was finally delivered late today, and is now set up and blowing clean air around, hallelujah! 

Meanwhile, remote learning and working continues. Liesl has Google Meets and individual learning through Seesaw; Seb has Zooms and Google Meets and seven classes set up in Canvas. I made a color-coded schedule and check in (nag/remind) frequently, but both kids are doing a great job of handling their school responsibilities and schedules so far. Liesl has a more structured daily schedule from 8-2 every day, but Sebastian has a lot more independent work to turn in every day. So far it's a big improvement over the spring in terms of teacher contact hours and expectations.

Anyway, we were feeling a little depressed, so Liesl and I took ourselves to the mall this afternoon in search of cleaner air and some retail therapy. We got matching purple hoodies! It was lovely to walk around for a bit holding hands and checking out clothing and candy and book and toy stores.

wildfire smoke

There are unbelievably awful wildfires in Oregon right now, close by in Clackamas County and elsewhere in the state. A combination of a hot, dry summer and easterly winds have created enormous, fast-moving firestorms. We are safe, for now, and don't expect to be in any immediate danger from fire. But the air quality is terrible, in the "hazardous" range, and so we can't go outside at all. The smoke came in on Wednesday and is expected to remain for the better part of next week. It feels really hard, coming after months of Covid shutdowns, the disappointment of only-online school, and the continuing cancellations of sports and other activities. We are all feeling depressed and lethargic, and headachey, and anxious.

We have a gas mask, left over from a lead paint scare in our Dobbs Ferry apartment. It's come in handy for walking Jasper. The poor dog has sunk into a malaise.

This photo was taken on Wednesday; it's worse now. But I try to remind myself and reassure the kids that we're fine, we're lucky. We haven't been evacuated, we are safe in our house, we have each other and our friends, we are secure. And we have found some indoor amusements.

 

Liesl and Arianna have been painting a lot this week, ever since we discovered some blank canvases in an art box. And since they can't play outside as they usually do.

 

Today's amusement began with Liesl acting as our hairstylist - putting ponytails in our hair -- 

And then we progressed to hair-cutting, as my hair needed desperately to be trimmed. We watched a YouTube video on cutting hair and then I let her loose.

She did a great job! It was a good distraction for the morning. In the afternoon we baked brownies and made caramel apples, Liesl painted some more and I cleaned out some boxes of old papers. Not sure what we'll find to amuse ourselves tomorrow, but I could imagine more baking (it masks the smoke smell and makes us all happy), more painting, more reading, more cleaning.

15th anniversary

We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this Labor Day weekend, with some nice meals (both home-cooked and restaurant take-out); our annual trip to Peninsula Park Rose Garden to see the gazebo in which we were married and to admire the lovely roses; chocolates from Burdick; wildflowers picked by Liesl; and a 20-year retrospective photo album compiled by Steve over many hours (and posted to FB). Steve and I went for a run in Forest Park together, a 4-5 mile hilly out-and-back that's become our regular route.

It's very awkward to be ordered to kiss on camera by your 9-year old daughter.

The playground is starting to be too small for our big kids.

We picked up fish tacos and fish and chips and picnicked at Laurelhurst Park in the sunshine. There was an off-leash dog area, and Jasper was so happy to romp and race with some other dogs. He managed to find the one mud puddle in the whole park (and likely the entire city) and literally rolled himself around in it multiple times. So gross. It's lucky he's so cute.

 

And then we came home to read and watch our shows and nap. We ordered from Coquine for dinner and all got dressed up in fancy clothes to enjoy an anniversary dinner together.