masks off

Masks became optional in public spaces and in public schools this week, for the first time in Oregon since the pandemic began. Two years! Both Seb and Liesl opted to not wear masks inside their classrooms, but both reported that they were in the minority by substantial margins. In Liesl's class, only 5-6 students out of 25 took masks off. In Seb's school, he said that less than 20% of students weren't wearing masks, and in one class he was the only one unmasked. I asked if they knew why their friends were keeping masks on (because I'm pretty sure they're all vaccinated), and they mentioned vague anxieties, parental preferences, upcoming travel plans, and discomfort with their looks (especially middle school girls). Fascinating little sociological experiment we have going on.

LYS at the Thorns

Liesl's LYS team attended a preseason match of the Portland Thorns. We had a box, which was a novel experience, and let the girls hang out and move around and generally cause a ruckus. It was pretty fun, despite ending in a 0-0 tie.

dance performances

Live, in-person contemporary ballet performances have returned this year, and we decided to see two in quick succession. Last Friday, we saw Alonzo King's Lines Ballet, a contemporary company based in San Francisco. They performed four selections from various works, and then a new piece after intermission. We loved being out and at the Newmark Theatre, and both agreed that the third excerpt was outstanding in every respect. It was my feeling that the men were either stronger dancers or given better choreography than the women, because they were outstanding, and the women often seemed awkward or unnecessarily contrived. But it was definitely worthwhile.

Tonight, we went to see a performance by Portland's own Northwest Dance Project. Liesl came with us, her first time at contemporary ballet instead of classical story ballet! There were three works, by three different choreographers, all quite different in tone and music. The second one, by Ihsan Rustem, was elegiac and powerful. But we didn't recognize any of the dancers, which felt odd, because we used to know all of them really well, and had watched some of them mature and develop on stage. But they have all moved on, or retired, and it made us feel a little sad and disconnected from the performance. Still - once again it was lovely to be out and watching dancers perform in person.

Seb and Jasper

Sebastian took Jasper for a walk up the hill on Wednesday before dinner, and caught a gorgeous sunset from the top. I love Jasper's posture in his solo sunset photo. So regal!

trampoline park birthday party

On Monday, which was the President's Day holiday for the kids, but not for us, Sebastian was invited to a birthday party at a trampoline park. It was Nico's party, pictured below in the center with his younger siblings. They jumped for hours and played dodgeball, and then had pizza and cake, and it was all so delightfully normal.

L to R: Peyton, Nathan, Wyatt, Max, Jack, Nico, Opidi, Cason, Seb, Jaxon, Josh. Plus siblings.

Twos-day

 In honor of Twos-day - 2/22/2022 - Liesl wore a tutu to school.

Sebastian did not.

Jasper was exhausted from his weekend - playing with friends, running 8 miles with me and Anja - and spent the day curled up in this sunny patch behind my desk chair, snoring contentedly.

trail running

Anja and I are training for our race in April  -- a 25km trail run around the Ancient Lakes area of Washington -- with weekly long runs on Sunday mornings. We are increasing our mileage by one mile every week, with the goal of running 13 miles the week before the race. And then we also run a couple of times during the week on our own. I went out on Friday, to the Saltzman Rd trailhead in Forest Park, and ran down to the Wildwood, out and back about 6 miles. It was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day, and I felt so happy to have Forest Park in my backyard for regular trail running.

Valentine's day

Liesl spent hours over the weekend making Valentine's cards for her classmates and creating two boxes to receive cards in their classroom party (one for her and one for her friend Hannah).

And then we had a sweet day, filled with waffles, flowers, chocolates, cards, and cake.

 

Abiqua Falls

On Sunday, Adrienne, Casady, and I drove south for a short hike to Abiqua Falls. The road to the trailhead was not paved, and although it started off acceptably bumpy, it quickly deteriorated. We parked in a little pulloff and walked a mile to the official end of the road and start of the trail. 

The trail to the waterfall is less than a mile, but it's steep and rocky. There are ropes attached to various trees to help people get up and down without falling, and then a very rocky trail along a gorgeous little river.

The waterfall was in a giant bowl of rocky cliff faces, and was a classic Oregon sight - mossy trees and boulders, big trees overhanging a burbling stream. We took some pictures, ate a snack, and then hiked back out and up. It was a lovely little weekend adventure.

February update

Ack! It's mid-February. All is well here, just busy with work, school, soccer, Wordle, and other pursuits.

We celebrated Chinese New Year with lucky money and extremely good Chinese food (dumplings and noodles) from Bao Bao. 

Liesl has played three games of her spring soccer season -- one in Eugene, and two here in metro Portland. They've lost two and tied today, 2-2, against Capital FC (Salem-based team). She's been having a terrific season so far, playing strong defense and really contributing to her team. They are playing in the premier division of Oregon Youth soccer, which is the top tier, so the level of competition is intense. The foot problems that plagued her all fall and into winter are finally receding, thanks to some new arch supports and a new regimen of thrice-daily stretching. Here are some terrible photos of a recent night game.

And here she is with Lilly, Elia, Bailey, and Hannah, at a post-practice boba tea stop.

She has also continued with dance classes -- ballet, jazz, and hip hop, each once a week -- and the classes are starting to learn the routines they'll perform at the spring showcase. She's so excited to think about getting dressed up in costume and performing on the real stage again, after two years of cancelled shows. She reports that she's in the front row for all of her routines, which is of course thrilling.

Sebastian got braces installed last Tuesday morning, so we had a week of applesauce, yogurt, soup, mashed potatoes, creamy peanut butter, and food cut into very small pieces. He did really well during the process and has been handling the adjustment and discomfort very well. Is a photo in this instance a good thing? I'm thinking no. 

High school forecasting opened up and we spent some fun days looking at the options and selecting his choices for math level, second language, and electives. He'll be going to the local public high school, Lincoln, as it's a good school academically and most of his friends will be there; they'll be opening a brand-new building in August (just in time!).

Seb's soccer season is also continuing; they played today and tied 1-1. His team is looking better and better with each game as they dust off the cobwebs and get into shape. Seb has been really enjoying winter practices, as they share a field with the 2009 boys on Tuesdays and the 2005 boys on Thursdays, and get to scrimmage against both of those teams. He's having fun and feels like practicing with the older boys in particular is helping him grow. Here are some terrible photos of a recent game in Ridgefield. (He is usually chosen as team captain for the initial coin toss.)

I've been running a lot. Anja and I are training for a 25 km trail race in April, in the Ancient Lakes area of Washington. We'll do 7 miles tomorrow, and then 7.5 the following Sunday, working our way up to 13 miles in the week before the race.

And then of course there's Wordle, our daily obsession. Everyone got in on it and Wordled tonight after dinner.