Cannon Beach

It was MLK Day, so we had no school, and it was forecast to be 53 degrees and clear skies at the coast. So the kids and I (and Arianna) hopped in the car and drove out for a day of sun and sand, happy to escape our neighborhood and screens for a day. (Okay, so Seb wasn't excited to leave his screens, but he was a good sport and ended up having a great day... and his screens were still here when he returned.)

We started our day at Hug Point, because we love the rock formations and it's quieter than the main Cannon Beach, but the tide and wave level was too high and had covered all of the soft sand. We tried to sneak around an outcropping to the larger beach on the other side, but the waves came in and soaked our feet as we tried, and scared us, so we decided to relocate to the wider expanses of town. There we found sandy beaches and fun dunes, and had a wonderful day.

Sebastian was throwing sand on Jasper, and then I captured this look - a trick of lighting, surely, but the intimation of a glare cracks me up. Seb threw a ball into the ocean for Jasper to fetch over and over, at least 100 times. Jasper loves to run into the waves.

Liesl spent a really long time digging this slide and shoveling out steps to go back up. We spent most of our time today on the dune -- racing up to the top, sliding down, jumping off cliffs, and tackling/wrestling/throwing each other over the edge (that last part mostly me and Seb, which was really fun).

 

 

Jasper rolling in the sand to dry himself off.

After playing for a few hours, we were hungry and wet and sandy, so we stopped at Tom's Fish and Chips for the usual, the candy store for saltwater taffy, and then headed home. The girls were sleepy. Such a good day.

Almost forgot! We saw a herd of elk along Highway 101 as we were turning into town. Crazy! 

more pics from home

From last weekend -- usually the local Boy Scout troop drives around with a pickup truck picking up Xmas trees to be recycled/composted, but they couldn't this year because of Covid. Instead, they had a dropoff spot down near the village town center. So Steve and I picked up our tree and carried it down the hill. Good thing it was downhill the whole way!

Liesl spent some of her Christmas present money buying a really cool marble track.

She also picked up some very soft and moldable clay, by a company that also has an app with easy-to-follow instructions on how to make various creatures. She first made a Christmas ornament, and then moved on to birds and a pterodactyl --

Otherwise, not much to report. We all continue with work and school, and both kids are thriving academically despite the challenges of remote learning. I am proud of their self-motivation and organization, because it's hard to stay on top of so much independent work. Both of them have twice-weekly soccer practices with their teams; Liesl has Zoom dance classes; Sebastian has podschool twice a week. They're both reading a lot, and re-reading (Calvin and Hobbes just got another complete re-read by both), and watching tv shows and playing video games. Any time the sun comes out, I kick them out of the house to play with Wyatt (he and Seb play basketball and soccer, or take Jasper for a walk) and Arianna (bike riding, soccer, playground play, walking Jazz). In truth, January has felt a little dark and damp and depressing.

But I have been running a lot, despite the rain. Anja and I meet up every Sunday at 9 to run the Leif Erikson trail in Forest Park, which is a wonderful chance to talk and connect. I've run with Christie (mom to a 4th grade girl, and my HTC partner) a few times around the Cedar Mills neighborhood. I'm hoping to go for a hike next weekend with Amy. And on Saturday I ran up the Terwilligar Road from Duniway field, where Seb was practicing soccer, and achieved a personal best for the 10k of 51.16 minutes (it's an 8.14 pace per mile). 

Liesl and I got ice cream cones (waffle cones! unheard of treat!) last weekend on our mama-daughter day together; today we got Fill's doughnuts. The Boston cream was pretty special and will warrant a repeat visit. :)

Rube Goldberg machine

Liesl had an optional weekend assignment to build a Rube Goldberg machine. Her class is studying energy transfer in their current science unit. Liesl was really excited about the prospects of making something complicated and cool, and Steve and I were both drafted to help. (My role was to suggest ideas... and then film it.)

We build a treat delivery device for Jasper, and had a lot of fun making and experimenting with it.

Here are four videos from the day, some showing just a couple of our multiple failures, and some showing our eventual success.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/otZ3qscGL7AeS7nT6

Happy 2021!

It was warm and partly sunny today - a lovely winter day to close out 2020. I went for a run on the Rock Creek trail; Sebastian played football with three friends; Liesl and I played tennis together. We ordered a Mediterranean feast from Shalom Y'all, baked a carrot cake, and had a festive evening.

We got Sebastian an Escape Room game for Christmas and decided to try and solve it tonight. It proved more difficult than expected and we had to give up; more tomorrow!

Silver lining of 2020: twas a year for baking. I have always baked occasionally, but this year brought many more muffins, breads, cookies, galettes/pies, and snacking cakes than ever before, since all the kids' activities were cancelled and I was working from home. Liesl and I collaborated today on a classic carrot cake, double-layered and with cream cheese frosting. It was delicious. We are hoping that 2021 brings more normalcy: school, sports, time with family and friends, travel. But also, still, more time together, and continued good health and fortune. And probably more cake.