spring break in Canada

Liesl and I drove up on Sunday afternoon to spend a few days visiting mom and dad in White Rock. Jasper was very patient on the drive (exhausted from our morning run with Anja!) but was happy to arrive and stretch his legs. Popo was so happy to see us that she baked not one, not two, but three desserts! 

 

On Monday morning we headed into downtown Vancouver, to the Chinatown Storytelling center in old Chinatown. It's a tiny place that gives an overview of the Chinese experience in Vancouver -- gold miners, railroad workers, the Exclusion act, WWII service, the rise of Chinatown after immigration laws were changed. It is the Mah family story, starting with my grandfather Mah, and so it was good to be there and see the photos and documents with Liesl.

After that we had dimsum and then headed home -- mom and I in the car, dad and Liesl on the train and double-decker bus. They got to sit in the very front on the second story of the bus, and it was apparently exciting (L ducked under every overpass). We had naps and Jasper got a walk, and then dad showed Liesl how to play a hand of contract bridge (with open hands).

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.