Mali Scores Two!

Mali played forward for the last five minutes of the game today, touched the ball four times, and scored two goals! She looked like a natural, but again they were playing a U-11 team, and they won 7-0. I was trying out my new lens, but of course missed her actual shots. Here's the celebration after her first goal. Sadly, I also missed the excited hand-flapping immediately afterwards - but only with the camera. I won't be forgetting the image of her turning around in shock, screaming and flapping her hands with excitement while running to the middle of the field to be mobbed by teammates:

Here she is, JUST before booting in Tessia's cross for her second goal:

Here's the celebration for goal 2:

And here's my happy girl after the game:

Mali's Soccer Style

Mali forgot her red uniform top, so had to wear a penny along with the new girls who don't have a uniform yet. But no one else had the stylish striped undershirt or the pink socks! Pippi Longstocking was mentioned. The exceedingly stylish outfit was caused by the return of February: It was COLD! It rained hard on their morning game and Mali was a ferocious wet rat. The weather was slightly better (less rain) for the afternoon game. They won them both against U-11 teams. Last night they lost 5-1 to the U-12 team that was third in the state.
From my cell phone, this is Mali's outfit and their home field - a very nice and new turf field at Aloha High School.

New Bathroom 2

Nothing is ever easy, is it? The nice lady at Macadam Carpet and Flooring, who was so quick to reassure us that she would take care of everything, neglected to order enough of the pretty blue tiles that go in the white tile squares. THEN she agreed to have the rest of them FedExed to us so we could get it done this week, and promptly forgot. After I called to ask about them, her manager called me back to apologize, and to say they would be delivered Saturday. Poor Kaupo had to pack up his stuff and will return Monday.

Anniversary!

Number 20! We found our way through the middle of the Rose Festival to the Spirit of Portland for dinner and cruise up the Willamette. Very fun, but roads were closed, which led to Susy running down streets in her bare feet, high heels in hand. No photo of that, but here she is fully recovered.

More:
The Rose Festival gave us some interesting sites. Here's one: a Naval dual on the Willamette.

Three-Dragon Ante

David got me into this crazy game, and I bought it for Andrew's birthday. When Mali left for dance practice last night, Susy decided she'd play a game with us. She played slow while she sorted out the rules, and beat us both easily.

New Bathroom 1

Kaupo is upstairs now with his man Jimmy, demolishing the kid's bathroom floor. Tomorrow they will lay tile. Soon a new countertop will complete the transformation - Randy came today and took measurements.

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.

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.

From Redmond

At Dave and Susan's last night. We went looking for Dalton in Eric and Allison's backyard and discovered Susan having a glass of wine on their patio with Allison. We quickly joined them and ended up letting Eric barbecue for us while we talked of bicycling and the kids ate pizza. Very Nice - I should have taken a photo, their backyard is beautiful! I always forget about the camera phone.

This morning I had a nice phone conversation with Mali. She was already cleaning the kitchen, in honor of June 1st and the changing of the guard. She told me Soccer was fun and they didn't do much running in the heat, and she got Dairy Queen for dinner and Andrew ate pizza at Austin's. She also gave me the plan for tomorrow (it seems weird to me that tomorrow is already Saturday - probably because Monday was a holiday and now I'm up here where work is fun): Susy and she will attend Ryan's graduation brunch for half-an-hour before going to her dance recital rehearsal. Then the big excitement - Hailey's birthday party viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

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.

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.

Motorcycle Diaries

Pablo came over this afternoon and helped us set up our new surround sound system for the upstairs TV. Then Susy and I watched The Motorcycle Diaries to test it out. We loved the movie. I didn't realize Che Guevara was asthmatic.

Crystal Ballroom and BlueHour

Alana and Susy and I finally checked out the Crystal Ballroom last night. It's an old place, built in 1914, and it's claim to fame (other than the many musical visitors) is a strange, purposefully bouncy dance floor. We got a pretty good show from Joss Stone (though she didn't play this song!) and opener Ryan Shaw (awesome!), though the acoustics of the place - or maybe just Joss Stone's soundman - left something to be desired.
Afterwards we relaxed at Blue Hour over coffee and dessert. We loved it - Alana had been there before - I'd just peeked in the windows (It's near PPM Energy's office.) This review raves about the food, which we liked, but the decor was coool and the service was awesome.

We got home late to Andrew pretending to sleep on the couch, and Mali asleep with her lights on. Moose was ecstatic to see us.

