Spring Break 2025 - checking out UBC

Turns out the University of British Columbia feels a touch too large and metropolitan for our kid at this point in his life.  Will this change?  Maybe.  But we got to spend a few days in Vancouver, B.C., tour the college, nab some poutine, visit Granville Island to do some shopping, and pick up chocolates at an actual bonafide Lindt store. 

It should be noted we were originally going to make this a train trip.  Two (three?) days before our departure we were notified that the second part of our journey north was going to switch from train to bus in Seattle because of <insert whatever Amtrak's reason was here>.  Okay.  Not great but doable.  One day later, the second notification arrived that the first part of our return trip was also changing from train to bus.  Since driving isn't that much of a burden and having more than half our time spent on a bus sounded miserable, we ended up driving up ourselves.  This was definitely a good decision and I enjoyed our time together immensely. 

Of course there were pictures...

For the majority of our road trips through the years Hen and I camped and/or stayed in budget motels so a little luxury I was able to secure at the low cost of $13 (+ parking) thanks to some saved up credit card points was super lovely and appreciated. This is our room in the older of the two Fairmont hotels in downtown Vancouver. We did not have air conditioning in our unit (mon dieu!) and the pool was being prepped for a remodel, but we somehow scored a particular "level" of stay and so we were entitled to and took full advantage of the complimentary breakfast, midday snacks, and evening desserts offered.

The teenage boy is still sleeping so I played Solitaire.

UBC Beaty Biodiversity Museum

Henry found this humerus.

I do not recall what this is, a type of grass perhaps? But I like the looks of it.

Exciting museum times for this kid.

Dinosaurs! ROAR!

Turns out Canadians have some trouble with book bans, too.

Always happy to return to Granville Island.

A nice steak dinner out!

Yes, we did enjoy our trip to the Lindt chocolate shop.

Christmas tree + sick kid

Henry missed two days of school last week and has had a yo-yoing fever that goes down after a dose of DayQuil/NyQuil but back up as soon as it starts to wear off. It's awful. Poor kid. What better thing to do than get dressed, go outside, and select a Christmas tree to make yourself feel better, amirite? Was this the best parenting decision? No. But it only took about half an hour and we got a great tree and he did get to breathe some fresh air for a tiny fraction of his day so it all turned out okay. Our little tree is lit and decorated and has presents under it and as soon as it is daytime again I'll update this post with a second pic of what it looks like all finished. For now you can see what our rather tall child looks like standing by our 4-5 foot Christmas tree.

Eleventh grade

 

First Solo Backpacking Trip - Twin Lakes

The two yutes, Henry and Elliot, went on their first overnight backpacking trip A L O N E.  Yep, they trekked in with their backpacks stuffed full of everything they might plus additional food and more water just in case with directions like...

"If there fire is crackling in the woods around you, grab your water bottle and get out."

and

"If you run into anyone that makes you feel uneasy, trust your gut.  Hike back out and come find me*."

and

"Don't play with bear cubs.  Mama bear will be close by and she will kill you."

and 

"Stay on the established path. We want to know the exact route you took so we can find you when, I mean if, you get lost."

By all accounts the trip was a success.  The boys survived the night.  They did use up all their fuel, but now they have learned things like 1. bring more fuel, and b) if there is dehydrated food, make sure you boil the water to rehydrate it before you use a bunch of fuel cooking your hot dogs over an open flame. Next summer, we hope to feel comfortable enough to send them out for a multi-day backpacking trip on their own.

Da boys, heading in / Mt. Hood

*I was camping at a nearby campground just in case.

That time Henry made dinner

Tenth grade

Kid-Raising Milestone #2,847,473,634

If you're thinking I am overselling the amount of milestones parents experience whilst raising a child, you'd be wrong.  There have been quite a few over the years but for some reason this one feels BIG.  

The kid has earned his first official paycheck!  

He completed 4.5 hours of online courses and a three-hour in-person training session and is now a U.S. Soccer trained Grassroots Referee.  He worked as a sideline ref at two matches the week before spring break and is currently scheduled to work four more matches in the coming weeks.  There is a big platform change taking place in two days and that has made scheduling somewhat chaotic but I expect he'll be able to pick up a few more matches before the spring season ends.  Of course, I'd like him to save every penny but when last asked Hen said something about buying candy before heading into his bedroom to play video games.

Henry's Favorite Beach

 

I'm making another attempt to get our photos in some semblance of order and came across this one.  I don't recall the specific name of this beach in Kerala but Henry claims this is his favorite beach.  The location was nearly empty of people, which was a first for us during our time there.  Henry and Darren were playing in the water when a another father and son came by.  I don't remember the gentleman or his son's names but the kids played together in the water, running along the beach and catching crabs and turtles.  Darren stayed nearby to make sure they were safe, and the kid's dad went across the street to our hotel and had the staff bring a small table with very sweet tea for all of us.  We chatted for a bit and it was a lovely experience.  

