Bike Ride

Beautiful weather here had Paul wanting a bike ride, so we did our old standby, short version (past the airport, not Midway, about 16 miles) for the first ride of the year. It felt awfully good to get out and going again.

I picked up Alana from the Max station and her trip to Colorado, and met Maiara at her house, who told me she saw Andrew out running up her street (a huge hill) today. When I got home he and Mali were at the school. Mali has been doing sit-ups all evening while we watched Lovejoy (DVD from the library.) She is on a fitness kick lately. Andrew is trying to get ready for track. We figured out he ran about two and a half miles yesterday around our hilly neighborhood, with lots of sprinting. His first practice is tomorrow.

Halloween Continues - Saturday

More costume fun, as Mali and I returned to Party City to exchange the Gangster costume for a devil queen/bride costume. That was to no avail, as Mali stole Susy's new pirate costume to match up with Rachel for Kian and Koresh's party.


After Party City, Paul and I went on a bike ride. It was beautiful weather, but we took a few unintended hills circumventing a Google-Map error of a through street that was really a dead-end, very private road. Click here for a map of our 30+ mile route. It was getting dark quickly, so Susy retrieved us at Oak Knoll Winery.

I was in a good mood all day, even with Party City and unforseen hills, because my high school friend Angie - who I'd lost touch with - tracked me down and called me.

Oh - and the boy, who I hardly saw all day: Andrew spent the day with William and Kyle, first at our house, then at Kyle's playing pool and video games. We were in bed when he finally made it home around 10:00.

Rembrandt Dinner

After a very hectic day of:
Driving home from Kirkland's Friday Night Poker Game,
Attending Ryan's graduation party,
napping,
driving Mali to Hailey's birthday party (PofC3),
biking with Paul and Pablo,
fighting off allergies,
Hurriedly showering and finding clothes to wear -
I was allowed to attend the Portland Art Museum's Rembrandt Dinner with Susy. It was great fun. Luckily we were only in the 2nd floor room for about 20 minutes, sampling desserts while we waited in line for wine. Susy suggested we try the third floor, which is where all the fun was, including live jazz, happier people, and much shorter drink lines. In addition to wine and beer, this time they also had vodka drinks courtesy of Absolut. We tried them all, and Susy gently guided me home.

Twin Oaks Bike Ride

I went for a lunchtime ride today with Paul, who's on vacation all week while Nancy is in N. Carolina for Time Plus. It was about 12 miles. Here's the route - the shortcut past the airport.

Friday Day Off

Susy and I took today off and picked out new flooring and sinks for the kid's bathroom. Apparently that is going to happen.
Mali had Rachel and Lauren over after school, and they painted the inside of the playhouse. They finished about half of it, and only Rachel ended up with any on her clothes. Mali got in a little trouble later, when Lauren's mom showed up and the girls were no where to be found. They had gone down the cul-de-sac without telling anyone, and without her phone.
Pablo and I went for a nice little bike ride to Garden Home.

Friday Bike Ride

Without looking, I ate half of a large bag of peanut butter M&Ms for lunch. In penance, I went for a bike ride to rescue my fat cells from the impending peanut butter. I rode up Bull Mt, total about 4.5 miles. Here's a pretty map.

Bike ride, etc.

Mali hung out with Zoë all day, and I did get a bike ride in - 20 miles with Pablo, Paul, and Dave. Here's our route: Tile Flat Rd. to Farmington to Hillsboro Hwy to Scholls Ferry to home.

Afterwards we had an incredible roast beef at Paul's (I brought potatos), and Pablo brought homemade vanilla ice cream. Andrew and Susy stayed home, since Susy had already eaten at Pazzo's in Portland with Alana and Debrah. She and Andrew watched Casino Royale, which I saw with David a couple weeks ago.

World Cup weekend

Pablo and his new bike made me rediscover mine and we went for a couple of rides this weekend. Yesterday we went to the Hillsdale farmer's market and bought berries for his new ice-cream maker, and so ate ice-cream at Paul's last night with our delicious and HUGE smoked ribs.
Susy and the van rescued us and our bikes at the Safeway, so we just missed the start of the World Cup final. Matias touched the already shaky cable from the wall to the TV just before halftime and it went out. Susy went out and bought another cable while we watched downstairs, suffering through some non-HD viewing. We only missed recording about a half-hour of it. Rocio's father, Isaac, requested Rocio record it for him - he and Marianne will be here in a couple of weeks. We think he'll like seeing it in HD. The difference is astounding.

4th of July

We had a nice 4th. Mali and I decided to go on a bike ride in the morning, and Andrew tagged along on his rollerblades. We had a lazy afternoon, and then went to Pablo's for dinner and fireworks. No great photos in the dark, but here's one to give you the idea. Yes, that's Andrew trying to light his hand on fire. No one was injured, not even Zoë, the firework magnet.