Week Away, Weekend Parties, Swim Meet #1

I spent most of last week up in Canada, working with BCTC, and then had a few days in Redmond. Things have been hectic, with still much work to do!

Back here in Oregon, we had a busy weekend:
Saturday morning was the first swim meet of the year, and it was here at Murray Hill. I helped run it while Susy timed, and we got it finished before 11:30 - a new record! The kids did great - and Mali was surprising with the speed and elegance she has acquired in the water after just three weeks of practice. She looked GOOD. She also won all of her events. Andrew did great too, as always. The highlight for him was easily winning the backstroke, but he would have been disqualified in a serious meet, because he somehow managed to go UNDER the lane line at the end of the race - a difficult trick while doing backstroke.
Saturday night we had a great time at Rian's house. Jason and Terri invited us over for cards while the kids had a Murder Mystery Party - a live action game of Clue. Everyone had a great time, and we got to hang out again with Jason's parents, who are back from their trip to Italy. They brought over a huge prosciutto - but not from Italy - it came from Costco.
Sunday was similarly busy. Moose and I went for a long walk in the morning, and saw butterflies everywhere. Then Susy and I went to the Tigard Farmer's Market - open Sundays until 2:00. We went for tomatoes and basil for Bruschetta, but of course it is too early for them in Oregon, so also stopped and spent $100+ at Safeway. Bought 6 basil plants, which I hurriedly planted at home in the planters out front, and then rushed to Eric's Dad's house for a party, getting there an hour late because we left late and then I got us lost taking a shortcut. Yes, I heard about it.
The party was great, we got to go down to Lake Oswego - the actual (very private) lake. A Beautiful place, easy to see why people pay so much to have access to it.

Last Day of School!

Mali is wearing one of three smiley-face shirts that she, Hannah, and Rachel bought so they could all match on the last day of school, and they're going to have everyone sign them. Mali cleverly attached three different color short sharpies to a necklace so she'll have them with her.
She's out early today, at 2:40. Andrew will be home by 11:30. It's sunny and warm here - ~73, so maybe they'll go to the pool. Andrew was there all afternoon yesterday with Rian, Tiana, and Eric (and Tiana's charge, Cody.)

Chauffer

My evening:
Drove Andrew, Rian, Tiana+Cody, and Eric to the Division Varsity Track Meet at Jesuit. Gave Andrew a $20 to pay for everyone, since no one brought money. They were lucky I had some cash.
I rushed home to pick up Mali and drive her to meet Collin and someone else (?) at the 5:30 showing of Iron Man. Susy may have to pick her up afterwards.
Update: Nope, Collin's mom gave her a ride home.

Scrabble

It has been a long time since the usual suspects got together for a game of Scrabble. Susy and I joined Paul and Nancy (where we left Mali) for awhile after Indian food. Then Alana joined us, Susy took Mali home, and we called Pablo to come over for Scrabble while Nancy watched Bruce Almighty.
Andrew had a night out watching movies at Tiana's with his usual gang (Rian, Tiana, and Eric.)

Running in the rain, Dancing in the street

Andrew decided his ankle was better enough for track practice today, I'm sure only because they were doing 400m time trials. He hasn't run a 400m in over a year, and was very curious how he would run. His goal was to finally finish under a minute.

I went to pick him up early to see if I could watch, and I got there at the perfect time: just as the first heat of boys were starting. Andrew ran in the second heat, and got second to last place in his heat, but it looked like the other kids were all juniors and seniors. He was so happy with his time I think he forgot it was raining for awhile: 57 seconds!
Very close to 57 flat, so he's sure he can get a 56.something soon, especially since this was in the rain, which he hates, and he got stuck in lane 1 with all the puddles.

After track he decided to go to the dance with Rian, his friend girl - not girlfriend, and practically Mali's big sister. I dropped them off at Tiana's house, where they (Eric too) got all decked out in Emo attire. The Spring Fling was a come as your own theme, or something. I picked them up at 9:30 and there was a WIDE assortment of outfits wandering around the school. I'll post a photo of Andrew after I upload it off my camera.

