Mother's Day adventure

For Mother's Day, Anne found a fire lookout cabin for rent and booked us a night - just us and our daughters, camping out on top of a mountain. It was so exciting - we were so excited - such an adventure! We were booked at the Timber Butte cabin, in the Umpqua National Forest outside Eugene. The drive down was easy until we headed into the forest and promptly got lost. There were no signs; the directions were unclear; we weren't on any map; there were a LOT of intersecting roads going in circles. We drove around for a really long time, not even sure if we were lost (i.e. on the wrong road) or just not there yet. Finally, after flagging down everyone we saw (3-4 trucks) to ask if they knew where we should go (no one knew), we took some more turns and magically found it. Phew!!

 

It was cute and cozy inside - we schlepped our stuff up the hill and unpacked, and tried to light the stove. It wouldn't stay lit. The pilot light kept going out. We ransacked the place looking for instructions and followed them exactly, five or six times in a row. No luck - the stove would stay lit for 4 minutes and then turn off, and it was the only source of heat. So it was 40 degrees outside and in, and the light rain turned to pouring rain. And then it started to hail.

During a brief break, we explored the fire pit and gorgeous forest, but then the rain started again and drove us inside the very cold cabin. We all put on all our clothes and cuddled together on the bed, under the sleeping bags, to play a game of Apples to Apples and eat rhubarb cake.... and at 4:30 we gave up. No one could feel their fingers and we had many hours more to entertain ourselves inside, and no hot food. So we schlepped everything back down to the car, drove back down the hill, and took ourselves to a hotel in Eugene.

There was a pool and a hot tub and everyone was entirely delighted.

We had a hotel room picnic with all of our packed food - fruit, nuts, carrots, and microwaved cheese sandwiches for the girls, and a cucumber salad, canned salmon, and sourdough for us. We played Scrabble, read books, and curled up in our cozy beds, happy to be together and warm.

So in the end, it was not the lookout tower adventure we had planned, but it was still really fun and probably even more memorable for its sheer fiasco-ness. In the morning, we woke up and drove back into the national forest for a spectacular waterfall hike, and that was terrific. (Although also marked by some ridiculously near-disaster circumstances... blog post to come!)

Anne of GG

Last Friday night, Netflix released the new CBC production of Anne of Green Gables - seven episodes so far in the series. It's been updated to have a more modern look and sensibility than the 1985 version that loomed large in my childhood, and it's really good. The main characters are excellently cast and acted, the indoor spaces and outdoor landscapes are perfect, and the story has been slightly modified, but in ways that I can appreciate. Anne and I went over to Michela's house to watch the first episode together, and I had the rare pleasure of sharing a childhood favorite with two friends who equally appreciated and loved the stories. Anne made a plum pudding with caramel sauce, in honor of a certain scene in the book. I made raspberry tea biscuits and raspberry cordial, in another nod to the book. It was a fabulous ladies night - episode 2 will be perhaps less well stocked in terms of victuals, but it'll be another wonderful time.

final FH game

Sebastian and his friends played their final Forest Heights soccer game of the season on Saturday. It's probably the last game they'll ever play as a grade-level rec team, as next year they'll be divided into birth year (some 2007, some 2008) and will all play in a more competitive soccer league through Lincoln Youth soccer. It's been a good group of boys - mostly playing together since kindergarten - and so we're sad about the end. But it makes sense for them to move up - they've been crushing the other teams all season, and it's not fun or fair to keep going. They'll be more challenged and hopefully find more equal opponents in the competitive league.

We celebrated with cupcakes under the covered area, and just in time, because within five minutes, it started to hail. And then it kept hailing - good-sized balls of ice - for 15 minutes. The sound of it rattling on the metal roof was intensely loud and we all began to wonder just how long we'd be trapped there. But then it stopped and we walked home, feeling sad for the trees and flowers. What a spring!

mama hike at Mitchell Point

A short hike today, out in the Columbia Gorge - 3 miles up to Mitchell Point, with a great knife-edge peak overlooking the river. It was a lovely crew - so fun to be with friends on such a gorgeous (albeit windy!) spring day.

 Mt. Adams, snowy in the distance.

 Mitchell Point, from the half-peak summit

We were finished hiking in time for me to meet up with Steve and the kids for pizza at Life of Pi and ice cream at Salt and Straw, before heading on to Sebastian's soccer game. And then the Hoangs came over for a Cinco de Mayo dinner - margaritas and tacos with all the fixings - delicious.

Oregon symphony field trip

Sebastian's class, together with all the 3rd and 4th graders - went on a field trip today to the Schnitzer Auditorium, to listen and participate in an Oregon Symphony program. In preparation, they learned 5 or 6 tunes on their recorders in music class, and then had the opportunity to perform along with the symphony orchestra. It was amazing - outstanding - full of energy. I was so happy to be invited to chaperone the crew.  There were 2700 kids in the Schnitzer, from various school districts around the Portland area. The din was immense, but so was the enthusiasm when it came to playing and singing along.  One of my favorite parts was when the kids first walked into the auditorium - they were so impressed by the ornate detailing and the scale of the place, and were very childlike in their awe. It made me happy. Sebastian said this was his favorite field trip and concert, both. I think we'll be back.

 The buses arriving downtown, at Director Park.

Picnic lunch at Shemanski Park.

 Walking into the Arlene Schnitzer, with audible gasps and oohs of wonder from the boys.

 

All of the kids were playing along at this point. It was pretty cool. The orchestra also played Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony, part of the Rite of Spring, and part of Holst's "the Planets" - Mars.

 The David Douglas High School drumline came in at the end for some clapping and stomping.