Sebastian's soccer season has been pretty good so far -- his team has mostly won their games, with just two losses (to Bend and to Jesuit) and a tie. His team is large (19 players) and the coach gives everyone a chance to play, so he plays about half of every game. Lots of friends on the team, practices on the new Lincoln turf. It's been great.
Anja and I ran a half-marathon race today in Sisters, along the trails of the Peterson Ridge. It was a really terrific race, gorgeous single-track trails, marred only by the wildfire smoke that obscured the mountains we should have seen from the top. The race was net downhill; there was a fleet of school buses that shuttled us to the start uphill from Sisters, and then we ran down. We ran the race in 2 hrs 13 mins, and I was 82 out of 235 finishers (41st female), which is pretty good!
It was a little delayed by various work obligations and sporting events, but Steve and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary with a lovely dinner at Navarre on Friday night. Spanish tapas, very vegetable-y. Delicious food and wine, and excellent company.
Liesl's fall sports started this past weekend -- two volleyball games on Saturday, and two soccer games on Saturday and Sunday.
The volleyball team is composed of 7th-graders from her middle school; there are two teams at each grade level at WSMS. Last year, in 6th grade, they were all beginners together. This year, many of her teammates played club volleyball last winter and have improved dramatically as a result. Liesl was one of the stronger players last year, since she's coordinated and learns new sports quickly. This year, she's more at the middle of the pack, and rotated in and out of the games. But it's also early in the season, so we'll see how things shake out as they play and practice more. It was fun to see her back out there with different teammates, trying something different, and having fun. They won both their games easily.
Liesl is participating in a series of ballroom dancing lessons - Friday Night Dances - organized by a nonprofit on the west side of town. It's very old-fashioned - girls in white gloves, ballet flats, and knee-length dresses, boys in suits -- but I was told that the kids loved it. Tonight was the first lesson; a group of 11 girls gathered ahead of time to eat and get ready together, and then they were shuttled downtown to the Tiffany Center for an hour-long dance. So much fun was had by all!
And the after!