Moose Status

Moose is doing much better. He is barely favoring his injured leg. We are all relieved.
In other happy news (for everyone but Moose): We are starting to plan for a Caribbean cruise - I think over Spring Break next year.

Andrew's 14th Birthday

For Andrew's 14th birthday we had Austin over and went to GoGo Mongolian Grill, Andrew's favorite restaurant. Susy met us there with a fudge brownie cake - so there was more than enough food.

Moose Injury!

Happy Mother's Day.

Moose did something this morning - we didn't see it. He showed up at the door whining in a new way, and wouldn't put any weight down on his left back foot. We took him to the vet and it is something with his knee. If he's not doing better tomorrow, we will take him back for x-rays.

Mali's Performance Team Routine

Big day Friday! Susy and I walked up to the school at 2:00 to see Mali and Rachel's performance team routine. They were surprisingly good. Surprising only because I saw their Thursday night rehearsal in our hallway and it was halting and rough. But they pulled it all together for the big show. Another surprise: they got a huge cheer from the audience before they even started. Apparently the girls have some fans.
There are more photos at www.flickr.com/photos/oregondad.


Andrew spent the afternoon at Austin's. The rest of us went to Alana's for a barbecue: Sangria and Pablo's chimichurri. The new expanded list of usual suspects include Alana's horse trainer Janet and her husband Michael, and Deborah.
No Paul, Nancy, Zoë, and Hannah; they are in Seattle this weekend. We are watching Tinkerbelle (Moose's mom!) for them while they're gone. They dropped her off Friday and already she has taught him to bark at people walking by, and to dig in my garden!!!!!

Max visits Moose

Alana and Max stopped by on their walk the other day. Click for a close up of Moose with his favorite toy.

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.

Dean called: Mali made the team.

Yay!

Mali's Busy Day - soccer tryouts and dance

Mali had a busy evening yesterday. First was soccer tryouts, where she did much better than Saturday morning, but was much more nervous beforehand. Andrew had to talk her down. He did a great job, and Mali really looked like she belonged there. She usually does, she just lets tryouts make her nervous.
After soccer ended at 7:05 we went almost straight to her dance class, swerving only slightly to pick up Zoë After that Paul took her and Zoë to Cold Stone for ice cream - Zoë's reward for trying Ketchup Pizza.

Moose the Great Mole Hunter

Moose captured a mole tonight in the backyard! I am thrilled - I now have a mole removal service!
Mali saw him dancing around playing with something a little differently than usual. We joked that maybe it was a mole. When I saw he actually had something, I guessed a bird, and ran out to deal with it. Seeing the mole was a relief (not a bird) and brought great joy (it's a mole!).
Then the mole moved.
I scooped him into a bucket. He was dazed and slightly damaged. Mali quickly named him Martin, which prevented us from killing him. Instead we took him a couple miles away and Andrew let him go in a large field far from any houses. He was actually cute, in a very weird way.
Susy carefully reached into the bucket to pet him, and announced he was Very Soft. Her new business plan involves breeding them for fur coats. Because they're soft - and they're waterproof. Mali laughed hysterically at that. Susy said they must be waterproof, since he wasn't dirty at all, even after crawling through tunnels. Here's a photo of him on our outdoor table - the spots on him are from the pollen that is coating the table.

Andrew Swims, and Cranium Cadoo

Pretty quiet here tonight. Mali spent the afternoon at Zoë's after finishing her homework. We had fish and chips for dinner, and then Mali, Susy, and I began a game of Cranium Cadoo. I left in the middle to drive Andrew, Ryan, and Austin to the public pool. Came home and finished our game. Susy won.
Mali has been after us to play it with her for a long time - we didn't realize how long until tonight, because the questions were all a little too easy. We need a version of the game for older kids. I think I'm the only person who missed a question - I couldn't find something with wheels - walking right past the laundry cart to the garage, to look for roller blades or a skateboard. Instead I found the dolly, but lacked the will and time to wrestle it inside. My back has been really stiff since gardening on Sunday.
I'm walking like a 90 year-old man. Tomorrow I drive to Washington - I probably won't be able to get out of the car.

Phonograph

We played Pictionary again last night after dinner. It was adults v kids. Andrew and Mali had trouble with the word: Phonograph. Andrew had to ask Susy what it was. They decided that if Mali said "Record Player" it would count. Andrew drew a pretty good picture of a record player, and Mali had no idea what it was. Finally, after he drew a picture of a record and vigorously indicated the grooves going around and around it, Mali came up with "Cassette!" They never did get it.

