Memorial Day Weekend

Andrew, Mali, and William just left with Susy for the pool. Mali can't get her arm wet so plans to just dangle her feet. She broke her LEFT wrist, just like her father did when he was a kid, so she won't be picking up many new skills. She has been out playing one-handed basketball, and at least her shot is improving.

I have been out in the yard all weekend: trimming, weeding, planting, and moving things around. Except when I have been out and about. Saturday morning we went to the Beaverton Farmer's Market, where I bought lots of plants and bulbs, which is what started the whole backyard garden excavation. Here is a picture of a happy Susy at the market.
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Sunday was Andrew's track meet, where he won the pentathlon. He won every event except the shot put, but it was very close overall between him and second place.
Here he is after going over the last hurdle:
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Mali broke her wrist!

Mali fell while riding her scooter yesterday and hurt her wrist. After X-rays the doctor said she has a "green-light fracture." She has to wear a hard cast for two weeks.

More later - we have to have Andrew in Salem by 8:45 for his track meet today.

4-day Weekend!

For the kids, anyway. Susy and I will be working. Susy is working now. At least she gets the 3-day weekend, so hopefully we can have a nice relaxing one. Our one certain activity is Andrew's practice pentathlon on Sunday in Salem. The pentathlon is: High Jump, Long Jump, Shot Put, 80m hurdles, and the 1500m.

Tonight wasn't too relaxing. Andrew had the Highland Track party after school until 5:00, then I picked him up and took him to BTC. At 6:30 I took him back to the school - his teacher invited him and one other student to help with the 5th grade orientation tonight - apparently a coveted task. I found him wandering the school at 8:00, looking for people to orient.

This just in!

Grandma forwarded this picture of Grandpa with his geoduck. He and Jed were out hunting them today during the super low tide. Jed took this photo with his phone, so apologies for the fuzziness.

Mali Slides Home!

Mali got hit by a pitch, AGAIN, today, after the other team put in a very fast, very wild pitcher. I thought if I was ever going to see a pitcher throw one over the backstop, this would be it. She didn't, but she did hit several of our players, including Mali on the toe.
Mali made it around to third and stole home on a passed ball, sliding under the catcher and pitcher to be safe. She rattled the team so much Ilyssa stole home right behind her while still on the same pitch.
The Cubs (us) won 22-20.

Afterwards we met Susy at China Bay, and just as we were walking to the door Rachel's family pulled up. So Mali got to have dinner with Rachel, both of them still in their softball uniforms.

Post softball, track meet, and Mali's conference.

Pandemonium! With the bases loaded, Mali ripped a line drive in her first at bat tonight, but unfortunately it went straight to the pitcher, who managed to hang on to it. Everyone was busy running to the next base, and the coach and parents were yelling "Go back! Go back!"
So Mali sprinted back to home plate, and the pitcher (who still had the ball) started chasing her before realizing that Mali was already out, and by then everyone was safe. Very exciting!

I met an already unhappy Andrew when I got to his track meet. Susy got there in time to time his mile, and he wasn't happy with his second place finish or his time. He looked pretty wiped out too, so instead of running the 800m he went for the 100m. That was a wise choice, as he got his best time ever and got first place. He also won the 200m. He qualified for the state meet in those two events. We're still investigating that possibility. Andrew says it is in Bend, but he's not sure when.

Susy and I were very busy driving around this afternoon. Susy came all the way home to attend Mali's student-led conference with me. Mali showed us all the cool stuff she's been doing: Fractions, geology, art. My little girl is growing up!

Softball, Softball, Softball

The weather is beautiful at last, so we're in for three straight days of softball games! Last night's was the first game Mali has played in over a week. The good news: All of our batting cage work payed off! She courageously stayed in the box against a fairly fast pitcher who managed to plunk five or six of our players. Mali was very determined, standing up there and swinging at the first pitch and ending up with two walks in two at bats. We went to the batting cage before the game, and Mali was really smacking the ball.

Tonight starts this afternoon: Waaayyy too much going on. Mali's student-led conference followed immediately with her softball game, and Andrew's District Track Meet from 5:00 to 8:00. Top three in each event go to State. Andrew is planning on running several events, including the mile, and doing the high jump and long jump, if he can fit them all in.

And for those of you tracking our menu: Last night's dinner was spaghetti with Susy's homemade sauce - Andrew called it the best he's ever had, and went back for seconds!

