Amid the sadness of Savannah's disappearance, we did have a decent first couple of days. On May Day, Jada (and Ellen's) school hosted an open house which was a huge success and with unexpectedly nice weather a day after a very cold and rainy day. Ellen got to walk through the 2nd grade classrooms, and then she got to show me the projects she's been working on in her first grade class. Phoebe got to tour the Kindergarten classrooms too.
On May 2nd, Ellen had her final grading with her piano teacher. She stayed home in the morning so she could attend it, and she did well enough to pass to the next level...though Jada deserves just as much of the credit with her persistence in getting Ellen to practice.
The weekend weather for Saturday didn't quite end up being what it was supposed to be. We had planned on doing our tandem bike ride with the girls Saturday morning after grocery shopping. However, the weather stayed cloudy and cool. So, I went out on my own instead. Climbing, of course, over Chehalem Mountain from Newberg to our south. It was a nice little 33 miler, but I got rained on a few times. I got home in time for a lazy afternoon. The girls were already asleep, so I showered and laid down too. After that, we needed to go pick up a few items and order some closet organizers for Grandma's apartment. I also had to pick up a new weed whacker spool so I could go after the back yard (for lack of a better word for the place behind our house where all the weeds grow).
Sunday shaped up to be much nicer. We had blue skies, and it got to be mid-50's by 10am so we headed out on our ride then. It was a little cool, but not too bad. We only did 20 miles, but we saw a doe walking through one of the vineyards near Sherwood. We also found a new park not too far from our house near a new road that opened recently. Ellen had her piano recital in the afternoon. Ellen did well, though she was a little nervous and forgot how to finish one of her songs. It was amazing what these kids who were in grade school could do. One of the girls there was graduating from high school. She had been with this teacher since she was in first grade, so I suppose it's something for Ellen to shoot for. We brought Grandma to the recital as well. It was a long time to sit, but we all made it through...mostly. They had a chocolate fountain for reception afterwards. All weekend, every time I walked by the kitchen I looked out the back door expecting Savannah to be there waiting to come in. Jada has been very upset by the turn of events. The girls appear to be handling it well. I don't think I've completely accepted it. As I said, I keep looking for her in the ditches everywhere I go. I half expected to find her hiding in the weeds as I was cutting them Sunday night. Thankfully, that didn't happen. I still haven't been able to put her food and water bowl away. They still stand ready in their normal spot in the kitchen. I did empty her cat box Monday night.
Speaking of Monday night, Ellen lost her lower left tooth just to the side of her 2 front bottom teeth. It has been wiggly for a very long time, and she finally just plucked it out. The corresponding tooth on the other side of her mouth is also wiggly. Another oddly cool week. I got the chance to be assistant coach at the girls' soccer game on Tuesday night. It kept me warm at least, and we finally had a dry evening. Thursday night's game was also dry but chilly. My wonderful wife let me ride to work Tuesday through Friday even though she was suffering from a bad cold all week while she still had to take both girls to gymnastics, soccer games, and Ellen to piano lessons. Not to mention putting together the Mother's Day Tea for her class. That's 80 miles and a savings of ~$14 for the week. It's not much, but it's still better than sitting in traffic.
This weekend (May 10-11) doesn't look like it's going to be very good weather. On Saturday after grocery shopping, we went to pick up and install grandma's new closet organizer system. Then the girls had a birthday party to go to. While they were at the party, I went out for a short ride to get ready for the next weekend's Reach the Beach. On Sunday we went to the Zoo for the Mother's Day brunch. We got there when it opened so we could get a walk in around the grounds before we had to report for our time. It was a cool morning, but warmer than last year. We took our time over breakfast, and the girls ate a lot. In the evening we took grandma out for dinner to New Seasons. We're very swanky.
On a side note, there was an article in the Oregonian about how Oregon has actually reduced gas consumption through the use of mass transit, bicycling, and trip chaining. Go us!
