Marshall Park

We had another beautiful day in Portland - this weather is uncanny, and not seasonably appropriate, and most likely a sign of impending drought.... but it was a lovely day to be out and about. We grocery shopped at the crack of dawn in order to get that necessary chore out of the way, and then went to a new playground and park, Marshall Park. It's in the SW, about 1/4 mile from friend Anne's house, and Liesl and I had been there on Friday for a meetup playdate.  She clamored to return and show Sebastian, and he was agreeable, so off we went.

We started off at the shiny new playground, swinging on the boat swing and climbing around the webs and monkey bars. I love the way the green of the metal blends into the surrounding forest.

And then we moved on to the real task of the day: building a fort out of boulders, tree trunks, stones, and sticks. Sebastian was on a mission. (Liesl, not so much. She helped out occasionally...)  In the beginning, there was a big log and some stones strewn around the nature play area. I couldn't believe the size and weight of the rocks that Sebastian was able to lift and roll around. When did my boy get so strong?

Anne was at work, but Cuong and Camille were able to join us for some more fort building and muddy slopping and then a short hike through the forest.

Sebastian was very happy to put Cuong to work, moving large stumps and big rocks and breaking branches apart...

Liesl said this was a bow and arrow, and would be very useful in their fort for fighting off bad guys.

The girls got tired of construction and moved on to making mud potions - the intent of the potion was to kill worms, for some inexplicable reason, and also featured as a main ingredient whatever tiny worms they could find to smash into their muddy hole.

Oops! Lost a shoe in the muck. :)

The finished fort and the master builder. I love watching him create structures from natural materials and investigate the ways in which things can be built and stacked and leaned and balanced.

 

Marshall Park connects to a network of trails running around and through the SW neighborhoods - in particular, it connects over this log bridge to Tryon Creek, one of our favorite places to hike and explore. We ran out of time on Sunday - kids were hungry for lunch - but I can't wait to return and explore more.

happy Portland day

We had a very happy Portland day of sports and outdoor play and amazing food. I went for an early morning run along our local network of trails, and then Sebastian had a basketball game at 9 am. His team, the Falcons, looked pretty good out there - it's really fun to see the difference that a little regular coaching and practice makes in a child's skill level.  Liesl stayed outside at the playground for most of the game, chasing daddy, playing pretend games with mommy, and climbing everything.

Afterwards we visited the Japanese Garden, always a favorite spot, which is just now coming into spring bloom. I had fun experimenting with my new camera, taking pictures at various angles and trying to get the lighting and framing right. It was a little too bright and sunny for good quality shots - lots of glare, and the camera struggles with dappled sunlight - but fun anyway.

For lunch we headed over to our favorite stretch of SE Division. We got dal, curried cauliflower, and a chicken kati roll from Bollywood Theater, a pie from Pizza Maria for the kiddos, and then we shared a berry and dumpling vanilla ice cream sundae at Salt and Straw. It was like a pie, but with more ice cream than dough. It was amazing.

Feeling possibly a little overstuffed, we wandered over to Laurelhurst Park - we made a loop around on the trails, splashed sticks in the pond, and did underdogs on the playground swings - and serendipitously found our friends Mary, Rowan, and Camille playing there as well! Liesl was so tickled.

And then we returned home for a quick dropoff and pickup of supplies - Sebastian had a 4:20 soccer game at Beaverton Indoor. He played well, although it was possible he was slightly tired out from the day...  They played the best of the teams in their league and lost badly, although not as badly as previously (how's that for faint praise?).  Back home again for dinner and then it was Steve's turn to head out for his 8:10 soccer game.  Phew!

home time