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."

Scleroderma Auction

We made a mad dash for Seattle between the kid's last soccer games of the season. We left after Andrew's game yesterday (a loss, 8-1, with Andrew's defender scoring an own goal near the end) a little before 2:00 on Saturday and rushed to the Rainier Country Club for the Scleroderma auction. It was great fun, especially since so much of the family was there. Mary got the kids involved selling raffle tickets, and they did a great job, bringing in tons of money and having fun.
Dinner was great, we sat at a table with Grandma and Grandpa and David and Susan, next to tables with everyone else. Afterwards we had planned on driving to G&G's, then leaving for Mali's game (a 0-0 tie, with penalty kicks for fun afterwards) early in the morning. Once we got on the road Susy decided to just keep on going and drove all the way home while the rest of us slept.
Hopefully next year's soccer schedules will make it easier to get there.

Wednesday night - Austin

I meant to post this earlier (like Wednesday night.) Andrew had Austin over Wednesday, and we picked up subs for dinner. She played the part of Mali, who was at Awanas with Zoë. I've never seen Andrew laugh so hard as he did at dinner. He could barely breath.

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.

Thursday's Track Meet

Andrew ran the 400m in 1:02.64, which is close to his best time from last year - pretty good since he's just starting out this year. He won, and got second in the 200m, but we did not get his time for that. I was there late after dropping Mali and Rochelle off, but I didn't miss anything.

Track Practice

Andrew and I went up to the school to run on the new track. We calculated that one lap is 228 meters. We tried something new - finding how far we could run in one minute. Andrew ran about 1 and 2/3 laps - I did about 1 and 1/4. Andrew did a lap in 36 seconds - I took 45. Mali brought Moose. He followed Andrew around on his warm up lap, and then Mali took him home. They'd been waiting at the school for awhile before we even got there, it took us forever to find a working watch with a second hand.

Afterwards, we all went to Home Depot - Mali wanted screening for her playhouse windows, and hinges for a door. She also found some paint from the returned paint section. I think she's planning something fancy for the inside of the playhouse. Susy picked out four different colors for the playroom - I'm not sure what's happening there, but I'm sure I'll be involved later. Andrew sat in the car with Moose and a book. He was along for a ride to Austin's. He had dinner there, and Susy just retrieved him.

Mali's Soccer Saturday

Mali had a practice for two hours first thing in the morning to help out a coaches clinic, then had two hours in the pouring rain for a warm-up and game in the afternoon. At least they won 2-0. Yay!
Andrew and Austin worked on their candyland ecosystem project most of the day.
Susy and I went with the usual suspects to an auction for Matias's school's band. I bought a pair of pretty pretty pink lamps, and Susy bought a couple of nights at a beach house near Lincoln City. We're still sorting out how we're going to use them - the lamps and the beach house.

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.

Moose and Max

Our neighbor, John, looked out his window yesterday to discover puppies in his backyard! Max was over playing with Moose, and led an escape to the two German shepherds who live nextdoor. The neighbor dogs are EXTREMELY well behaved, and luckily did not confuse Max for a squirrel. Moose immediately flopped over for them - he's met them before - but Max does nothing but tear around like a maniac.

Here's a photo of the puppies hiding behind tulips and the wall. Below that, Moose gets a bath!

From two weeks ago: Mali took this photo of Moose getting a bath. Click for full picture.

Movies at home

Monday night we watched Stranger Than Fiction, and loved it. Mali missed the first part because she was at her dance class.
Last night we watched MirrorMask, which was very weird, as expected, and Susy liked it more than she expected. I liked it a lot, of course. Weird is good.

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.

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.

Alana's Wine Fest. - and new house rule (dishes!)

Last night we stayed home and watched Happy Feet (the one with the penguins) with the kids.
Friday night we went to Alana's for a large party - all the usual suspects plus Robert and Jennifer and her friends Debra and Barb, and her horse trainer and her husband (Janet and Mike).
Alana opened a half case of Silver Oaks Cabernet (from Napa valley), she had a bottle for each year from '89 - '94, so we compared them. The '89 and the '93 were generally considered the best. They were Very Good. Everyone brought appetizers, and it was at Alana's so of course there was way more food than we needed. I brought the asparagus ham wraps we had at Mom and Dad's at Christmas, and they went quickly. It was a lot of fun.