The weekend of the 17/18th was a busy one...especially for Jada. Saturday the 17th saw the convergence of several activities. The weather was hot and sunny for all of it too. The first item up for Saturday morning was my 100 mile ride to the beach as part of Reach the Beach - a charity ride for the American Lung Association. Luckily, the starting line is only a couple miles from our house, so after bidding my farewells, I rode off on my bike to the start around 6:30am. There were a lot of people there already. This has traditionally been a cold day with the constant threat and often delivery of rain. However, this year, with the clear skies and promise of temps in the 90's, it seemed a lot more people wanted to give it a go. I hadn't done many training rides, but I had put in 1000 miles commuting with the occasional weekend training ride so far this year, so I was in much better shape than I anticipated. Plus I was 30 pounds lighter without my full panniers and computer backpack I lug every day to work. After finally getting under way around 7:30am, I was flying all morning. I reached the second rest stop at 25 miles by the time Jada and girls were at the beginning of the season soccer jamboree which started at 10am. Since they were going to pick me up, I started spending a little longer at the rest stops at that point so I wouldn't have to wait too long at the end. After the girls finished up the soccer jamboree in the hot sun, the team (the Growling Pandas) had a party and awards presentation around 1pm. Throughout the day, I called to check in from different rest stops. When I called from the last big rest stop to let Jada know that one of the roads she'd be driving on was a parking lot at the moment, they were still at the party. I tried to slow down a bit more through the coast range, but hills are like a magnet to me. I can't help myself. I love to climb. The temperature at the coast was a good 20 degrees cooler than in the valley, so it was very pleasant 70 degrees, I finished and let Jada know I was done. They had just left. So I decided to go have the free dinner, followed by sitting on the beach for about a half hour. I spent ~ 2 hours just hanging out, and I rode my bike back down to the parking lot we usually meet at. At the end of the day, I ended up riding 106 miles. Jada and girls showed up after a while, I got changed out of my sweaty cycling clothes (my awesome Star Wars jersey I got for Christmas), and we headed for home. We stopped at a Dairy Queen for dinner and ice cream.
I'll let Jada talk about the going's on at the jamboree.....What a morning, getting everything packed and prepared for a full day of soccer, a party and a long drive! I had the girls at the field with plenty of time to spare. They "warmed up" as much as they could since the temps were already in the high 80's at 10 am. The girls played 3 games of 20 minutes, where the teams split in two and play on a smaller field. Ellen played most of the time, but had some trouble with blisters. We added Band-Aids and she continued on. Phoebe was too warm and too tired most of the time and only played in small spurts. She enjoyed hanging out with the moms and sucking on ice. After the jamboree we made a quick stop at the house to pick up forgotten items and to change clothes. Then it was off to the soccer party at Summer Lake Park. Many of the parents got lost on the way (including the coach who thought we were meeting at a totally different park) or they made stops that put the whole party behind schedule. As food arrived we ate it! First the fruit, then the sandwiches and chips, finally some yummy cookies. The coach presented each player a certificate and a "boo-boo" buddy in the shape of a panda and spent some time talking about their skill development. After presenting the coach with a few gifts, we were off on our car ride. It was a pretty smooth drive except for the aforementioned parking lot situation near the coast. When we arrived and found Dave well rested, I was pleased that he accepted my offer for him to drive home.
On Sunday was another charity event. This time Walking with a Vision for the Foundation for Retinal Research for our friends from childbirth class who's 5 year old daughter has a gene mutation called LCA that is causing her to slowly go blind. The weather cooperated this day as well so we rode our bike to the start line. The walk itself was a 2 mile stroll through a nice little forested park in Tualatin. We bid on the Blazers tickets again this year in the silent auction and won. We also picked up a little family pack of tickets to Portland's semi-pro soccer team, the Timbers. The girls spent most of the time on the cool playground they had at the park while we chatted with friends.
Monday night we participated in the kids vs. parents soccer game to finish up the Growling Panda's season. It was some of the best passing the kids had done all season. Coach Reed played on the kids side, so they kept up with the scoring pretty well. We started out doing subs, but somewhere along the line, all the kids were playing, and they would just sit out for a few minutes to rest when they needed to. The parents side also had siblings. Jada and I connected for a nice little goal from the corner...just like we practice at home. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and suggestions were made to get together again this summer.
The weather returned to late winter conditions with temps in the 40's in the morning, and mid-50's in the afternoon with rain sprinkled in. I got another 5 days of commuting by bike in that week as well. The weekend of the 24/25th was supposed to be rainy (Memorial Day weekend, you know), but we stole a nice day on Saturday as the thunderstorms that were supposed to come in didn't materialize until after 8pm. We started out the day with a trip to the Beaverton Farmers Market where we picked up a few veggies and potted plants before our usual Fred Meyer trip. Then we got the girls out to help weed while Jada and I did some long overdue yard work. After lunch, we took a nice little 35.5 mile ride complete with a stop at Rood Bridge park in Hillsboro under clear skies and low 70's temps. We saw lots of smiling faces and other riders while we were out. Afterward we did some trip chaining so we could pick up some bike stuff. Both Jada and I needed new helmets since they were each 5 years old, and I noticed a crack in mine after another winter of rain and abuse.
