Mali is worried about today's science test, about energy and heat transfer. She has been milking it all week for drama, and we've all been testing her. She's bringing a stress ball to school with her today. She will do fine.
Tonight she goes to Lilly's roller skating birthday party.
This morning she thought I might like to blog her New Year's resolutions. They're pretty good for everyone, I think.
Mali's New Year's Resolutions:
Be happier.
Smile more.
No mean looks.
No rude/mean comments.
Get organized/clean.
Be nice to everyone.
Showing posts with label Lilly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lilly. Show all posts
Friday, January 11, 2008
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Deschutes River Rafting
Maupin, Oregon -
Twelve of us hit the river yesterday for six hours of fun battling with the elements. My shoulders are sore from paddling a kayak the whole time. The only injuries were some minor sunburn spots - the girls - Mali, Zoë, Hannah, Natalie, and Lilly all seemed to get a little burned just under their eyes. They rode high and mostly dry - except for the squirtguns - on the large rafts, manned by Doug and Dave. Paul and I were on the kayak all day, except Andrew took Paul's place for awhile after I pulled him into the river off of the raft he was on. Paul wanted a break so climbed on their raft, and Andrew was so busy squirting him that I easily pulled him off.
We left at 7:00, and didn't get home until 9:00. Susy and Erin both stayed home for a day of peace.
Twelve of us hit the river yesterday for six hours of fun battling with the elements. My shoulders are sore from paddling a kayak the whole time. The only injuries were some minor sunburn spots - the girls - Mali, Zoë, Hannah, Natalie, and Lilly all seemed to get a little burned just under their eyes. They rode high and mostly dry - except for the squirtguns - on the large rafts, manned by Doug and Dave. Paul and I were on the kayak all day, except Andrew took Paul's place for awhile after I pulled him into the river off of the raft he was on. Paul wanted a break so climbed on their raft, and Andrew was so busy squirting him that I easily pulled him off.
We left at 7:00, and didn't get home until 9:00. Susy and Erin both stayed home for a day of peace.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Busy Weekend!
Crazy, busy weekend: Talent show, dance rehearsal, grandparents arrival, fence repair, crazy dinner, dance recital, bathroom remodel, Frisbee golf, dinner, and hot tub!
Friday was the last day of school, and Mali's talent show. She did a fun, short dance with Lauren and Rachel. I walked up to see it with Nancy, Zoë, and Hannah. After school Mali and Rachel went to Lauren's for dinner, then Mali had the dress rehearsal for her dance recital, then returned to Lauren's for a sleepover. We couldn't find her leotard for the rehearsal, so she faked it and Saturday Susy took her to get a new one after we tore the house apart and couldn't find it. It still hasn't turned up.
Saturday morning I sealed the grout on the new tile in the guest bathroom just in time for our guests. I quickly put Grandpa to work taking out the tree in the backyard and fixing the fence. We had a little help from the neighbors.
Then we picked up Zoë, went downtown to drop them off at the Newmark Theater, and went to dinner at Oliver Twist's across the street. Our food finally came about the time the show was starting, but we only missed half of the introductory filmstrip about the history of the Billings Dance Academy. And we got our food for free - if you don't count all the anxiety it induced.
Mali and Zoë did great at the dance - Mali seemed to be front and center for most of the routine. We also got to see Lilly, and Brenna seemed to be in half of the 30 routines.
Sunday was very busy, as I had Grandpa instruct me (while doing most of it!) how to install the wainscoting/beadboard in the downstairs bathroom, along with the sink and new toilet. Such a great guy I am to put him to work on Father's Day! He was great, but I tired him out. I tired me out too.
After they left for their long drive home I cleaned up a little and we all went to McMenamin's Grand Lodge in Forest Grove for Frisbee golf and to meet Paul&Family for dinner and to crash in the wonderful Japanese Soaking Pool there. The frisbee was great: Susy had Mali rolling on the ground over her first few frustrated frisbee throws. We were all amazed at Andrew as he managed to perfectly land his frisbee very gently at the very top of a very tall tree. He was a little sad after breaking his sunglasses tossing them down while climbing, but he recovered.
More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregondad/
Susy talks Andrew into smiling:
Andrew in the Japanese Soaking Pool:
Dance Recital at Newmark Theater, Downtown Portland:
Nancy Ryles Talent Show, the last day of school:
Friday was the last day of school, and Mali's talent show. She did a fun, short dance with Lauren and Rachel. I walked up to see it with Nancy, Zoë, and Hannah. After school Mali and Rachel went to Lauren's for dinner, then Mali had the dress rehearsal for her dance recital, then returned to Lauren's for a sleepover. We couldn't find her leotard for the rehearsal, so she faked it and Saturday Susy took her to get a new one after we tore the house apart and couldn't find it. It still hasn't turned up.
