Fall's arrival continued through the first weekend of the month with morning temps in the low 40's with showers and fog. Jada left us for the weekend to go to the coast for her BEA conference. So Friday afternoon, she dropped the girls off with me at work so I could get a couple more hours of work in before she left town. We did the typical dad's weekend thing of going out for dinner at the girls' favorite restaurant, Sweet Tomatoes.
Saturday was a soccer day. It was quite chilly in the morning as we went to the market so we decided not to ride the quad to Ellen's game. We were only 15 minutes early because I miscalculated how far away the field was and the parking lot was full. The girls had a great game. Not as much bunching this game. Ellen scored 2 goals and played hard (which as I keep telling everyone is the more important factor). Phoebe's game was in the afternoon when the sun had finally come out and it was 20 degrees warmer so that was nice. Phoebe was sad that she didn't score, but on the first play of the game, she marched straight down the field and kicked the ball off the left post. She did something similar in the second half, but the ball got poked away to the right at the mouth of the goal. I thought her best play was when she streaked down the field twice to stop a shot on goal by the other team. It's really odd to see her as one of the bigger kids on the field. Being another evening, I took the girls out to dinner again, and since they had been pretty good, we had ice cream afterwards. Phoebe wrote a short story in the spooky story genre called "The Nightmare". She left out that the bricks were under the bed, but other than that, it was a fully formed short story.
Sunday morning, we were planning to go downtown to watch our friend Mike run by as part of the Portland Marathon. However, it was chilly and a little rainy out in the suburbs (Not sure if it was like that downtown) so I decided that we'd just go out for breakfast. While there, we got a call from Jada letting us know that she was going to be home in a couple hours, and we did a quick review of the grocery list so I could get that taken care of. I was surprised that I had actually already captured most of the list earlier in the morning. Yea, I'm almost self sufficient. Jada got home after we had finished with the shopping. We stopped by Gramma's on the way to swimming and spent an hour visiting with her. At swimming class, Ellen moved back up a level so she and Phoebe are now not in the same class again which is nice. We skipped open swim again because of some behavior issues, and since we hadn't actually picked up anything for dinner Sunday night, we went out again.
Monday we had a really short practice. Because of the shorter days, all the teams are moving towards 5pm practice times which is what we normally do. So now we'll be sharing a field. We talked to the coach and made arrangements for next week to split the field and then scrimmage against them. It'll give the girls more of a challenge, and we'll employ the freeze rules to point out different things. We're looking forward to see how that goes as well as another coaching style. The weather returned to a lovely fall feel with chilly mornings and cool sunny afternoons just perfect for changing the color of the leaves. Wednesday morning, I volunteered at school to help with the passport program which is an extracurricular geography program. I ask the students where different continents, oceans, seas are on a big map, and they point them out. I didn't get to do Ellen or Phoebe, but Jada did. They both passed their levels. Friday the 9th, there was no school, so Jada had arranged a play date for Ellen with one of her friends from school. Phoebe got to have a play date in the afternoon while Ellen attended a friend's birthday party. It was a haunted house theme, so all the kids got to try out their Halloween costumes. Ellen was Hermione Granger. Jada had her hair up in pony tails and braids all day, and then took them out giving her hair a very good bushiness similar to that described (and shown in the movies) in the books. A good time was apparently had by all. Jada and Phoebe had to walk through the "Haunted House" to pick Ellen up. Phoebe tried not to be too scared, but felt better when she recognized voices of her former soccer coach as well as a soccer teammate's dad.
Saturday was a little more relaxed than normal since Ellen's game was cancelled. It seems that most of the other team was to have a girl scout camp that day, so only 2 of their team would have shown up. So we were able to get our shopping done, and the girls got longer to practice piano and reading. Jada volunteered me for coaching Phoebe's soccer game since one of her coaches was out of town. It was quite a bit different than what I had gotten used to with the older kids. This was followed by an early dinner and early to bed.