Sunday the 25th was cloudy and rainy, so we didn't do much. It was more of a napping and laundry kind of day with some cleaning as well. Memorial Day was also Auntie Mandy's birthday (Happy Birthday, Mandy!). I went to work since I've got a bunch of stuff to do Wednesday that'll cause me to miss work.
Wednesday, I stayed home to attend Ellen's "informance" for her school music class. It was an informal performance and information session, "in" the music classroom. Jada and I were both able to attend. I was also conducting an experiment of sorts around saving gas when not just riding to work while not wearing cycling clothes. I chose an REI tech T-shirt and my Columbia ROC pants plus my rain jacket. I carried my rain pants around too just in case. So I took on the challenge to not drive at all. I started out the day to drive over with Jada and Ellen to drop off Ellen at school and volunteer in her class room. However, I went into the garage and found my rear tire flat. I then committed the cardinal sin of tube changing...I didn't run my thumb around the interior of the tire to check for shards of things stuck in the tire that may have caused the puncture. I run tire liners, so I assumed that it was just a pinch flat. So I threw another tire in there and patched the one I had pulled out. That's when I heard the new tire I had just put in losing air. I found the spot, and saw a silver sliver embedded in the outer skin of the tire. So I took everything back off, and that little sliver turned out to be half a metal washer that had gone through my tire. So I patched that tube, and I put the original back in that I had just patched and went to get ready to go to Ellen's school to volunteer for a little bit at least. Just as I was opening the garage door to get ready to go, there was a loud bang like a gun shot. Cardinal sin number 2 violated - always check that the tube is not pinched between the tire and the side wall while inflating. The explosion had blown the tire off the rim and left a tear in the tube 4 inches long. No way I could patch that one. I found one more new tube, and put it in carefully without rushing making sure not to take shortcuts this time. With that, I was on my way, and I still had about 30 minutes to help out in Ellen's classroom by the time I got there before the informance. Of course, neither of us had brought a camera with us, but Ellen was quite the performer. It started misting for my ride back home, but it was light. My next errand was to the dentist office. The mist had stopped again. Everything was great with my teeth, of course. Then it was back home again for about 45 minutes to get a few work things done. I hooked up the train to my commuter to go pick up Ellen from school, and since I was also going to be taking Ellen to gymnastics and picking Phoebe up from school, I brought her trailer too. I'm sure I was quite the site rolling to the school with my 2 trailers and no occupants. It was misting again, but Ellen didn't complain much. She didn't like getting wet, and it was a little cool over to her gymnastics class. We made it in plenty of time, and after we pulled in, a lady was sitting under the awning reading who said, "it warmed my heart seeing you and your daughter ride in like that". We did wear our rain pants for the ride to pick up Phoebe since the rain had picked up a little bit more. Ellen did a great job on the way home. She was just talking and singing and being silly. Even Phoebe was excited to ride in the trailer in the rain. My girls are now hard core Portland bicycle commuters.
Friday afternoon, Ellen attended the awards ceremony for her piano instructor's class. She took home the second place trophy for hours of practice logged. She also got ribbons for the completion of her different books.
Saturday the 31st gave us a really nice day for all we had to do. We started with some nasty behavior from the girls and a trip to the farmer's market for some fresh fruits and vegetables. They had been up since probably before 5:30am. They were both yelly and screamy and quite rude. Then it was time to get ready to the Spring Fling lunch hosted at Grandma's assisted living center. We had some yummy food, and Grandma even won a gift certificate in the raffle. While there, we hung some more of Grandma's paintings. The girls managed to get their acts together enough to go to a birthday party in the afternoon, but they didn't get to have cake. I dropped them off there and drove out to Gateway Bicycles to make the down payment for our quad. Hopefully we'll have it by then end of July for our August rides. We finished off our day by going to dinner at Red Robin and a walk over to Barnes and Noble. It's the girls' favorite combination. They had to talk us into going to the book store, but we did end up finding some books. Jada talked me into a couple coffee table books for Father's Day. One is a guitar book, and the other is about MC Escher. I also got to ride my bike to work for 15 straight days. Our van has sat in the garage that entire time, so we've only been paying for gas for 1 car for most of the month. In the month of may I've been able to replace 435 miles that could have been car miles. With gas ending the month in Oregon at $4.11, that's a nice bit of savings.
Journal Entry: June 1, 2008