The kids stayed home and cooked a frozen pizza by themselves! They did a great job except they forgot to clean up after themselves. They forgot again last night before the movie, so now there is a new rule:
Whoever sits in the "GET" chair (the one closest to the kitchen - they switch off every month.) is in charge of keeping the kitchen clean. The other one is in charge of getting garbage and recyclables out to the garage.

Easter in Washington

A horde descended on the grandparent's house for Easter. There are a dozen new photos on the OregonDad Flickr site.
Here's one of Conner showing off his Pokemon loot to Andrew and Mali:

Here's Andrew and Grandpa clamming!

Moose returns to Washington

I'm back up in Washington. Susy and the kids are taking the train on Saturday to join me for Easter weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We discovered that Amtrak does not allow dogs, so I dropped Moose off with the grandparents this morning on my way to work. Apparently, he didn't miss me when I left, much like the kids when they get dropped off in grandparent wonderland.
Mali stayed home sick today - still recovering from her bout of (probably) salmonella. Not good timing, with me AND Moose up here, poor kid.

Spring Break

For the kid's Spring Break last week, I went to work in Washington for a couple of days and dropped the kids at the Grandparent's house. Click here to go to Flickr and see more photos.

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.

Violent Stomach Ailments

We're home from Washington. The trip was great for everyone until Grandma got a stomach flu just before we left. Grandpa then got it after we left. Mali has had it since 2:30 this morning - thankfully after we made it home. She was up every two hours all night, and Susy with her. Mali ended up sleeping in the bathroom on the futon - I wish I'd gotten a picture - it was pathetically cute. She is still sick, just experiencing her 5th upheaval moments ago (8:45).

Andrew is still sleeping - he may be okay.
I'm a little queasy, but I'm hoping it's just sympathy pangs, or that I've got some immunity to this thing. I'm hungry, but I'm not going near food for awhile.
We don't know where this came from, since we haven't heard of anyone else we know being sick like this.

Moose does stairs!

The kids were showing Moose how to do the stairs this morning, and at noon he went all the way up to find Mali - twice!

Mali will never be alone again.

Pizza with Austin

Andrew's friend Austin came over and stayed for pizza:

Mali's friend Lauren came over this afternoon too. She and Mali gave Moose a bath, yay!
Here's some photos of Moose and Mali having fun tonight after dinner.
Click for full photo
Moose wins!
Msli will now be teaching Moose that he is NOT the boss of any humans.

Hooray for Weeds!

Friday morning found Mali working on a school assignment called Hooray for Weeds! The rest of us are still puzzled by this. She wasn't happy about it, and wasn't talking.

Spring break has begun! After school yesterday Mali walked Moose to the pet store and bought him a harness. She called to tell me Moose was no longer interested in walking, and since it started raining I drove down and picked them up. Other than that we had an exciting day of sorting socks.

Moose gets an outing

We brought Moose with us to Mali's game this morning. We had to get her there by 7:15! Andrew stayed in bed. Moose did fine, sitting on Susy's lap the entire time. It was a little cold out, so they kept each other warm. Mali's team tied 0-0. Last night they won 2-0.

Andrew and I went to his 10:30 game this morning to cheer and coach. They lost 7-1, but they played well at times. Last night they lost something like 12-0 in Eugene. We didn't go to that one. Instead we went to see a doctor about his ankle. He is going to go for physical therapy next week - the doctor said he is too tight, and prone to more injuries, so he needs to loosen up. I took him to the health club today where he did alphabet circles with his injured foot in the hot tub, soaking it in the pool in between. Afterwards, he said it felt a lot better.

Moose and Mali photos

Some photos from last week.

Andrew's Ankle

Susy and I took Andrew to the doctor today. The nice doctor lady discovered that Andrew has no flexibility in either ankle - his muscles are really tight and she said that he is ripe for more injuries. So she told us some excercises for him (very similar to the ones Susy is supposed to do for her ankle - so they can do them together now (or not do them...))
and next week he starts physical therapy. He is out of soccer at least for this week.

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.

Conference Report

Mali is doing great in 5th grade. No surprises. Mali and her teacher, Mrs. Putnam, have a very good relationship, and we really like her too.

Injured Andrew

Andrew sprained his ankle at the end of soccer practice last night. We iced and compressed it - it got swollen quickly after we removed his cleats at home.
Mali came home covered in mud - her field didn't handle the rains too well.