Soccer, and finally: Poker!

Mali's team scored their first goal! They lost 3-1, but they had a great game, especially considering they were without substitutes. Their goal was amazing, from a free kick, with a header and a general melee in front of the goal. Mali played ferociously -- It was the best I've ever seen her play. Hopefully she can do it again.

Tonight was our poker game at Eric's house. Sadly, Eric wasn't there, because the girls basketball team keeps winning, and he is in the jazz band that plays at the games. Rian and both her parents made it this time. Joan had a lot of great food, and Jason brought a great bottle of wine. I brought one of the remaining growlers of Dead Guy Ale. We had a lot of fun, and Andrew and I won the most money so won the prizes too: ColdStone gift certificates.

Tomorrow is a day off from everything. I may work a little, but there's no soccer or track or anything. Hopefully we'll all sleep in.

Swim team awards banquet

The Southridge High School swim team had a pasta dinner tonight and handed out letters and awards. Andrew, Eric, and Rian all got letters, and when they announced their new award for Freshman swimmer of the year I almost fell out of my chair when they announced Andrew won. Andrew said he was horrified since they called his name out first. The obvious winner was Taylor, who almost won a couple events at the state swim meet and set several school records this year. Happily, the award applies to each gender, so now Andrew is on a plaque with Taylor for the first year of the award, pictured below. It will hang in a case in the school's main entryway.

The team captains handed out silly awards to their respective genders and the opposite captain(s). Andrew and Eric were called up together by their captain and got the "amazing alternate" award, since they went to the state meet as alternates for the relays, and went to all the practices for it. Rian got the "Time Bomb" award because she dropped so much time with each meet. We thought she would get most improved from the coach, but she was beat out by a girl who could barely swim at the start of the season and ended up doing fairly well.

Susy, Mali, and I sat at a table with Eric's family, next to the one with Rian's parents, and in clear view of Eric, Rian, and Andrew, who were of course sitting together. Behind us was the loud table, with Cherise and Kyle - Kyle of course being Andrew and Mali's coach on the Murray Hill swim team last year.

Bowling

Last night we bowled at Players with Eric, Aaron, and their dad and Dominica. It's a very nice bowling alley with a staggering amount of video and arcade games. We all had a great time. Mali was very hesitant to go - last time she bowled without bumpers she didn't knock down many pins. She did a lot better this time after a brief lesson from Rian. I actually got 4 strikes in a row and had a great game, but of course Susy beat me in the next one. Later Michael got 5strikes in a row! Andrew lost a game to Aaron when all he needed was one pin in the last frame and couldn't get it. Sad, but funny.
Afterwards we went to their house for a delicious chocolate cake. We were probably out too late, but it was a fun time.

Spring Soccer, Game 1

The X-treme had their first game of the spring season today. They've been moved up to the Gold bracket, which is much better, and today they played a very good team and lost 3-0. Mali played well, as did the rest of her team, but it wasn't enough. The weather is beautiful here, so it was a pleasant game except for the score.

Tonight we're going someplace called Players, to meet with Eric's family - dad side. We're bringing Rian.

Maiara's Birthday!

I am still sick, but getting better. Drugs help. Now Susy is also sick. At least she got to sleep most of today since it was her Friday off.
Andrew's swim meet last night was his best yet. He got his best times and took second place in the backstroke and third in the butterfly. I got to go since it was at Aloha H.S. and Mali's first soccer practice of the year was also there. Chauffeuring made easy, for a change.

