When the weather is great, we sometimes question why we aren’t capitalizing on the time to get some camping in. However, this weekend we have no regrets about staying home and getting the most out of the weekend.
Friday afternoon
Grabbed a beer in the sun with my sweetheart while she finished reviewing a document and kept Kona entertained. Then we picked up the girls and their friend and enjoyed the sun for a bit until it was time to pick up the race packets for Michelle and Ella’s Cinco de Mayo 10k. We grabbed dinner afterwards and the kids continued to play until 8, when we headed over to Miguel’s to jam in the basement. The girls hung out with his twins and Brian, Miguel and I fumbled through several songs over the course of the next couple hours. It was a blast, and it felt great to play the bass. Brian is far better (even rusty) than either of us.
Saturday
We started the morning with Ella’s last soccer game of the spring season. It was at Chapman Elementary’s awesome turf field. The other dads and I enjoyed playing on it and took turns taking shots on goal until the game started. Ella played forward for much of the first half and tried to stay on ball but never got in to a scoring position (you have to go to where the ball should go). But in the second half, she did some excellent defending and the girls managed to win 5 to 1 against a richie-rich NW Portland team. Not bad for a bunch of girls from NoPo.
After that, we crammed some wings at Fire on the Mountain before heading home to do some extensive weeding and yard work in the front yard. We all griped, but we did a great job, and topped it all off with some deep hemlock mulch that looks and smells great. The girls powered up for the race with a dinner of pasta, sauteed vegetables and fried eggs. Michelle and I watched the Timbers game (So close!) before crashing.
Sunday
MG and I dropped Michelle and Ella off at the starting line for the Cinco de Mayo 10k, then headed to Washington Park to play on the spectacular playground. No one was around (amazing for an area with over 1M people), so we let Kona wander. She was not happy about a dog fresco on the side of a building and barked at it for a good 3 minutes. I captured the second half where we got close to the picture.)
After the park, I showed MG the Vista bridge and we wound through some fancy Goose Hollow neighborhoods. We grabbed some coffee and hot cocoa then got back to the finish line in time to watch Ella and Michelle cross it. Amazing work Ella! We partied at Pioneer Courthouse Square for a bit, then grabbed brunch at the Bad Habit Room (delicious) before heading back home to relax for a bit. Michelle volunteered at Potluck at the Park and the girls and I went back to Washington Park to play until the start of the Timbers 2 (T2) game. We were able to get tickets in the Key Bank section in the second row and watched the warm up just feet from the players, including several Timbers players like Will Johnson, Gaston Fernandez, Jeanderson, and Norberto Paparatto. The game was great to watch from that close venue. Being away from the Timbers Army, we could actually hear the sound of the ball on cleats and the players talking to each other. Hell, we were only feet from them.
After half time (and down 0-2), we discovered that Diego Valeri, Maxi Urruti, and Jorge Villafana were a few rows behind us taking in the game. We couldn’t resist and took the girls up to meet the players. We felt intrusive and did’t ask for a picture until after the game when we got one of the girls with Urutti. After that, I chased the girls around while Michelle finished talking with the other attorney we brought and nearly ran in to Villafana. I said hi and complimented him on his play this season. Then we headed home to seriously crash from the long weekend.