Soccer

It is Mali's last soccer weekend for awhile. This morning she played downtown at the Portland State University field. It's a great turf field, but very difficult to get to because there is a lot of construction around there now. Also the Portland Saturday Market had its second open day of the year, which closes a few streets and makes parking even trickier. Luckily I found a spot near the field and next to the Starbucks. Coffee plus an almond croissant from the market made for a nice second breakfast.
Mali and the team played great, as they have been all season, but they lost 3-0. Afterwards we bought Mali a latte, then quickly ran into Dick's sporting goods at the Mall to get a gift card to give to Tyler at his birthday party. She barely had time to shower before leaving for that.
Susy and I had a great night out with Pablo and Rocio, who took us to the newest restaurant in Beaverton, Decarli's Trattoria. This was in appreciation of us letting them use our house while we were on our cruise and their house was having hardwood floors installed. We had a fantastic time, especially since we have not spent much time with them since Christmas break. Pablo even brought a bottle of Uruguayan wine, which I wanted to mock, but it turned out to be delicious.
Mali was home alone with Moose for dinner, and made herself a Southwestern chicken salad from a ready-mix bag of salad. She had urged me to buy it the day before, and it came in very handy. Andrew went to see The Superhero Movie with the usual gang, and then to Tiana's where they watched Fight Club. I was happily sleeping at midnight when he got home.

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.

Dog Birthday!

December 27th: We had a bithday party for Moose and Max, who turned one year old. No cake, though Alana brought over all the leftover desserts from her Boxing Day party, along with Maiara, Samira, Ryan, and Max. Nancy made a salad and brought the dog's honored mother, Tinkerbelle, along with Paul and the kids. Pablo was healthy enough to come over too, along with Rocio and Matias. And of course my newest daughter Rian was also here for the festivities.
The people and dogs all had a great time. Alana brought presents for the dogs, and the kids helped play with them. Susy and I contributed teriyaki pork, garlic green beans, and brown rice to the dinner. Kids took over the kitchen and adults captured the dining room, except poor Ryan who got stuck in the kitchen with the kids.

Tinkerbelle sadly did not get to go home with her family, who were leaving in the morning for a long vacation in Arizona. We are watching Tink for the next nine days. So far it's been a breeze - she's pretty mellow, yet good at entertaining Moose. She tried to trick us into carrying her up the stairs, but we didn't fall for it. She makes it up and down fine, but only after it's obvious that she's not going to get magically transported upstairs, and that no one is coming back down.

Merry Christmas!

Mali slept until 8:16, so we had until 8:30 before she and Andrew roused us for the great opening. Andrew said they have a deal: whoever wakes up first wakes the other one. There's really not any question as to who that would be.
At 10:00 we headed to Tsulan, Tom, and Tiana's for breakfast, and met Pablo, Rocio, and Matias there. We all stayed and watched A Muppet Christmas Carol. We just got home, and Rian is here. In an hour we're going to Paul and Nancy's for a ham and smoked turkey dinner.

Storm and Symphony

Wind has been shaking the house and tossing rain against the windows since early yesterday. Poor Moose sits by the sliding door like he wants to go out, until we open it. He's been outside twice for about two minutes each. Mali slept at the opposite end of Andrew's bed last night (their idea) to hide from any falling trees in the backyard. They moved Moose's bed in there for the night too.

We ditched the kids Saturday night for Robert and Jennifer's going-away dinner at Alana's, with all the usual suspects and also Annette's friend Jason. We ditched them again last night (their choice) for a trip downtown to hear the Oregon Symphony play Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Zoë, Hannah, and Matias all came along, along with their parents and Alana and NancyD.

Rian had some reason for going to the ceramic place down the hill and invited Mali and convinced Andrew to also come and paint stuff. Susy picked them up and dropped Mali off at Zoë's for the afternoon - they haven't done much together lately. I'm driving Mali back to Zoë's this morning, but she's only getting a ride because of the wind and rain.
Rian came over for the afternoon yesterday, and we all let Andrew convince us to play a game of Euchre. Susy and I won, of course.

Halloween!

Mali did her trick-or-treating with Hannah and Rachel - they left around 7:00, somehow returned to trick-or-treat our house around 8:00 with Andrew's friends Maddie and Joe, and then ended up at Alana's around 8:30, where Susy and I joined them and the full-scale party going on. There were over a dozen adults and what seemed like a hundred kids at Alana's - All the adult usual suspects and then some, plus scores of Olivia's friends. Alana had her usual gargantuan pot of chili, Jennifer brought an amazing apple tart, and of course Deborah brought more cookies and brownies then even the hordes could get through.