Boy outfit #26

Shopping guide info:

1. shoes - Converse, purchased at Nordstrom

2. pants - Bridger jeans, purchased at Prana

3. sweatshirt - Adidas, purchased at Adidas.com

4. t-shirt - Cotopaxi, purchased at REI.com

Oregon cousins

 

Hen, Mia, Audrey, & Gavin

Ninth grade

 

Official Student ID

Official ID for the high school student in the house

 

Movie Premiere: YouthTubers

It was one covid-summer in the making and nearly two years (just over?) in the post-editing but we finally got (most of) the cast together for the final Faux Film Camp screening of YouthTubers.  It was sort of anti-climactic after waiting all this time but still...we premiered the final Faux Film Camp movie and the boys had a fun and embarrassing time seeing themselves be so earnest in their endeavors.  I got a lot of feedback and may make some changes before I share this movie with those unable to attend the premiere.  I guess we can call the new version the previously unreleased Director's cut or something.  Anyway, I hope all of the kids remember their time spent making movies with me yelling at them to "stop laughing" and "get the shoot done so we can get to the pool" as fun and worthwhile.  I sure enjoyed having them around.  Lil' farts.  

(from left to right) Eliav/Mario, the book reviewer; Henry/Jeff, the gamer; Jake/Gustaf, the chef; Elliot/Bob Corn, the life hacker

Jimmy "the bunny who won't stay for long" G-G

Today's story begins in the morning...

Henry and I came across this poor little critter being chased by a neighborhood cat and watched by a cawing crow when we were leaving the house.

We tried to make him comfortable in a box and then drove to Mt. Tabor so Henry could make it to his cross country practice.  We were dreadfully late and so Henry completed a run by himself while I stayed with our guest and began researching bunnies.  When we got back to the condo we looked for a nest or den in the field next door to see if we could return him to his actual home but we were unable to find one.  The wild brush all kind of looked the same to us.  

We learned the Portland office of The Audubon Society has a Wildlife Care Center where people can drop off abandoned mammals.  Off we went!  Jimmy "the bunny who won't be here long" G-G  was evaluated, it was determined he was an eastern cottontail, he had not been injured in the dust up this morning although he was a little stressed, he was old enough to have been weaned from his mom, and it would be best for him if we returned him to the area where we found him*.  

So we brought Jimmy home and made him comfortable, we didn't want to put the poor bugger in the field in the middle of the day when it was hot, hot, hot outside.  (That's triple hot, ya'll.)  The home range of eastern cottontail bunnies is typically around an acre to an acre and a half so we are hopeful that our plan to return him to a place near where we found him will increase the likelihood of his mom finding him.  Fingers crossed!

A little more research and we offered up a small snack: red leaf lettuce and sage leaves with a side of water.  He ate most of one of the sage leaves over the next couple hours.  I couldn't tell if the reduction in the tiny amount of water we provided was because he had a sip or if it just evaporated.

Jimmy G-G seemed pretty chill.

After dinner we returned him to the wild.  We tried to find a bush big enough to provide both cover from predators and shade from the sun (in case he's still there tomorrow).

 

This is our last pic of Jimmy G-G.  He wasn't with us for long but he'll be in our hearts forever.

*Best because Jimmy G-G is a non-native bunny and the Wildlife Care Center would have put Jimmy G-G down if we had left him there.  Jimmy's best chance for survival was to return him to the wild, which is what we did.  

UPDATE: 9:23pm - First check on Jimmy G-G and he's gone!  A few of the wheat stalks Henry laid over the top of his hiding place were disturbed but only slightly.  We take that to mean Jimmy saw his mom and left the den to go with her to their real home. 

#Gentleminions

I had no idea when Henry asked if he could wear his fancy suit jacket and bow tie to the theatre to see Minions: The Rise of Gru that he was actively participating in a TikTok trend.  

Hen, Dillon, Jake, Noam, and Assaf / Tigard Cinemas / 1 July 2022

Frog Lake with DA boys

I took Henry, Eliav, and Eitan to the cabin and Frog Lake for a couple nights. At the cabin I forced the kids outside for a bit but they did end up playing a lot of video games. We all watched Netflix's Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness later that night. It is a weird concept for a flick - how does one become part chicken and part hare exactly? - but also kind of cute, well done animation can really do a lot for a movie.

We learned that this was Eitan's first camping experience. Say what?! The boys spent a great deal of time exploring the woods, playing hide-and-seek and two different card games (Poo and Dungeon Mayhem), and swinging in the hammock. At night, they watched a movie*. I kept the meals pretty simple, serving up hot dogs and buns for dinner with chips, fruit, and cut vegetables. Of course, we had smores for dessert. It would have been a dereliction of duty to end the meal any other way while camping, right?

It was early enough in the season so that fires were still allowed, which was great since it meant I got to 1. make smores; and 2. hang by a warm fire the next morning while enjoying my coffee and reading my book as the boys slept in.

The new† Springbar canvas tent we got last year feels HUGE but it works great and the boys are now big enough that they can put it together themselves with a little supervision. (Thank Zeus, that thing is a monster.)

Of course, there were pictures...

*The movie enjoyed was Sonic the Hedgehog 2. 

†Bought it last summer and this was the fourth (fifth?) time we used it.  

Israel Update:

The kids have arrived at Tel Aviv!  There are supposed to be calls home once the kids have gone through Customs and had their PCR tests.

Photo credit to Shahar/Larisa/Matt (a.k.a. the chaperones)