We are about a month into school and in between taking kids where they need to go and working, it's been really nice to enjoy the warm and sunny days Portland has been serving up for a while now. Sitting on the porch for a little respite or the quick walk to Trader Joes for the umpteenth time in a week actually are some of the lovely moments to help break up the day-to-day.
Summer break 2025 ended with some notable highlights for our memory book. We celebrated our 10th annual Irving Street Block Party and we went big with a dunk tank this year. Building connection in our little Irving community is really important to us, it's as simple as that. Paul competed in his first triathlon and Lily did her first season of beach volleyball. They both would say they'd do it again. Nate went to Michigan not once but twice to see his family and took a different kid each time. Paul got the special treat (he was the only one interested) to get to watch a Michigan football game in the Big House.
Lily definitely had quite a summer with passing her driver's test, being officially done with Invisalign after 2 years, and hiking and exploring all over Washington and Oregon with her boyfriend.
My sister flew out to surprise the kids at the start of school. This time she successfully surprised each of them separately. You'd think they'd catch on by now with how often she comes but nope, the fun reveals continue.
8th grade for the twins and Lily's junior year are almost a month in now. Lily is very busy with school volleyball season. She is really proud to be captain this year and spends a lot of time giving her best to the team on and off the court. Paul is busy competing on his mountain biking team taking up most weekends racing around the state. He is also enjoying x-country season with friends. Elise is back to rowing, piano, German, and Girls Scouts. We just scheduled her next surgery for 11/13 to address her leg length discrepancy with the hopes that it'll be a preventative aid in minimizing lower back pain and hip pain when she's older. She is interested in doing the surgery and we are supportive. This means she'll have 2 more surgeries on top of the 3 foot surgeries she's already had. That's a lot of surgeries for a 13 year old.
In terms of growth, Lily still grew an inch the first part of this year as a 16 year old and seems to be topping off at 5'10". Paul is 5'8'' and growing quite quickly. His voice hasn't changed yet and I'm trying to record his voice a bit more these days because that deeper voice is coming soon. Elise is 5'7'' and her x-ray in preparation for surgery showed very open growth plates which means she will probably still grow 3-4 inches. I remember thinking back in the day that if I have girls, I hope they aren't as tall as me because I had a hard time. I got my wish: I just didn't calculate on having a daughter obsessed with being the best attacker there is on the volleyball court. She'd love my height. Funny how things work out. Paul is my only hope for surpassing me. We shall see.
Here are a few more moments from the last couple of months. The world outside of our family continues to feel uneasy, tense, and divided. It sucks. I miss hearing eloquent, thoughtful, empathetic, and unifying words from our leaders during times of crisis.
10th Annual Irving Street Block Party
This just makes a Momma's heart smile