Wedding Shower

Mike and Anna's wedding is coming soon! Saturday we drove to Washington, bringing Susy and Mali to Anna's wedding shower. We arrived so Ridiculously late that Andrew and I crashed the party, attacking the leftovers (cucumber cream-cheese sandwiches, chicken grape sandwiches, blueberry coffecake, baby cheesecakes, and a tableful of other delicious foods I can't remember because of the sugar coma I slid into) while catching up with everyone.

Above: The M. girls together.
Below: Mali and Ashley toast.
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Above: Lori looks on while Andrew amazes his grandma with his new iPod.
Below: Andrew shares his musical taste with Amy.
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After the party we went home to Grandpa to continue with Andrew's birthday-month festivities! He was thrilled to get Apples to Apples, and we subjected Grandma and Grandpa to a game of it after dinner.

For dinner we were treated to Andrew's requested steak fondue along with an impressive array of side-dishes for all of us picky eaters: Wonderful warm potato salad, lettuce salad, asparagus, sugar-snap peas, noodles and cheese, and Susy's deviled eggs. Grandpa, Susy and I also enjoyed smearing Lori's brie and blue-cheese dip all over our asparagus and steak.

Then Grandma worried Andrew, heading downstairs to retrieve his "birthday pie." He bravely smiled, probably thinking of some mixed-fruit pie that he would have to endure while the rest of us raved about it. We all enjoyed watching his relieved smile and eyes light up when Grandma put a (delicious!) black-bottomed ice-cream pie in front of him.
I'd have pictures of all this fantastic food, but I was too busy eating it.

Another Rainout

Mali has had more rainouts than games so far. It is very wet here still. It has been proposed that the rain stop for the weekend, which would be a very nice thing. We will be in Washington, so hopefully this proposal extends to the North.

Susy was late tonight, so I made dinner: peas and noodles and cheese for the birthday-month kid and Mali. Susy and I had whole wheat cheese ravioli with sauteed garlic, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Yum!

I've added some pictures below, scroll down if you can't see them. Also, if you click on the More Pictures Here link to the right you will go to a web site with some of our pictures from earlier this year.

Bedtime now, so goodnight!

Track Meet

We just returned from a very wet middle-school track meet. Luckily, Kendall found us about the time Mali got tired of playing with the umbrellas, and then she found a new friend in Drew's sister Devan. Andrew, Drew, and Jacob Nelson were there, so Andrew had fun too, goofing off with them. I stood up on the stands talking to their parents while Mali chased Andrew around the field and Devan chased Drew. Finally it devolved into little sisters with impunity happily teaming up to wrestle bigger brothers to the ground. Lots of laughing.

Oh, and there was some running. Andrew CAME IN SECOND in the 400m to a very large 6th grader. He won the 100m and the 200m pretty easily, though none of his times this year have been as good as last years. (Says Dad the not-in-any-condition-to-speak critic). Excuses: It is still relatively early in the season and his ankle has been bothering him. He has been growing (Yay!) so his muscles could still be catching up.
Here's a picture of Drew, Andrew, and (hidden) Jacob:
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Susy missed the meet, then missed dinner, because she was stuck at work again. She got home just in time to put the kids to bed, then wolf down the leftover fish -- chips were gone. Plenty of strawberries left for dessert. Costco can be wonderful.

I spent the evening setting up Andrew's IPod. It takes about half a minute per song to convert it from wma to itunes format. I tried converting the whole library and the software froze, so now I'm doing it in little pieces. Such a pain. Conspiracy Theory: I wonder if Apple purposefully made the conversion slow on Windows to push people towards buying stuff on iTunes.

More on Andrew's Birthday

It rained, so Mali's game was cancelled and instead of track practice I dropped Andrew off at the health club where he ran sprints on the basketball court and worked on his abs (my strange kid says that's fun). Susy was stuck working, so Mali and I then went to the mall to pick up Andrew's IPod Shuffle at the new Apple store. Mali picked out a case for it too, then we picked up Andrew, showered, and met Susy at Olive Garden.
Andrew's favorite restaurant, and he ate a ton of breadsticks, penne with butter and parmeson, and his sister's grilled chicken. Susy had portabello ravioli, I had half an onion, pepper, tomato pizza, and Mali had grilled chicken with sides of spaghetti and broccoli. We were all stuffed, so even the birthday boy didn't want dessert.

Andrew loved his IPod and case, and today we will get some music on it. He also loved the squishy neon green pillow that perfectly matches his room that Susy found for him.

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Andrew's Birthday!