Saturday morning I sealed the grout on the new tile in the guest bathroom just in time for our guests. I quickly put Grandpa to work taking out the tree in the backyard and fixing the fence. We had a little help from the neighbors.
Then we picked up Zoë, went downtown to drop them off at the Newmark Theater, and went to dinner at Oliver Twist's across the street. Our food finally came about the time the show was starting, but we only missed half of the introductory filmstrip about the history of the Billings Dance Academy. And we got our food for free - if you don't count all the anxiety it induced.
Mali and Zoë did great at the dance - Mali seemed to be front and center for most of the routine. We also got to see Lilly, and Brenna seemed to be in half of the 30 routines.
Sunday was very busy, as I had Grandpa instruct me (while doing most of it!) how to install the wainscoting/beadboard in the downstairs bathroom, along with the sink and new toilet. Such a great guy I am to put him to work on Father's Day! He was great, but I tired him out. I tired me out too.
After they left for their long drive home I cleaned up a little and we all went to McMenamin's Grand Lodge in Forest Grove for Frisbee golf and to meet Paul&Family for dinner and to crash in the wonderful Japanese Soaking Pool there. The frisbee was great: Susy had Mali rolling on the ground over her first few frustrated frisbee throws. We were all amazed at Andrew as he managed to perfectly land his frisbee very gently at the very top of a very tall tree. He was a little sad after breaking his sunglasses tossing them down while climbing, but he recovered.
More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregondad/
Susy talks Andrew into smiling:
Andrew in the Japanese Soaking Pool:
Dance Recital at Newmark Theater, Downtown Portland:
Nancy Ryles Talent Show, the last day of school:
Monday, May 21, 2007
Dance Class Photos Today
Austin was over after school, and stayed for burgers and Susy's gelatin-free strawberry pie. Afterwards, Mali left for dance class and we played Pictionary - Susy won both games with different partners each time.
The clock was wrong, so I was a few minutes late picking the dancers up. I found them outside, rolling down the grassy hill and laughing their heads off.
I took a quick photo before dance with Mali in her recital outfit - they had class pictures today.
The clock was wrong, so I was a few minutes late picking the dancers up. I found them outside, rolling down the grassy hill and laughing their heads off.
I took a quick photo before dance with Mali in her recital outfit - they had class pictures today.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Changing of the Dishwasher
It is a new month, so we've changed our dishwasher. The new one is named Andrew. Mali got paid out a $3 bonus for her quality work over the last half month when it all began. Andrew seems determined to expand on that, and is asking questions and learning what it will take to go the extra dish and up the bonus into the stratosphere, base salary being not much more than dinner and the occasional Starbucks.
Monday night was quiet. Moose and I walked Mali to Rachel's house, so now she can go there on her own. After a scrounged-up dinner, Susy and I walked to the pet store to get Moose a much-needed dog toenail clipper. A good walk, but it quickly cooled down and the wind picked up. The only loud part of the evening for me was the post-walk retrieval of Mali, Zoë, Natalie, and Lilly from their dance class.
Sunday night was not quiet, but it was also fun. Andrew invited Austin over for the afternoon, and they entertained Mali and Moose most of it. She stayed for dinner and then we played a very fun game of Pictionary, boys v girls. Girls won by an inch, as Andrew correctly guessed Alps for Pyrenees just after Mali said, "Time."
("European Mountain Range." "Yes, and...")
Previously, in Dad/Andrew Pictionary:
"Arabian building. Muslim building. Muslim religious building. Muslim church. Muslim church. Muslim church. Muslim church building."
"Yes. The word is: Mosque."
Monday night was quiet. Moose and I walked Mali to Rachel's house, so now she can go there on her own. After a scrounged-up dinner, Susy and I walked to the pet store to get Moose a much-needed dog toenail clipper. A good walk, but it quickly cooled down and the wind picked up. The only loud part of the evening for me was the post-walk retrieval of Mali, Zoë, Natalie, and Lilly from their dance class.
Sunday night was not quiet, but it was also fun. Andrew invited Austin over for the afternoon, and they entertained Mali and Moose most of it. She stayed for dinner and then we played a very fun game of Pictionary, boys v girls. Girls won by an inch, as Andrew correctly guessed Alps for Pyrenees just after Mali said, "Time."
("European Mountain Range." "Yes, and...")
Previously, in Dad/Andrew Pictionary:
"Arabian building. Muslim building. Muslim religious building. Muslim church. Muslim church. Muslim church. Muslim church building."
"Yes. The word is: Mosque."
Monday, July 17, 2006
Deschutes River trip
Yesterday was filled with river rafting. I'm still waterlogged. Mali called it a "life-changing experience."
