Sebastian's soccer

Sebastian has been having a great fall soccer season as well, playing with the LYS Red U12 team (the top team for his age level in our community club), in the division 1 bracket (the middle level, below premier and above div 2). His team has won 5 games, tied 2, and lost 1, so it's been successful, and he's definitely been developing as a player, especially on defense.

The game last weekend was at home, on a gorgeously crisp and sunny fall morning. Perfect weather for sports.

Forest Park

I don't blog about it much, but the beauty and solitude and wooded grace of Forest Park has remained one of the chief joys of my life in Portland. I love that I get to walk and run here multiple days every week -- my delight in stepping into the forest never feels old -- and that happiness has only been amplified by the company of Jasper. This fall has been particularly beautiful, with piles of brightly colored dry leaves, multiple sunny days, crisp mornings and evenings. Jazzy and I run 4-5 miles, usually on some portion of the Wildwood, or the old Leif Erikson road, and come home tired, thirsty, and happy.

Sebastian and I went for a walk on Sunday afternoon, tossing a frisbee to each other down the wide Saltzman trail, looking out for leaves to catch, and playing hide and seek with Jasper.

Liesl's soccer

Liesl’s soccer season has been a joy to watch. She has improved by leaps and bounds in the last few months, learning how to kick the ball more accurately and powerfully, to pass to open teammates, to keep her spacing on the pitch, and to have confidence and aggressiveness in her play. I love to see her game face when she’s confronting the ball or an opponent - she runs at the ball like she wants to get it and she wants to score - and that kind of attitude is worth so much in girls sports at this age.

Her recreational team is once again the Blunicorns, coached by the inestimable Courtney, who both teaches them how to be much better soccer players and makes it super fun. Liesl loves playing with all of her friends on that team. They are undefeated, I think, although no official score is kept. Liesl regularly scores 4-5 goals per game before she is tasked with defense.

Her competitive team is the LYS Black team - the 2010 cohort. There are two teams at her age level (Red and Black) drawing from all of the Lincoln High catchment district, so including girls from Chapman and Ainsworth Elementaries as well as FPE. Most of the girls are in 3rd grade this year, with another year of soccer experience under their belts and a little more height than our girl. She’s used to being one of the biggest, strongest, and fastest among her grade year cohort, so it’s interesting to see her have to catch up among her birth year cohort. But she’s doing great, developing confidence, and will continue on with this team for winter futsal and then spring soccer season.

These pictures are from Blunicorns - I forgot the camera for Sunday's LYS games.

GOAL!

Campbell River stroll

On Saturday morning in Surrey, we went for a stroll in one of our favorite spots: Campbell River. It was gorgeous and sunny out and we enjoyed kicking up leaves, catching leaves as they fell (both children earned a loonie from grandpa), and the chickadees and ducks.

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Look at those two lovebirds holding hands in the background! 50 years!

We stopped by East Beach in order to get our rocks for the signed rock collection, and then went home for lunch, packing up, and heading to the airport in Bellingham.

visiting Surrey

It was mom/Popo's birthday, and we needed to interview in Blaine for our Nexus passes, and there was no school for the kids on Friday, and so we seized the opportunity to go north for the weekend. Steve picked the kids up from school on Thursday and brought them to the Amtrak station to meet me, and we took the train up through Seattle to Bellingham. 

We had 20 minutes in Seattle to get off the train and stretch our legs, so wandered over to peer into the Seahawks football stadium. We had ordered two pizzas and grazed on them (and our treats) for dinner. The train ran late, but we eventually arrived and mom and dad were there to meet us and take us home.

On Friday morning we dropped mom off at her Zumba class and then went to Redwoods Park to check on the children's fairy houses. We found Roxy's first, still hanging from its little branch. Sebastian's came next - it had been moved and was muddy, but was recognizable by its striped roof. Liesl started to get a little sad because we couldn't find hers and couldn't quite remember where it had been. A mom and her little boy were also in the fairy forest and she asked to see a picture of Liesl's house -- and she found it! We were happy and relieved. We relocated the three found houses (Danica's, sadly, could not be found) together, near Roxy's tree.

Then we went to the new-ish Grandview Heights pool and spent a bit over an hour in the water, playing catch with a giant ball, diving like otters in the lazy river, and swimming a few laps.

After lunch we headed south, back across the border, because we had our 4 pm interview in Blaine. We were early - really early, of course - and so we headed for Lincoln Park, which had showed up on my map as a good-size green area and which none of us had ever visited. The park was full of beautiful big trees and ferns and moss, and there is an 18-hole frisbee golf course laid out in the midst of the forest, weaving through and around the trees. I picked up one (tiny, crappy) frisbee and two foam balls at the grocery store and we played the game for about eight holes. It was really fun - Sebastian really liked it and asked to find a disc golf course in Portland (and pick up some better frisbees) when we returned home.

 

We interviewed, we passed (phew), and then we went to Bellingham. We looked in a book store, a toy store, and a fancy wood shop - the children may have each gotten early birthday presents - and then had dinner at Skylark Cafe. The clam chowder was outstanding and our brandy-spiked apple cider pretty tasty too.  

October update

October? What happened? It’s the middle of the month and I haven’t written a single blog entry! We have been busy, it’s true, but not actually busy with many things I’ve taken photos of or thought about recording.

After the adventures of the summer, September was a good month of returning to routines and friends, school and work, soccer and other activities. My students returned for the fall quarter and I became (as always) swamped with appointments and emails. I meet with students during the entirety of the time I’m in the office and thus find myself answering emails and following up on other projects in the evenings. Sebastian’s homework this year, in 5th grade, has increased in difficulty and length of time required, and Liesl also has homework to accomplish during the week, and it seems that either me or Steve is often a necessary presence while they’re working. I’ve been continuing to run three or four days a week - always with Jasper, usually in the forest - and climbing with friends once or twice as well. And then there’s the daily shuttling of children to practice and dance classes - thankfully, with the carpool assistance of many parent friends.

Because both children have soccer games on the weekends - at least one each, and sometimes two each - we have not embarked on our usual fall family adventures. Despite my best efforts to find an available time, we did not manage to go apple picking this year, probably the first time we missed the orchards in a decade. I’m sad about it, but I’m happy that we’re active and busy.

Our big news on the home front is that Steve has started a new job, as of October 2nd, working with a class action firm. It’s an exciting opportunity for him to do something a little different and to be on the plaintiffs’ side of the law. He’ll be working remotely - all of the attorneys at this firm work independently - and so he’s working from home full-time now. We're adjusting and excited about the future!

fall weekend

It's another weekend of soccer and friends here - two games on Saturday, two on Sunday, and Campbell's birthday party at a climbing gym. Jasper and I made it out for a 6 mile run in Forest Park this morning - phew! - and after the soccer games we wandered around NW Portland for a bit. We had lunch at Life of Pie pizza, bought birthday presents, and picked up some pints of Salt & Straw ice cream. In the late afternoon, the kids played with neighborhood friends - I overheard some talk of Truth or Dare, but opted to not investigate any further (I find feigning deafness/ignorance to be a useful parenting tool). There was dancing in our garage - Liesl did ballet, Sophia tap, Ray hip-hop, and Sebastian showed off the funk. Meanwhile, I baked - morning glory muffins and a gingerbread cake. The air is crisp in the mornings and the leaves are changing color... feels like fall out there.