Andrew had Rian and Kyle over after school, then around 5:00 they headed over Kyle's party. Andrew, Tiana, Ethan, and Rian ended up at Tiana's house when the rest of the party went trick-or-treating, and Andrew finally got home around 10:30.

Supergirl Hannah, Waitress Mali, and Pirate Rachel.

Leaf Attack

Mali had Rochelle over after their soccer game. They made cookies, then got out the blower and played in the leaves.
Afterwards, we all went to dinner at Alana's with all the usual suspects plus Annette and her friend Alita from Chile, and the big surprise: Deborah finally took a moment away from her new cookie store and joined us.

Rocio and Matias return!

After 5 weeks in Peru. We tried to beat them home from the airport to be in on the surprise, but the swim meet ran slightly longer than expected. They looked great, but exhausted - they left Lima at 1:00 AM. Pablo grilled yummy stuff and gave us white Sangria, and then we ate Nancy's delicious chocolate cake. Rocio fell asleep on the couch, but Matias was going strong.

Ratatouille

Mali, Susy, and I went to the Beaverton Farmer's Market this morning before picking up Moose from the vet - he got snipped yesterday and spent the night there. It was a joyful reunion.
We got lots of fresh foods at the market, and I made Ratatouille (inspired by the movie) and Susy made strawberry-rhubarb pies. Pablo brought over some homemade vanilla ice cream, and Alana brought a spinach salad with raspberries and strawberries. Susy also made ham and cheese pitas - which the kids ate. Rian stayed for dinner too - it was a festive evening.
I finally dove into the raspberry jungle and picked about a gallon of raspberries - enough for Susy to make two batches of jam. We spent the afternoon in the kitchen - the kids spent theirs at the pool.

Leftovers!

Pablo grilled the 4th's leftovers last night, plus some steaks, and then Pablo and Rocio came over and we all watched Dreamgirls. Lots of good music!

4th of July!

Pablo put his new grill to the test for the 4th, with ribs, chorizo, burgers, and vegetable skewers. Alana and NancyD came over, so there was no shortage of great side-dishes too. Susy made her deviled eggs, bruschetta, and guacamole. I'm still full.
Here's Mali holding her patriotic pup:

Soccer Weekend - With Austin

Lots of soccer this weekend - Mali had 2 games each day. They ended up second in their group, but lost their playoff game 5-0 today to the Hotspurs, who they lost to 5-1 in their last tournament. We brought Austin along today, which made it a lot more social and fun in the crazy rain and sun. Moose helped with that too, though he really wanted to play some soccer with the girls.


The neighbors are back from their after-school trips: Pablo&fam from their SF trip for the Roger Waters concert, and Dave, Gail, & Kelsey returned from their Alaskan cruise. We had an amazing dinner at Paul and Nancy's tonight - a smoked roast with a mushroom-pepper sauce, and an incredible Pinot Noir from their horseback winery trip.

Here's a photo of Mali from last weekend's tournament, during a game.

Rocio's Birthday

Pablo took the usual suspects to Benihana's to celebrate Rocio's birthday. Then we came home and ate Alana's delicious chocolate-Bailey's cake with Pablo's homemade vanilla ice cream!
Here's the kids at Benihana's from my cellphone:

And here's Zoë and Mali back home:

Rocio after blowing out candles:

Sunday Barbecues

Andrew had Kyle over and I snuck in a game of 3-dragon ante with them. Mali had friends Rachel and Dana over, and they washed the car and I took them to the pool for a couple of hours.
Later, Andrew went to a barbecue with Austin, and we threw one at our house for the usual suspects except for Paul, who had already left for California. Andrew was missed, and Matias and Ryan were forced to play Xbox without him. Hannah, Zoë and Mali had fun with Moose, Max, and Tinkerbelle running around the yard, though Tinkerbell got the neighbor dogs all worked up and we had to keep them away from the fence. Andrew came home just as folks were leaving, and we fed him a hot dog and some cake.
Mali poses while washing the car. Click to expand and see the rest of Rachel.

Gengar watches Andrew Text. He had been ducking the camera, texting distracted him long enough for me to capture him.

