Violent Stomach Ailments

We're home from Washington. The trip was great for everyone until Grandma got a stomach flu just before we left. Grandpa then got it after we left. Mali has had it since 2:30 this morning - thankfully after we made it home. She was up every two hours all night, and Susy with her. Mali ended up sleeping in the bathroom on the futon - I wish I'd gotten a picture - it was pathetically cute. She is still sick, just experiencing her 5th upheaval moments ago (8:45).

Andrew is still sleeping - he may be okay.
I'm a little queasy, but I'm hoping it's just sympathy pangs, or that I've got some immunity to this thing. I'm hungry, but I'm not going near food for awhile.
We don't know where this came from, since we haven't heard of anyone else we know being sick like this.

Moose does stairs!

The kids were showing Moose how to do the stairs this morning, and at noon he went all the way up to find Mali - twice!

Mali will never be alone again.

Pizza with Austin

Andrew's friend Austin came over and stayed for pizza:

Mali's friend Lauren came over this afternoon too. She and Mali gave Moose a bath, yay!
Here's some photos of Moose and Mali having fun tonight after dinner.
Click for full photo
Moose wins!
Msli will now be teaching Moose that he is NOT the boss of any humans.

Hooray for Weeds!

Friday morning found Mali working on a school assignment called Hooray for Weeds! The rest of us are still puzzled by this. She wasn't happy about it, and wasn't talking.

Spring break has begun! After school yesterday Mali walked Moose to the pet store and bought him a harness. She called to tell me Moose was no longer interested in walking, and since it started raining I drove down and picked them up. Other than that we had an exciting day of sorting socks.

Moose gets an outing

We brought Moose with us to Mali's game this morning. We had to get her there by 7:15! Andrew stayed in bed. Moose did fine, sitting on Susy's lap the entire time. It was a little cold out, so they kept each other warm. Mali's team tied 0-0. Last night they won 2-0.

Andrew and I went to his 10:30 game this morning to cheer and coach. They lost 7-1, but they played well at times. Last night they lost something like 12-0 in Eugene. We didn't go to that one. Instead we went to see a doctor about his ankle. He is going to go for physical therapy next week - the doctor said he is too tight, and prone to more injuries, so he needs to loosen up. I took him to the health club today where he did alphabet circles with his injured foot in the hot tub, soaking it in the pool in between. Afterwards, he said it felt a lot better.

Moose and Mali photos

Some photos from last week.

Andrew's Ankle

Susy and I took Andrew to the doctor today. The nice doctor lady discovered that Andrew has no flexibility in either ankle - his muscles are really tight and she said that he is ripe for more injuries. So she told us some excercises for him (very similar to the ones Susy is supposed to do for her ankle - so they can do them together now (or not do them...))
and next week he starts physical therapy. He is out of soccer at least for this week.

Friday night

We invited Paul,Nancy,Zoë&Hannah over for hamburgers last night, and Pablo&Rocio came over just for wine and a visit since they'd already eaten Lebanese in Portland. Moose was thrilled to see his old family, of course.

Conference Report

Mali is doing great in 5th grade. No surprises. Mali and her teacher, Mrs. Putnam, have a very good relationship, and we really like her too.

Injured Andrew

Andrew sprained his ankle at the end of soccer practice last night. We iced and compressed it - it got swollen quickly after we removed his cleats at home.
Mali came home covered in mud - her field didn't handle the rains too well.

More news later after Andrew gets up and I check on his ankle. And if I get some time, I'll post the photos. Also, Mali's teacher conference is at 11:20. Susy's coming home from work so we can go together.

Mali's Birthday Party

I am missing Mali's party - I'm in Redmond meeting with a customer (who used to be in New Orleans and now they're moving things anywhere else.) The party report (from last night)is all is going fine. A five girl sleepover after tearing through the pizza and cake.
Last night Dave and I watched the kids, then Casino Royal while Susan had a night out with the ladies.
This morning Rylin was guarding the door, saying "No leave-y."

The Return of Soccer

Mali had a game Saturday, and she lost an exciting and hard fought game 2-1.
Andrew's team did the same thing this morning, and this afternoon Mali's team won 3-0. Directly from Andrew's game we went to Tom's Pancake house with Pablo, Rocio, and Matias. NONE of us had wallets, but Susy had some cash. Just to be safe we called and invited Alana and her credit card to meet us there.

Salmon at Alana's

Andrew was out and about with Maddie and Austin yesterday afternoon and evening. The rest of us went to Alana's for dinner with all the usual suspects. She cooked a salmon and ravioli, Rocio brought a spinach salad, Nancy brought a Capri salad, and we brought a cherry pie from Costco. Also some wine.
After work, Mali and I went with Alana to Costco and bought a ton of food. We hadn't been in a long time.
Today Mali has her first soccer game - 2:30. Right now, Mali is laying on the floor in my office, and Moose is playing with the doorstop.

Culture Fair

Andrew's culture fair project was on display last night along with all the other 8th grader's. There was lots of food - so much that we didn't go out for dinner afterwards as we had planned. Mali and Andrew filled up on Maddie's pot stickers. I sampled all kinds of stuff: Scottish Tablet, a very nice goat's cheese and olive tapenade, and a variety of other ethnic foods.
Andrew's project was on Rutherford B. Hayes, his presidency, and his location in Andrew's (Susy's) family tree.
We met Maddie's parents, her mom (Sharon) is from the Chicago area, and her father is Chinese and plans to help Maddie and Andrew in their Chinese class next year. We also saw a huge number of kids we knew - many we hadn't seen in apparently a very long time, as they have really changed.

Mali's Birthday

I made it home from Redmond, and Grandma Sue and Grandpa Del stopped by on their way home from their annual migration, so Mali got quite a celebration. No pictures, sorry. I made her choice of hamburgers, and the grandparents contributed a Turtle Pie for dessert. After dinner we played Liar's Dice until Grandpa had to leave.
Pablo&Family stopped by to wish Mali a happy birthday and dropped off presents: a new bicycle bell and a bike holder for her cell phone. She also got to open her present from DavidSusanDaltonRylin - hand delivered by me - a very cool little quilt that says: A home without pawprints is just a house. G&G gave her a set of stamp inks and some stamps, and her brother gave her a very nice wallet. She also got a cell phone and a bike, but those were already acquired, and Moose was a Christmas gift but his delivery was timed nicely around birthday time. So Mali should be a well-presented 11 year old girl.

Grandpa and Moose hit it off right away, which is unusual for Moose as he's still pretty wary of new folks. G&G also measured the kids before I got home from Washington. Andrew is 5'4", and Mali is 5' 1/2".

Mother and Child Reunion

We had dinner at Paul and Nancy's tonight, and brought Moose along to see his momma, Tinkerbelle. They had a great time playing, and then Max showed up with Alana and they all got some romping in.
Tomorrow morning I head up to Washington to work. Tuesday is Mali's birthday, and Wednesday Grandma Sue and Grandpa Del should be here for a visit.

Moose's first bath

Sadly, no photos. I took Moose outside to play and he got particularly muddy, so today he got his first bath.
Susy was off work yesterday, so we had breakfast at the Murray Hill Cafe. Very nice. Mali is jealous.
Susy and Mali took a power nap in the evening, so I went over to Pablo and Rocio's for dinner, taking only my African Yam Soup and a loaf of bread. Afterwards, they slept, and I met up with Paul at Alana's and we played a game of Scrabble. I won, woohoo!

Tonight is the Thomas Edison School auction, good food, wine and shopping.