birthday pool party

We had a birthday party for Liesl on Thursday night (there was no school on Friday). We picked up 5 of her friends and went to a cafe called Fat Milo's for dinner -- breakfast for dinner, Liesl's favorite! 

We had rented a private pool in NE Portland - a whole separate pool house that the owners rent out by the hour. It was fully stocked with so many toys - beach balls, a volleyball net, floaties, goggles, etc. We opened presents first, ate some cupcakes, and then the girls played in the pool for two hours. It was so loud. They had so much fun.

 

 

Liesl turns 15!!

Liesl's 15th birthday was on Monday! Hooray! We celebrated with challah french toast on Sunday, and then presents, Sushi Hana (conveyor belt sushi), and chocolate cake on Monday.

 

I have photos of Liesl eating french toast on her birthday every year for over a decade. She's consistent. 

 

This card consists almost entirely of Noah Kahan lyrics. IYKYK 

We got her the actual vinyl album of Noah Kahan's most recent record, Stick Season. It was very cool - poster included, very deluxe.

Seb loves Sushi Hana and has been numerous times with friends. Liesl was excited to try it out.

Plate towers!

It was delightful to be able to bake a cake in my own kitchen. First time in literally months.

Jasper, the photo-bombing puppers.

HoCo

Saturday night was homecoming at LHS -- both kids got dressed up and went to pre-parties (and in Seb's case, after-parties) with friends. The dance was at the high school, in the cafeteria area. It was apparently very loud and crowded and smelly (and sometimes fun?!). Seb moshed in the pit. Liesl danced with her friends and took photos.

 

(The lemon squeezer is an inside joke.)

LHS senior night

On Thursday night, before the LHS varsity boys soccer team last game of the season, there was a Senior Night celebration for the 11 senior boys. It was sweet and bittersweet.

 

L to R: Zach, Seb, Bailey, Maddox, Mac, Hersom, Ethan, Nico, Jack, Merlin, Harlan 

 

The players and their families gathered on the field and then came forward one by one and were introduced. We each wrote a short tribute that was read over the loudspeaker, and each player identified their favorite memory from the season.

Here's the speech we wrote -- it was funny, which Seb maybe didn't appreciate as much as we did. Our first draft was even funnier, and maybe more of a roast than a celebration, so we had to remove some things. 

Seb was a kid who was always in motion.

He was so eager to be born he almost didn't make it to the hospital.

As a kid, he would race home after school and grab a soccer ball, a basketball, and a football and then be up on the FPE field until dinner. 

We've loved watching you play - all these sports, all these years. 

And we even made it to Senior Night before GTA 6!

We remember with joy the boy you were, but we're proud of the young man you've become.

You're a good friend and a good son. You notice what needs to be done and try to make things better. 

We love you always. Congratulations.  

Now go and play as if no one's watching, because they aren't. They're all on their phones.

We had dinner ahead of time with Liesl and Ella, who were twinning it.

 

Liesl made an amazing poster to celebrate Seb - complete with Barca and Ferrari logos. I included some photos below of her process, which was fun to watch.