Sunday, we took Gramma out on the Portland Spirit brunch cruise. We picked her up, and she was in a great mood. One of the aids had helped get her hair done, and she was wearing a warm new sweater that Jada had picked out for her. It was quite chilly downtown as we waited at the Salmon Street fountain steps overlooking the Willamette. There was a wedding either taking place on the ship or the reception was on the ship, so that had us worried. However, it all turned out as they stayed on their own deck except for food. Two of the crew kindly helped get Gram down the gangway ramp and on the boat. Brunch was good as always, and Gramma seemed to really enjoy herself. The cruise was around 2 hours as we ate and watched the scenery. Since it was so chilly out, not a lot of people took advantage of the upper deck which is outside, so there were plenty of people still down on our level. Unfortunately, that meant that the girls couldn't play piano, but just before getting off the boat, when just about everyone was off, they let them play. The wait staff was impressed by their duet, as was Gramma. The staff also helped get Gram back up the ramp at the end. She was so exhausted that she fell asleep almost instantly in the car. Other than the chill to the air, it was a really lovely fall day. Maybe one of the last of the season if the weather reports for next week can be believed.
The week of the 12th was windy and rainy. Ellen and I still rode home from soccer on Monday one last time. We did get to scrimmage against the other team that is sharing our field, so that was fun. They were pretty evenly matched. They had some more skill players, but we spread the field better. We had to leave early since it was cloudy, and it got dark fast. We finished our ride when it was quite dark, but we both had lights. Ellen didn't attend her Wednesday practice due to disrespect and disobedience issues at home, but I still went. I picked Phoebe up at her practice after ours.
Friday morning at approximately 3am, Phoebe burst into our room to let us know that Ellen was throwing up. To Ellen's credit, she had managed to get to the garbage can in her room and didn't get anything on the floor or her bed. It wasn't a lot, and she didn't feel feverish. We cleaned her up, and got her back in bed. At that point we were optimistic that she was done and everything would be ok. However, about 30 minutes later, I heard the bedroom door open again followed by the bathroom door. I found her in the bathroom saying that her stomach still hurt quite a bit, and then she started vomiting again into the toilet this time. We got her cleaned up again, and at this point we started planning for how to spend the day since we couldn't send her to school at that point. About 15 minutes after we'd put her back to bed, she was up again with the little bit of water she'd drank the last time. She got to her garbage can again. I guess she really learned a lesson the last time she was this sick about using the garbage cans and getting out of bed. I didn't bother to go back to sleep at this point since it was already a bit after 5am. I got out my laptop and started reworking my schedule for the day for staying home. Luckily everyone else was able to fall asleep this time. I felt bad waking Phoebe up again, but she still needed to go to school. I also had to wake Jada up for the same reason. The really disappointing thing for Ellen is that as a result she had to miss the Fun Run for her school which she had done most of the money raising for. We're going to see what we can do to have her still run to get the laps since a couple people (myself included) did per lap pledges. She didn't have a fever in the morning still, but around 9:30am after breakfast, she had spewed forth her breakfast. This time it landed on the wall and floor of her bedroom. I was on the phone in a meeting when I heard her almost get "DAD!" out. I said, "I have to go" and hung up to take care of the cleanup. That was the last time she actually vomited. She did have a yucky feeling in the back of her throat when I had her try to nap later in the afternoon again, but nothing came of it. After the tea and toast, we tried some yogurt and protein powder to try to get something more substantial into her. She ended up missing her piano group lesson where she needs to practice her duets (one is with Phoebe, but the other is with someone else in the group) which was too bad. Though she has no doubt enjoyed her day of reading.
Saturday morning we were able to have a rain free time at the market. However, it started raining halfway through the first half of Ellen's soccer game...then it started thundering...then there was a little bit of lightning, so the game was called after 1 half. The girls were just starting to get into the flow of the game too. It rained on and off all afternoon, but we had a nice sunny period for Phoebe's game. After the game we got ready to take Ellen to her first official sleep over. One of her friends was inviting several girls over to spend the night in her new house with her to "unpack her room". So we dropped Ellen off at 5:30pm, and the rest of us went out to dinner at a small diner that had been recommended to Jada by someone at school. It is called the Fresh Grill, and it's pretty good. We'll have to go back there some time. Good burgers and shakes.