Today is Maiara's birthday! Susy made a chocolate cherry cake and we're bringing it over in a few minutes. We won't be staying long, since I have a strong desire to fall into my bed. Andrew went to a feast at Southridge, and just called to tell me he's going to the basketball game with Tiana and Eric. The feast was to follow a fast several classes did to raise money for Uganda, but athletes were supposed to raise money some other way. Andrew did this by exchanging the fasting bit with a promise to eat extra food next week. Some of the swimmers fasted, and their coach yelled at them today. Duh. Most of the freshman swimmers look like scarecrows.
Here's Maiara with the cake and the only candle Alana could find:

Poker Saturday

Rian and her mom, Terri, threw a Texas Hold'em poker party Saturday night. Andrew and Mali were very excited - for entirely different reasons. Andrew is quite keen on poker, and Mali thinks Rian is her wonderful new big sister. There were four adults: Terri, Joan (Eric's mom), and Susy and I; and 7 kids: Rian, D, Tiana, Eric, Aaron, Andrew, Mali. Kyle was supposedly coming late, but never showed up. Food was an assortment of chips, candy, and pop until the pizza showed up.
We played on two tables and mixed them up a couple of times. I only got to play with Andrew and Susy once. We all made money except Mali, who, after losing her $2 initial stake and buying in twice more at $2 apiece, ended up coming back strong to only lose 90 cents of her $6. I was the big winner, ending with $5.31. This was difficult as I lost a lot early playing next to Joan, who'd never played before, so of course was ridiculously lucky.
All in all it was a great time, though a bit noisy with all the kids. It was very nice to get to know Terri a little bit. We will probably try to have a similar party here soon.

Happy New Year!!!!

We spent the evening at Pablo's with Rocio, Tsulan, and Tom. Pablo and Rocio threw together a delicious sweet potato soup, and so we barely touched the pizza we ordered.
Andrew threw a big bash at our house with Rian, Tiana, Eric, and Kyle. Mali made them cookies, and they cooked pizza's from Papa Murphy's. Matias and the twins crashed it early. We made them all come over to Pablo's at midnight for the New Year's toast, then the kids moved into the garage to play ping pong on Rocio's new table. They challenged me to a game since I'd been drinking, but I still managed to demolish Andrew and Matias with little difficulty.

We have tree.

Mali requested a tree this year. We have tried placating her in the past with several of the small, two-foot high, pre-decorated, artificial trees, but apparently that has not done the trick. We stopped getting Christmas trees after we had spider infestations three years in a row. Nothing like sitting down on the floor Christmas morning to discover those tiny black specks on the carpet are moving, and are really tiny baby spiders. Now that we have hardwood floors in the living room I thought it would be easier to monitor the spider situation. Or at least clean up afterwards.
The first words out of Mali's mouth this morning were, "Where are the Christmas lights?" We didn't decorate last night because we were across the street at a holiday party to meet the new neighbors.

Our new next-door neighbors are great. Jeff and Allison, and their kids: Andrew(4) and Holly-rhymes-with-Mali(1), the same age our kids were when we moved in. Other similarities: Holly was the happiest baby I've seen since Mali, just thrilled to be crawling her way into every cabinet and drawer she could get her hands on. She is late to walking, like Mali, whereas her brother was an early walker/runner like Andrew.
The other relatively new neighbors have a tiny kid too, but Molly stayed home with her dad.

More News: I finally got to see Maiara and meet Samira! Alana brought them over on the way to the Saturday Market downtown. Maiara is the skinniest girl I've ever seen. She looked like a model, which cannot possibly be healthy, but is very striking. Samira is her older sister - 23 and also beautiful.

Alana also rescued us by bringing over a box of appetizers for us to take over to the party. Mali really didn't want to go, because she knew she and Kelsey were going to be stuck watching the four mobile little kids, Lucy, Alex, Abby, and Andrew - only Holly was trapped in the kitchen with the adults. They did a great job, playing hide-and-seek, and of course Mali put on a show for them involving her and Kelsey in a sleeping bag moving around like a giant worm. I think she even had fun. We stayed after everyone left and talked with Dave and Gayle for awhile, finishing off the wine and eating too much of the artichoke dip that Karen brought.
We came home to find Andrew's roving party had been pared down to Rian and Tiana, Eric and Hailey had gone home. They were watching Pirates of the Caribbean 1. We crashed on the couches and watched the rest with them. They had started out at the nearby House of Good Fortune for lunch, and were all playing poker in our kitchen when we left for Dave and Gayle's house.