More news later after Andrew gets up and I check on his ankle. And if I get some time, I'll post the photos. Also, Mali's teacher conference is at 11:20. Susy's coming home from work so we can go together.

Mali's Birthday Party

I am missing Mali's party - I'm in Redmond meeting with a customer (who used to be in New Orleans and now they're moving things anywhere else.) The party report (from last night)is all is going fine. A five girl sleepover after tearing through the pizza and cake.
Last night Dave and I watched the kids, then Casino Royal while Susan had a night out with the ladies.
This morning Rylin was guarding the door, saying "No leave-y."

The Return of Soccer

Mali had a game Saturday, and she lost an exciting and hard fought game 2-1.
Andrew's team did the same thing this morning, and this afternoon Mali's team won 3-0. Directly from Andrew's game we went to Tom's Pancake house with Pablo, Rocio, and Matias. NONE of us had wallets, but Susy had some cash. Just to be safe we called and invited Alana and her credit card to meet us there.

Salmon at Alana's

Andrew was out and about with Maddie and Austin yesterday afternoon and evening. The rest of us went to Alana's for dinner with all the usual suspects. She cooked a salmon and ravioli, Rocio brought a spinach salad, Nancy brought a Capri salad, and we brought a cherry pie from Costco. Also some wine.
After work, Mali and I went with Alana to Costco and bought a ton of food. We hadn't been in a long time.
Today Mali has her first soccer game - 2:30. Right now, Mali is laying on the floor in my office, and Moose is playing with the doorstop.

Culture Fair

Andrew's culture fair project was on display last night along with all the other 8th grader's. There was lots of food - so much that we didn't go out for dinner afterwards as we had planned. Mali and Andrew filled up on Maddie's pot stickers. I sampled all kinds of stuff: Scottish Tablet, a very nice goat's cheese and olive tapenade, and a variety of other ethnic foods.
Andrew's project was on Rutherford B. Hayes, his presidency, and his location in Andrew's (Susy's) family tree.
We met Maddie's parents, her mom (Sharon) is from the Chicago area, and her father is Chinese and plans to help Maddie and Andrew in their Chinese class next year. We also saw a huge number of kids we knew - many we hadn't seen in apparently a very long time, as they have really changed.

Mali's Birthday

I made it home from Redmond, and Grandma Sue and Grandpa Del stopped by on their way home from their annual migration, so Mali got quite a celebration. No pictures, sorry. I made her choice of hamburgers, and the grandparents contributed a Turtle Pie for dessert. After dinner we played Liar's Dice until Grandpa had to leave.
Pablo&Family stopped by to wish Mali a happy birthday and dropped off presents: a new bicycle bell and a bike holder for her cell phone. She also got to open her present from DavidSusanDaltonRylin - hand delivered by me - a very cool little quilt that says: A home without pawprints is just a house. G&G gave her a set of stamp inks and some stamps, and her brother gave her a very nice wallet. She also got a cell phone and a bike, but those were already acquired, and Moose was a Christmas gift but his delivery was timed nicely around birthday time. So Mali should be a well-presented 11 year old girl.

Grandpa and Moose hit it off right away, which is unusual for Moose as he's still pretty wary of new folks. G&G also measured the kids before I got home from Washington. Andrew is 5'4", and Mali is 5' 1/2".

Mother and Child Reunion

We had dinner at Paul and Nancy's tonight, and brought Moose along to see his momma, Tinkerbelle. They had a great time playing, and then Max showed up with Alana and they all got some romping in.
Tomorrow morning I head up to Washington to work. Tuesday is Mali's birthday, and Wednesday Grandma Sue and Grandpa Del should be here for a visit.

Moose's first bath

Sadly, no photos. I took Moose outside to play and he got particularly muddy, so today he got his first bath.
Susy was off work yesterday, so we had breakfast at the Murray Hill Cafe. Very nice. Mali is jealous.
Susy and Mali took a power nap in the evening, so I went over to Pablo and Rocio's for dinner, taking only my African Yam Soup and a loaf of bread. Afterwards, they slept, and I met up with Paul at Alana's and we played a game of Scrabble. I won, woohoo!

Tonight is the Thomas Edison School auction, good food, wine and shopping.

Moose and Andrew

Moose is used to Andrew, but his favorite is still Mali. I think he believes her to be another puppy. Click here to see more recent photos.