Sunday morning, Phoebe was already missing arguing with Ellen. She wanted us to pick her up around 8am after we had our breakfast, but instead we visited Gram for a while before heading out on some errands. We needed to pick up some supplies at Costco, and I finally replaced my panniers after 12 years. The things are just wearing out. Holes are forming on the top covers now, and they don't close very well any more. They were REI brand before they started calling their house bike brand Novara. I bought new ones that were similar to the old ones. I could have gotten the popular Orlieb brand that is water proof, but they had no extra pockets. They're just one big bag. I carry lots of extra supplies just in case I forget things like my lock or pump plus my tools, spare tubes, and patch kit. I don't want to have that take up space in the main compartment. I was worried that my computer back pack wouldn't fit, but I checked when I got home. Anyway, we picked up Ellen on the way home from the errands. The stalwart parent who agreed to this sleep over was there, and she had been busily working on painting and setting up one of the rooms. She said the girls fell asleep some time around 12:30am, and they were up around 7:30am. They created their own carnival with different stations and fake money to buy things. Ellen was manning the magic show. She left pleasantly enough. We'll be going to bed early tonight. The rest of the afternoon was errands. I spent time putting on a new chain and re-wrapping my handle bar tape while Ellen did piano and Jada and Phoebe went to find fabric for Phoebe's Halloween costume. She's going to make an apron for the Laura Ingalls Wilder costume Phoebe will wear. We didn't end up going to swimming because both the girls had a nasty argument in the afternoon. Plus Ellen sounded horrible. She was losing her voice. Still no fever though.
Monday, Ellen's voice was still not present, but she was otherwise just fine. Jada had meetings, so I picked the girls up from their first chess club meeting of the year, took them home for a quick dinner, and then off to soccer. After running a little bit, we played coaches against kids (3 on 7). It actually turned out to be a pretty good way to give pointers in game situations since we were right out on the field defending or pushing forward. It was fun. The coaches won...of course. It was close though. Tuesday I rode to work. Wednesday started off rainy again, and I picked up the girls from Jada again so she could do her meetings. By soccer practice time, the rain was gone. We did a coaches vs kids scrimmage again. Thursday night I rode to work and then got home after the girls were in bed because in the afternoon I had a meeting at the campus farthest to the west in Hillsboro. Then I had to get all the way back into downtown Beaverton to Bike Gallery to pick up my new tires. I had them put the tires on my bike for me so I didn't have to worry about carrying them home since they don't fold well. I got home after dark, but I had all my lights. Friday morning was pouring down rain on my ride in to work. I didn't bring an extra pair of socks, so they were soggy on the way home. Jada was hosting an Usborne book party, so I was trying to get home on time so as not to make too much of a scene.
It was chilly Saturday morning. We rushed through the market to make Ellen's 9am game. Game time temps were in the mid-40's, and the field was quite wet. It was a nice field though. The girls did a nice job. Ellen did the first half in goal. She made some good decisions of dumping the ball out. She let some by, but she stopped more than got in which is always important. In the second half, she got a goal by playing at the center of the goal box and taking an outside cross from her teammate past the keeper. She also assisted on a goal by one of her teammates. The girls all played really hard. Jada came home in the afternoon in time for Phoebe's game. It was much warmer by then, but still a crisp fall day. Phoebe was drifting around on the field a lot until the last 10 minutes of the second half when she started paying attention, and it resulted in a goal almost immediately. In the evening, we attended a surprise birthday party for one of the mom's from our child birth class. It was held at the athletic club where she works, so there were games to play. All the kids chose dodgeball over the climbing wall (which looked pretty awesome). Ellen and Phoebe had never played, but they seemed to catch on fast enough. Phoebe did take a ball to the face at one point, but she calmed down after we sat her down with a cup of water for a few minutes. We got them to bed late again this night.