Quiche!

Susy and I went to Costco at lunch today, and I just missed the quiche sample, so Susy made us a feta and spinach quiche for dinner. Yum! Mali tried it and didn't like it, so joined Andrew in his chicken nuggets. Now Susy's making peanut butter cookies! The rain (and the day off) brings out the baker in her.
Andrew started time trials today at swim practice - they're doing them all week. He, Eric, and Rian walked home together afterwards since the rain had let up.
Mali went to Rachel's after school for awhile and they did their homework together.

Veteran's Day (Observed)

Kids are home today. Well, Mali is home now from her sleepover at Tara's in Hillsboro. They did arts and crafts, which is the only thing I can think of that would keep Mali up until 4:00 AM!
Susy retrieved her at 11:00, and Andrew, Rian, and I met them at the Reedsville Cafe for lunch and the Mali hand-off.
Andrew is not feeling too well - his throat is bothering him - so he skipped swim team practice today. I drove Rian and Eric to practice, and then Andrew and Mali both took naps.

First MORNING Swim Team practice

I didn't wake up at 3:00 AM this morning - of course - because I got up at 5:00 to drive Andrew and Eric to their first morning swim team practice. Their practice schedule is flexible - they get to choose 6 of 11 practices, but the coach wants them to have at least two morning ones. We don't know yet if Saturday's practice counts as a morning one. We're hoping! The weekday morning practices start at 5:30, but luckily they're less than ten minutes away. It looked like they were the first ones there this morning, other than the janitor opening the doors.
I stopped on the way home and got Mali two fresh bagels. She will probably like these morning practices of Andrew's.

Elk Cove Fall Dinner

Here's Susy and I at the Elk Cove Winery last night. We went with Paul and Alana for the Fall Roosevelt's Club Dinner. The food was good, the wine was great, and the setting is spectacular.


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Andrew went out for dinner with Rian and her family to PF Chang's. Mali stayed home and hopefully slept - she was really wiped out after the sleepover at Tesia's house.
Before all that, there was another poker game at our house:

Spoons

Spoons is a card game involving dexterity - you grab a spoon when you get 4 of a kind up, and then it's a race among everyone else to grab the other one. Andrew had Rian and Eric over to play today, and then Mali joined them. More photos at www.flickr.com/photos/oregondad/

Southridge Back-to-School Night

Andrew got stuck going with us to his back-to-school night because of traffic problems on the way home from allergy shots. This was lucky for us, since we had a guide to navigate to all of his classes. Most of his teachers seem very good - his Japanese teacher was very funny, and his English/Social Studies team seemed like a lot of fun too.
He didn't have soccer after school today, so Rian and Tiana came home with him, and Eric joined them and they all played poker for awhile.
Mali had her first Acting Workshop after school today. Rachel is doing it with her, and they both had fun with it - after the initial scare - Mali had to go to the office to retrieve her permission slip.

Quiet House

Our house is soooo quiet with Mali away at camp. I find it eerie. Andrew finds it peaceful. Susy just finds it quiet. Moose finds it boorrrrrrriiinnnnnggg. He's even started paying attention to Andrew. And he's bringing me things to throw for him to fetch. Nancy says Schnauzers aren't keen on fetching.

Andrew is doing great at the high school soccer camp. The coaches are running them a lot, but he, Eric, and Kyle have been preparing most of the summer for it, so are doing fine. The expectation is that the coach will run them ragged the first day of tryouts (Monday) to serve as a reminder that they need to start the season in very good shape. Andrew is probably in the best shape of his life right now, so he's not having much trouble.

I'm heading up to Redmond tomorrow for a day of work and then our company golf tournament at Legion Memorial G.C. I'm looking forward to seeing the Redmond Lubashes - I haven't been up there in over a month.
Saturday Mali's soccer team is working the jamboree - her team is in charge of bottled water.