Moose gets a play date

I took Moose to Alana's for lunch today so I could feed Max also, since Alana was working. He wasn't as overjoyed to see his brother as I thought he would be. He just sort of wandered around sniffing everything for awhile. I left them outside to eat and romp - Alana told me Max was a pro getting in and out of the doggy door. Sadly, when I returned half an hour later, they were both standing in front of the door waiting to be let in from the cold. Luckily, the weather was actually kind of nice this afternoon. Now, however, it is snowing hard!

Dinner at Gustav's

We finally went to Gustav's last night, with Paul&Family who just returned from a long weekend of skiing. Alana joined us too, along with Doug and Erin and Gabrielle. Andrew went to dinner at Maddie's instead - for an Asian beef fondue-type meal - much more his style, and without the horde of girls.

All Moose, all the time

Moose LOVES Mali. He will get up from a nap to follow her around. He wants her near him ALWAYS. He tolerates the rest of us just fine.
Last night Susy and I headed out to the local Embassy Suites for the Intel Winter Luau.
The desserts tasted like tar, but Susy won an iPod Shuffle, so we were happy.
Follow the picture below to more of Moose and Mali, and one of Maddie, Andrew's newest friend.

Moose, Day 1

Moose is in da hoouuuse! He had a little anxiety last night, looking for his brothers and his momma, but he's doing fine now. It helps he's had overwhelming attention from Mali, and they are both very taken with each other. Andrew had Maddie over so he didn't spend as much time getting to know him.

Long Weekend

Last night we all went to Paul&Nancy's to put a collar on Moose so someone else doesn't accidentally take him home. We are taking delivery on Wednesday.
Other news:
Saturday, Mali and I picked out a new bicycle for her - an early 11th birthday present. She's been riding her old one a lot, but it is ridiculously too small. We were spurred to shop by Andrew's excursion to Pizzicato with some 8th grade friends. Mali didn't understand why she couldn't tag along with him.
Movies: Mali, Andrew, and I went to see Bridge to Tarabithia Saturday. A very good movie, but nothing at all like I thought it would be. I thought it was some crazy fantasy movie, but it was waayyy too reality-based for my taste. I certainly wasn't comfortable with the 3rd act tragedy. Andrew had read the book, and hinted at it to Mali, so they weren't hit in the head with a sledgehammer like I was.
Yesterday I dropped Mali and Lilly off to see Norbit, and Andrew and I met Susy (she had to work) for lunch at GoGo's Mongolian Grill. Andrew spent the rest of the day over at Maddie's house.

Egyptian Art Night

Susy and I went to a Portland Art Museum member's event tonight. It was a great deal - for a small fee we got appetizers, dessert, and all the wine we could drink. There was live quasi-Middle Eastern music, and even a belly dancer! Then we got to wander the museum, so we took in the Egyptian show.

Puppy!

I returned from Washington after a rain-and-traffic-filled 5-hour drive. I got to meet Andrew's friend Mattie (Maddie?), who was still there visiting after an invitation to dinner. We drove her home (just down the hill) and continued over to Paul&Nancy's to see our new puppy.
It is official, we have selected Moose. He will move in with us probably next weekend. Here's a cell photo of him giving Andrew a sniff.

Mali's Valentine's Day Duck

Mali's class is having a contest for Valentine's Day mailboxes. This is her entry.

Here she gets a kiss on the nose.

I'm healthy!

Except for a little relapse last night, I am doing fine now. Still tired.
Mali got her birthday present a little early - we went and got her a cell phone today.
Andrew went out to lunch at the Chinese place with a bunch of his friends. He's not home yet, so not sure how that turned out.
Susy took Mali to Michaels to get supplies for her Valentine's Day dragon/swan mailbox that she is creating. Her class is having a contest. They dropped me off at the library, then afterwards we all went out for coffee/hot chocolate at a nice new coffee shop next to the library. While we were there they posed for a cell phone photo.

Whistler, now sick

I ditched my wonderful family for a weekend of skiing and poker at Whistler. It was great fun at Bob's place. Then Sunday we were trapped because of the landslide that closed the highway, so Paul, Jonathan and I hid out at the mansion John (and Brian, Vincent and Eric) rented with his families.
Paul and I made it home at 2:30 Monday morning. Monday was fine, but Tuesday I got sick - I think I have the same flu that Susy had earlier.