Green Card Barbecue

Paul and Nancy celebrated their permanent residency with some delicious smoked ribs and chicken last night. I made mojitos with Pablo's rum and Nancy's mint, and of course we drank some nice wine. We met some great new folks from their church. Mali had a great time with Zoë, and Moose got to come too, and had fun hanging out with his mother. Meanwhile, Andrew went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 with Austin, and loved it. Photo below: Mali and Moose crash on my office floor while we wait for Andrew's return.

Pool Opens! and Wine Tour

The pool opened yesterday! Andrew, Mali, and I went in the evening after Susy and I returned from our wine tour.
The tour (map) was great fun! All the usual suspects went, and we visited two vineyards, Gypsy Dancer and ElvenGlade, then ended up in the town of Carlton, where there are several (5+) tasting rooms. We visited only two of them, but are planning to return someday. (We missed this one!) We enjoyed a huge picnic in Carlton - I'm still full. I'm hoping I'm able to eat in time for Paul and Nancy's barbecue tonight.

Track Meet and Green Cards

The middle school district track meet was at Westview H.S. last night. Andrew set a PR in the 400m with a time of 1:01.91 (hand timed by me.) I'm pretty sure he got second place. He hurt his foot somehow, so did not run the 800m, and his long jump distance wasn't his usual. Austin was there and won her heat of the 100m but I didn't get her time, and she got second in the shot put.
Meanwhile, Mali had her first soccer practice for the new Xtreme.

Afterwards, Mali, Andrew, and I met the usual suspects at Ruby Tuesday to celebrate Paul and Nancy getting their green cards. Susy was working out so didn't come.

Soccer Weekend

We just returned from Andrew's soccer game. They lost 2-1 in a hard battle against a team they lost to 10-0 a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday they lost 5-0 in Corvalis, and Mali's team tied 1-1.
Susy is out at a play with Alana and another friend of hers - The Light in the Piazza. They're at the matinée, and then they plan to hit a happy hour somewhere. The kids just headed up to the school with Moose - A couple of Andrew's friends are already up there. I am probably heading out on a bike ride with Pablo.
That's probably it for our weekend.

Saucebox

Susy's birthday dinner at Saucebox was a complete success. The place was incredible - every bite was delicious. It was so dark we couldn't actually see it, but we think the food was beautiful too. Nearly all of our light was provided by three small candles. They were so low to the table they had trouble getting their light up over the lips of the plates, but our drinks looked pretty in the candlelight.
Pablo was stirring his drink, enjoying the light flickering up through his highball glass, when he discovered a fly trapped beneath the ice of his Long Island tea. The waiter quickly brought him another drink, this time in a tumbler that was harder to see through.

The service was very good, with lots of young male waiters that the women politely appreciated. Everyone looked good in the candlelight. Alana was missed. She's in Ashland this weekend for the Shakespeare festival.
The sole issue with the service was, after recommending a pear brandy cocktail to Pablo, the waiter proceeded to forget it, TWICE. Pablo finally received it, and it was delicious. Also, Paul discussed it later with the waiter and it was removed from the bill. Not that you would have noticed, as the bill was very heavy even without it.

The Saucebox is known for its drinks. My favorite was a basil mojito-ish concoction that Nancy discovered. She lent hers to me and ordered another after I gave my delicious-but-too-sweet raspberry vodka concoction to Rocio.
Susy had one called (I think) a Frozen Chocolate Banana: a very tasty milkshakey thing. She followed that with a Kickboxer, described on their online menu as a "house-infused thai chile vodka, passionfruit purée and citrus juices, topped with raspberry purée, a real knockout!"
The drink menu was long and interesting. Pablo and Nancy asked about it, and were promised a soft copy if they sent an email. Apparently the restaurant loses a lot of them.

The place was great, and everyone complemented Susy on her choice. We'll return, though next time we may ask for a table in the restaurant, which we discovered afterwards in a separate room. It turns out we had been in the darkest recess of the bar.

Afterwards it was still early - before 10:00 - so we stopped at Haggen for a supply of decaf coffee and went to Pablo&Rocio's and made crazy coffee drinks. We got home at midnight, and discovered Andrew still up, so I kept him up even later with a long, free-ranging conversation about everything, closing with a threat to wake him early and take him and Austin to the Saturday market. Zoë spent the night, and she and Mali were asleep when we first got home around 10:00.

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.