Bend soccer tourney

Liesl's soccer team was scheduled to play in the Bend Premier Cup this past weekend, a pre-season tournament stretching over three days. She was excited to play some soccer, of course, but even more to spend the weekend having fun with her friends and teammates. There was a pool at the complex where we were staying with some others, and a scheduled tubing adventure on the Deschutes River and Saturday night pool/pizza party. We drove down on Thursday in the late afternoon and they played their first game on Friday afternoon. And then... the winds shifted and the smoke blew in. The AQI went above 150, causing the cancellation of their Saturday morning game, and then above 200, causing the cancellation of the entire tournament. It was really crushing for the girl, and for all of us. We had planned to have some family biking and paddling (kayaking and SUPing) adventures before and after games. Instead, given the air quality and heat situation in our rental place (not great -- inadequate AC and leaky windows), we packed up and drove home on Saturday afternoon.

A huge bummer, obviously. But here are some photos from their first game, which they won 2-1. Liesl played midfield, goalie, and right back defender, and did very well in all three.

Some pics from inside our place - Scrabble and a handstand contest.

(We had to recharge the Tesla at the supercharging station, located in the Fred Meyer parking lot. Seb came along on the errand with me, and so we had 30 minutes to waste in the store... this mask and light-up rubber duckie somehow made their way home with us.)

Friday evening was not terrible, so Liesl played in the pool with Sienna and her twin brother, and Seb and I went for a bike ride around downtown Bend, looking for the source of the concert music we could hear from our rental. There's an amphitheatre on the riverfront, packed with people, including people floating on the river.

The Saturday game was not quite cancelled -- instead, both teams lined up a full on-pitch squad of nine girls, and took turns taking penalty kicks. Nine kicks each, and the score would determine the winner. Liesl was one of our team's nine; unfortunately, she scuffed it a little and the goalie saved her shot, but in the end the teams ended up tying at 6-6. A very strange "game".

Nothing like practicing PKs in a full-on respirator.

And here we are on our way home. :) Jasper was beyond thrilled to see us, of course, and that was a nice side-effect of our early return. Fortunately today was gorgeous in Portland, with clean air and blue skies, so I went for a run, and we played family baseball, disc golf, and soccer golf, and took Jasper for an evening walk, and overall had a sweet day, despite our disappointment.

happy birthday to Steve!

It was Steve's birthday today, but in the way of adult life, he had various things to do and it wasn't terribly celebratory. We will celebrate him more on the weekend, when we are in Bend. But Liesl made him a beautiful present, a calendar with one painting per month, and both kids wrote sweet cards, and Seb and I baked a triple berry cake that was delicious.

camping at Champoeg

We went for a one-night camping trip to Champoeg State Park, a mere 45 minutes from home, with Anja's family (Luna, Reiko, and Zeke the dog!). We arrived Saturday in the late afternoon, set up camp, and immediately played a game of family baseball. 

Reiko has been obsessed with baseball since reading a book in which the main character plays, and recently became the proud owner of a glove, bat, and ball. So we brought our equipment and had a terrific little game in a field. Liesl was delighted to be able to teach someone how to throw, catch, and hit, and Reiko proved to have great coordination and was able to hit the ball from a soft throw.  Jasper was the ever-ready fielder, of course, excellent at chasing down hits but perhaps less excellent at returning them to tag people out. We all hit and ran (second base was a stump way way far away) and had a wonderful time.

After that was dinner, and then a walk to the boat dock on the Willamette River. Sadly, because of algae blooms, the water is not currently safe for swimming (it's particularly toxic for dogs, who inhale a lot of water when they swim), so we had to stay out. We had brought our paddleboards, but ended up deciding not to use them, since the doggos couldn't go in. There was a dog play area where we could let the dogs run and romp off leash, and it was beautiful in the late evening -- sun setting off the grasslands. And a nature playground for kids, where we had a timed obstacle course climbing up and over various objects.  

On Sunday we had more fun -- Steve went for an early morning run, and then Anja and I followed the same trail, a 5-mile out and back on a paved bike path.  The dogs romped and the girls played on the playground and in the amphitheatre. And then we played disc golf on the park's course; we have played before, of course, but it was their family's first time. Much hilarity ensued, as always, because we aren't very good and are continually hitting trees. 

And then we were surprised to see a huge assortment of Fords pulling into a field -- really old cars and newer muscle cars -- the 49th annual all-Ford picnic at Champoeg. Seb was in heaven, wandering and taking dozens of photos of all the cars. We wished that dad/Bompy was with us, because he likes to talk and reminisce about old cars and would have liked seeing the scene.

And then it was lunchtime, and packing up time. We got everything back into the car, and then the three kids rode their bikes on the bike trail to the Butteville General Store (same trail we'd run that morning) while we drove the cars the long way around to meet them. We got ice cream cones, and played cornhole in the outdoor picnic area, before driving home. Such a fun little getaway!