OregonMom sick

Susy has been sick since Friday. She took Monday off, but went in yesterday only to come home early to sleep for a couple of hours before dinner. I think she's okay today, finally.

OregonMom sick

Susy has been sick since Friday. She took Monday off, but went in yesterday only to come home early to sleep for a couple of hours before dinner. I think she's okay today, finally.

Literacy Night

Mali's friend called at a quarter to literacy night, to ask if Mali was going up to Nancy Ryles for it. I had forgotten, and so we cancelled our plans for steak and Chinese food and went with toaster-oven reheated pizza and a sandwich for Mali, and all three of us walked up to the school. Susy was due home at 8:00 from her work-trip to API in Issaquah.
We got there just in time to catch the Mayor reading the last page of Cat in the Hat, and then we got to hang out in Mali's classroom, reading her fractured fairy tale starring Christina Aguilera as Red of Little Red Riding Hood in the New York City fashion industry, or something. Then we climbed aboard the Awesome Adventure Airlines for an alliteration lesson. We also covered onomatopoeia, personification, and my favorite: hyperbole. Andrew and I wrote about our trip to Mexico ("The click, clack, and tap, tap, tap of Ping Pong balls kept us awake on our trip. We played Ping Pong day and night without stopping, on our magnificent, magical march to Mexico")

Then we went to the store for eggs and milk and bought tons of other stuff, and got home and unloaded just before Susy pulled in.

No school today, because it's Oregon. Mali just left for school anyway, but with a soccer ball, a tennis ball, and a tennis racket. And my cell phone. Meanwhile, Andrew is still sleeping.

Weekend without soccer

Andrew had no game this weekend and his practice tonight is canceled. Mali decided she'd rather practice soccer outside with her brother than go to another indoor practice, so that's what they did. She's an outdoor girl. We walked/biked (she biked) to Starbucks Sunday morning. She Really Needs a new bike, but she loves her old one.

Saturday night we went over to Paul and Nancy's for cheese fondue and to see the puppies. Susy is very thrilled with the two large (forSchnauzer) salt&pepper pups, Moose and Sandy (both male). They both like to sleep a lot. Paul and I played Scrabble while everyone else watched some Twin Towers movie that sounded awfully depressing.

Mother and child(ren) reunion

Susy is home from Florida, to everyone's great joy. There was quite a reunion scene at the airport.

Snow day(s)!!!

It snowed 4 inches Tuesday morning, surprising nearly everyone, though MOST schools were able to sensibly make the decision to close. Not Beaverton School District. They thought they'd stay open until kids got on buses that got stuck in ditches, and teachers slid their cars into other teacher's cars. I walked Mali up to the school to find out what was going on, and of course discovered chaos. Most of the teachers weren't there, NONE of the buses made it there, and the kids who were there were being herded into the music room to watch videos. Mali and I left and walked over to Alana's for some coffee, and I called Andrew to tell him not to get on the bus if actually made it to his stop. He found it there, stuck on the hill.
We had a great day of sledding and fun. All the usual suspects ended up at Alana's house for food and Scrabble while the kids spent more time going up and down the hill. I worked yesterday while the kids enjoyed more sledding. Today it looks like they'll be going in two hours late.
I have lots of great pictures stuck on my (old) camera. Here's a photo Nancy took of Zoë and Mali.

Grandma's surgery a success!

Susy called from Florida:
Irene's surgery is over and went well! Everyone is much relieved. She should be back home in a couple of days. Hooray!

Mali Makes Mocha Missing a Tooth

Here's a photo from this morning. Mali makes mocha, and I needed a shot of her missing tooth.

Mali's Very Small Bike

Mali needs a new bike. She loves this one though. She left it at Zoe's, so we walked down to get it. She walked it up the big hill, seen below.

Mali lost a tooth!

Mali lost a tooth! She called me up to the school for a replacement pair of pants after sliding in the mud on the playground (It's snowing and hailing lightly today) and she proudly showed me her missing tooth. I knew nothing of anything loose.

Puppies in da house!

We puppysat Sunday while Paul&Co went skiing. Andrew had Kyle over playing games all day and Mali played with Natalie (and of course the puppies) most of the day. We had the Puppy owners over for spaghetti after their ski trip, and Pablo and Rocio joined us for Scrabble. Then Kyle's entire family came over to see the puppies before Nancy took them back home. Click on the photos below to enlarge.

New Year's Eve

Here's some photos from the New Year's Eve party.