Of course, Sunday morning, they didn't sleep in. They were up before 6am after having a week where I had to wake them up several mornings. I had gone to the gym finally after a long time off from going at all so at least they didn't wake me up. We took care of errands and visited Gram's so the girls could work on their scrap books with her. The afternoon was lazy. The girls read and played in the play room. I did a little bit of guitar with my portable amp and headphones so as not to wake Jada from her nap. I had to dash off to take the girls to swimming lessons, while Jada made dinner. The girls were working on back stroke, and Ellen's was looking good from what I saw. Phoebe swerved all over the place, just like I used to do when I swam in high school. At least she didn't run full speed into the wall like I used to.
Monday Ellen had an "informance" for her music class where she performed with her class, and parents were able to attend. Since I was already taking off Wednesday to help with the passport program, I couldn't get off work, but Jada was able to get someone to cover her class for Ellen's time. She brought the video camera so I can watch it later. Jada also finally made time for Ellen to complete her fun run laps after chess club. She ran 25 laps! For soccer we had another week of doing fun drills for the first half of practice and coaches against kids for the second half. We're hoping that it gets the girls believing more that they can take the ball from anyone if they can handle pushing us around. By the time we got over to Phoebe's practice it was almost dark. I'm glad this is the last week of soccer, but we managed to have yet another dry practice. Phoebe's informance was on Tuesday. She had the only speaking part in her class as they did a musical tribute to Frog and Toad, "It's spring time? Why didn't you say so?" I had my first basketball game of the season as well. I managed not to hurt myself. Wednesday morning we did the Passport Program at the girl's school. Both of the girls passed all the levels they had studied. And we had fun while learning. Thursday, the girls started picking out their selections for their holiday concert in piano. We've got 2 months worth of Christmas tunes to look forward to since Phoebe tends to hum them all the time as well as playing them. Friday was the Harvest Party at the school so they got to wear their costumes to school, and afterwards, they went over to visit Gramma.
Saturday was Halloween and the last day of October. The girls both had soccer games. Ellen's game was first, and it was really muddy. The girls had a hard time running, and it was an evenly matched game. Ellen almost got the ball in, but the goalie just got her hands on it in time crawling across the ground to get it before it crossed the line. Phoebe's game was only an hour after we got home at a different field, but at least it was close. It was on the field that Ellen's team practices on. It was still muddy as well. Off the first kickoff, Phoebe marched straight down the field and scored. She almost had one at the very end of the game too. Since this was the last game of the season, they had their parents vs kids soccer game immediately following the game with a brief certificate awarding ceremony afterward. After showers and dinner, we waited for it to get dark enough after dinner for the trick-or-treating. The girls changed into their costumes, and Jada took them around the neighborhood. I think I forgot to mention what they were dressed as this year. Phoebe dressed up as Laura Ingalls Wilder from the Little house on the Praire book, and Ellen dressed as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone vintage. We had a decent turn out. Probably around 20-25 kids. Not too bad. After the girls came home and traded their candy for books, they read while we decided if we were going to go ahead and make an appearance at a Halloween Party that started at 8:30pm. The host required costumes to attend, so I went with my standard Arthur Dent from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy sporting my bathrobe, pajama pants, satchel for my towel and Guide (I skipped the small stones since most people don't get the costume anyway, but I do wish I could figure out how to pull off a babel fish), and Jada didn't know what to do. So, I went to peruse the closet to see what we could throw together. We settled on an '80's rocker. I had her put on a t-shirt and denim vest with blue jeans and Doc Martins. Then she touched it up with a bandana tied around her thigh (The girls wanted to know why the bandana was tied around there, but we had no answer), and a bunch of random jewelry. We topped it off with my red guitar. We went ahead and made an appearance. We were one of the first to arrive. We stayed for about an hour while the girls played with a couple of their friends who also showed up. Both of the girls were talking about how tired they were on the drive home (the house was only about 5 minutes away). We all went to bed at about the same time.
And with that, another month is in the books.
Journal entry: November 1, 2009