Mali, Susy, and I gathered around Andrew's bed this morning and sang him his Happy Birthday song. He woke up smiling.
Then we all rushed around and got ready for school and work. It will be a busy day. It is wet outside, and could rain more, so there's a chance Mali's softball game will be cancelled tonight, which will make the celebration dinner at Olive Garden (his choice) a lot easier to manage.

Sunday

Sunday has come and gone. I cooked Swedish pancakes for the sleepover guests and Mali this morning. Then Mali and I went to the batting cages. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does at tomorrow's game.
It rained, so Andrew and William played X-box most of the day. Andrew says his thumb is bruised. I played a little Halo2 with them this afternoon. Mali spent the afternoon and had dinner at her friend Sarah's house. Susy and I went to Costco and spent gobs of money. We hadn't been in awhile.
Tonight we finished watching Star Trek II - The Wrath of Kahn. I've been introducing the kids to Star Trek, since Andrew asked me if William Shatner was famous for anything before his music albums. So we all watched Spock die: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one."

Tomorrow, for Andrew's actual birthday, the plan is to go to Olive Garden after Mali's softball game.

Another thrilling weekend passes by in Oregon.

Oregon Relays, Andrew's birthday party

I pried Andrew out of bed at 8:30 this morning, then had a lengthy discussion about trying new things. I had to threaten him with all kinds of brutal punishments to get him to the Oregon Relays in Canby. He was a bit nervous, having never done a relay before. We barely made it in time for him to run with an older group of kids, a BTC Youth team, in the 4X100m. Andrew did the first leg and held his own, and his team got second. The high point was Andrew's second race, the 4X200, where he anchored his (midget age group) team to second by closing a large gap to finish at the wire just ahead of the third place team. Then he ran the 400m leg of a sprint medley (100m, 100m, 200m, 400m) and his team got second in that too. So he came home with three 2nd place medals.
We also got to see an 80+ year old man set a world record for the mile, running it in ~6:40 or so to beat the old record by someone over 80 by over a minute. There were TV cameras there for that one.
Here's Andrew just before passing someone to edge his team into second place:
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Came home where Andrew encouraged me to take a nap so that he could play Runescape with no chance of interruption. Mali had gone with Tiana and folks while Susy left for work around 10:00. She (Susy) is just now (11:00 PM) on her way home, but she doesn't have to go back in tomorrow (Yay!).

Meanwhile, Mali returned, then Tiana, Matias, and William showed up for Andrew's birthday party, a very low-key affair consisting of Halo2, a trip to TCBY to pick out a cake, pizza, and then we all watched DodgeBall. Tiana fell asleep, and just went home with her mother. The boys are spending the night.

Another hectic Saturday comes to a close.

Friday now Saturday

Good morning! It is very early on a Saturday morning, still left over from Friday night. We played UpWords, many games. Pablo and Alana on a team against the rest of us, Paul, Rocio, and I. I think I won the last game, but it is a bit hazy. Drank some very good wine. Eola Hills: Lodi Zinfandel and then the famed Pinot Noir. Probably out of order. Finished it up with the standard Monterra Merlot. Somewhere in there was a Belvedere Merlot that was delicious as well.
Susy and the kids watched Racing Stripes, then went home. Andrew was a chore, sending him home. Hopefully he gets enough sleep before his meet tomorrow. We should be there by 9:00.
Another busy day. I'm still happy about Mali at the batting cages. If we don't go again tomorrow, we'll go Sunday.

Hello, world!

Stepping into the new world, and saying "Hello!"

These posts will describe the hectic but happy life of an Oregon family, from the perspective of the dear old dad. Not to be confused with the dear old dad of Washington. That would be My Dad.

I just took Mali to the batting cages. A new experience for both of us. By the end she was doing fantastic, and we will go again before her next game (Monday). The softball cages were all slowpitch, except one. We did three rounds in a slowpitch cage, then moved to a fast one. After the first ball zipped by her she was panicking, and I stepped in and took the rest of the balls - not easy with a teeny bat. A guy with his son there said they were going about 80 miles an hour, which explains why no one was doing the cage labeled 'Very Fast - Baseball only.'
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Andrew is all wrapped up in a new free online game called RuneScape. It is a massive multi-player game ~500 - 1000 players at a time on each server. He has a couple of his friends at school doing it now too, and it is sucking up a lot of their time. But Andrew is good about limiting this sort of thing, when asked to, so we're not too worried. Tomorrow we have a track meet - a new format, relays only. This is the first one ever, so it will probably be excruciatingly slow.

I think tonight's festivities may include a game of Scrabble or something, and we may go out for dinner first, who knows. It's Friday!