We left the house at 7:15 and were on the river by 11:00, Paul and I in an inflateable kayak, and Mali, Lilly, and Natalie perched on a large raft with Doug the expert at the oars. Our other raft was manned by the father of the family I didn't know, and ten minutes downriver it highsided on a giant rock and dumped the mom and one kid out. I caught just a glimpse of the raft poking high in the air above the rock, then watched the mom and kid float downstream away from us. They were rescued by the first raft, and while Paul and I picked up various items they had dropped we got highsided as well. Paul immediately tumbled over backwards into the river, and I was free.
Paul was able to climb back in on the calm side of the rock, and we then linked up with the rafts for about a minute before the current pulled us downstream, where we finally found an eddie we could open a beer in.
The mom and both kids decided they'd had enough, and walked up to the road to hitchike to the park where our lunch was stored. After lunch they would all drive home.
Several times I went completely underwater while remaining in the front of the kayak. My hat didn't bother to leave my head until later, when it was completely waterlogged. Paul and Mali took turns saving it.
Paul and I debated opening a new front on the squirtgun battle with some passing strangers we saw were also armed, but we ended up sliding into a large hole in the water and both flipping in. Luckily, our potential targets were immediately next to us, and I was able to use their raft to haul myself out of the water and back into the kayak, after first rescuing our lone squirtgun. I then kayaked to a calm spot on the bank where I could hang on to a rock and wait for Paul.
He eventually made it back into the kayak, but not before heroically taking one more step into the river to rescue the suntan lotion. That one step was expensive, as he was dragged an extra twenty meters downstream, bouncing off of rocks all the way.
The largest rapid was not as dangerous as last year, since the water level was higher, so after we took a raft and the kayak through it, I let Mali take the last raft down. Doug piloted both rafts down, and Paul and I took the kayak. This was where Paul saved my hat.
Mali got her hat-saving opportunity later when we hit The Ladders, an area of very deep and turbulent water with no rocks, where everyone gets to swim down the river. There was a large crowd there, and we joined them, beaching the crafts and walking up just before the beginning of the rapids. Mali and I jumped in together, and she saved my hat, but lost me as I caught a current that took me to the far bank. I had to walk back upriver (on the well-worn trail - I was not the first to do this) and try again to catch the right current. I made it to the correct bank this time, but I've never been so tired in my life.
We left the house at 7:15 and were on the river by 11:00, Paul and I in an inflateable kayak, and Mali, Lilly, and Natalie perched on a large raft with Doug the expert at the oars. Our other raft was manned by the father of the family I didn't know, and ten minutes downriver it highsided on a giant rock and dumped the mom and one kid out. I caught just a glimpse of the raft poking high in the air above the rock, then watched the mom and kid float downstream away from us. They were rescued by the first raft, and while Paul and I picked up various items they had dropped we got highsided as well. Paul immediately tumbled over backwards into the river, and I was free.
Paul was able to climb back in on the calm side of the rock, and we then linked up with the rafts for about a minute before the current pulled us downstream, where we finally found an eddie we could open a beer in.
The mom and both kids decided they'd had enough, and walked up to the road to hitchike to the park where our lunch was stored. After lunch they would all drive home.
Several times I went completely underwater while remaining in the front of the kayak. My hat didn't bother to leave my head until later, when it was completely waterlogged. Paul and Mali took turns saving it.
Paul and I debated opening a new front on the squirtgun battle with some passing strangers we saw were also armed, but we ended up sliding into a large hole in the water and both flipping in. Luckily, our potential targets were immediately next to us, and I was able to use their raft to haul myself out of the water and back into the kayak, after first rescuing our lone squirtgun. I then kayaked to a calm spot on the bank where I could hang on to a rock and wait for Paul.
He eventually made it back into the kayak, but not before heroically taking one more step into the river to rescue the suntan lotion. That one step was expensive, as he was dragged an extra twenty meters downstream, bouncing off of rocks all the way.
The largest rapid was not as dangerous as last year, since the water level was higher, so after we took a raft and the kayak through it, I let Mali take the last raft down. Doug piloted both rafts down, and Paul and I took the kayak. This was where Paul saved my hat.
Mali got her hat-saving opportunity later when we hit The Ladders, an area of very deep and turbulent water with no rocks, where everyone gets to swim down the river. There was a large crowd there, and we joined them, beaching the crafts and walking up just before the beginning of the rapids. Mali and I jumped in together, and she saved my hat, but lost me as I caught a current that took me to the far bank. I had to walk back upriver (on the well-worn trail - I was not the first to do this) and try again to catch the right current. I made it to the correct bank this time, but I've never been so tired in my life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
