Alaina is very interested in getting an iPhone, but just like how we raised her brother, we have told her that we will not buy one for her. So, she is working hard to save up her own money. This summer she did some softball umping, and this fall, she is coaching softball lessons with our neighbor. I have to say, this is one of the cutest things I have seen! But of course, I am not too anxious for her to get a phone, so let's see.......
Last weekend I had a fun girlfriend’s weekend in Joshua Tree. My medical school friend Sue, had an early 50th birthday celebration with friends and family. She had a purpose: fill a bucket list goal of visiting the Integratron, which is a world famous sound dome that hosts sound baths.
3 of my other med school friends also joined and the 4 of us shared and Airbnb for the weekend. All in all about 20 people came to celebrate. It was a lot of fun to meet Sue’s friends from different points in her life!
On Friday night Sue hosted a star-gazing session with an astronomer—the stars were amazing and we got a great view of Saturn through the astronomer’s telescope—we could even see the rings. Here is the best pic of the night sky that my iphone produced!
Saturday morning we went on a beautiful hike in Joshua Tree:
Late in the afternoon we met for our sound bath experience. The Integratron was a very cool building with amazing acoustics and a very relaxing vibe. The sounds bath was an immersive experience—hard to describe but the best I can is that the sounds were so absorbing that you forgot about anything else. They actually even felt heavy, if that makes any sense.
Anyhow after the sound bath we headed back to Sue’s Airbnb where she hosted a beautiful dinner for the group.
Sunday before my flight home I got in another quick hike with my friend Jen to a beautiful palm oasis in the park.
So, great relaxing, celebratory weekend!
This week is the California Coast Classic, a week-long bike ride from San Francisco to LA along 525 miles sponsored by the arthritis foundation each year. With all of Ethan's work with the arthritis foundation, they asked him to give the kick off speech on Friday before the race began. So he headed to Fisherman's Wharf after school and luckily Jason and I got off work early enough to hear him give it!
He did a great job and hopefully inspired many of the riders!
On Friday, Ethan got some great news! He was accepted to the University of Chicago in the first early decision round!
As an added bonus, he is DONE with applying--which is a huge relief for him, as each school requires multiple essays and of course costs money!
We are very proud--he has worked so hard in high school to get to this point and so it is great to see all of his hard work pay off.
Last weekend was Labor Day Weekend and we continued our tradition of spending it at the cabin with out family freind the Toma's.
Noticibly absent this year was Ethan, who chose to spend the weekend at his friend's cabin instead. I guess prepping us for next year.
Our weekend got off to a rough start on Friday night when Alaina developed a severe headache and vomiting once we were over 6000 feet. We think it was due to a recent cold and sinus infection--anyway, we eneded up going back down the mountain to 3000 feet on Friday night so she could acclimate, and the following day she was ok.
The weather was cloudy and chilly, but we made the most of it. We enjoyed the cabin tour, BBQed and made the annual trek to Sardine Lake for dinner.
. 
The kids have been back in school for over a week now--they both started on August 19.
Ethan began his senior (!) year, and Alaina 8th grade--the last year of middle school! It is weird to think this is my last back to school pic of Ethan on the front porch!
While Ethan and I were on the East Coast, Jason and Alaina were having an entirely separate adventure. The headed to Northern Italy, to play in a European softball tournament, as a member of the U13 Israeli national team. I found out about this opportunity from a post on Facebook. We were not really sure what the experine would be like or if it would be worthwhile, but decided to give it a try.
Alaina was so glad that we did. She had a blast. When I picked her up from the airport she exclaimed that it was her favorite vacation ever--and this girl has been on a lot of vacations!
They left on Tuesday. Somehow, Jason managed to bump them up to first class--something I have never done and was pretty jealous to hear. Before the tournament, they spent a few days on the coast east of Genoa. It was hot--the entire time they were there it was nearly 100 degrees everyday, but the beach provided a great way to cool down. Apparently they also had some great meals.
After their beach foray, they headed to Milan to meet the team.
Alaina had never met any of these girls before--they were all from the US, as the couple of Israeli girls who wanted to play could not leave due to the war. Most were from Southern California, and a few from Northern California. Alaina had no idea what type of players they would be or anything--but they actually bonded pretty fast. They had tow days to practice together in Milan before heading to Colecchio, a small town outside of Parma, for the tournament.
Their first game was agains the Italian national team--who is strong and destroyed them 15-0. To be fair, the Israeli girls had never played a game together before so it was tricky for them. Over the next few days, they played 4 more games, gradually coming more together as a team. Alaina did well, and was exited to play 1st base and be the lead off hitter. They had an exciting come-from-behind victory against the Czech national team, which secured them a spot in the Championship game--which they played against Italy. They lost again, but by less (5-0), so that was an improvement. Not too bad to come home with a Silver Medal! Alaina was also proud to have the most runs scored on her team and the third most overall in the tournament!
This summer is a little strange in that instead of taking a traditional family trip, we split up and did different things in the last weeks of summer break. Alaina and Jason's trip will be a subsequent post--so I will focus on Ethan and my trip here.
Before we even left, Ethan presented the findings of his summer research project at a poster symposium at UCSF. Luckily it was just a few blocks from my hospital so I got to attend. Though he did not walk away with any major "discoveries" he did appreciate the opportunity to do a project and build his experience in the lab.
At the end of the week, we headed to Boston for a final college tour trip. I haven't been back to Boston in a long time, and Ethan has not been there since we moved away in 2010--he has no recollection of the city. We stayed downtown for the first few days and did some sightseeing. A highlight of course was Mike's pastries! We also went by our old apartment (it looks the same from the outside!)
On Monday, the college touring began, and we saw BU and MIT. We hat very hot and humid weather in Boston, which made the sightseeing and tours fairly miserable, but we did our best.
On Tuesday morning, we left Boson and headed to Dartmouth. I had never been there and was impressed by the small town New England vibe and historical architecture. Ethan liked it too.
Wednesday was Middlebury, which is a small liberal arts school in Vermont. Another picturesque New England town--but a bit more isolated. Appealing to Ethan--they have their own ski hill (though it is nothing like what Ethan is used to in terms of size!)
After touring Middlebury we headed to Williamstown, MA for the night and toured Williams the next morning. Williams was equally beautiful, but extremely rural and had very little in terms of shops/restaurants etc. That afternoon we visited Amherst, which felt more like a traditional college town (namely because UMass Amherst is located right next door). Our final stop was on Friday at Brown. It was a whirlwind!
Along the way, we found many delicious ice cream parlors to help us cope with the heat. Why is New England the only place I can get sprinkle cones?!
Anyhow, now Ethan needs to figure out where he is going to apply.
We dropped him at the SF airport at 4am on Sunday morning--and he was off. The program "included" airport pick up at O'hare, and a week in the dorm complete with dorm food and a roommate. He got along pretty well with his roommate, who was from Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. We didn't hear too much from him during the week but he came back Friday night super excited about the program and the kids he met there. He found the New York kids especially interesting--"They were so direct!). And he really enjoyed the types of classes and faculty he met on campus. Anyway, he has decided that he is going to apply ED0, and is excited about the prospect of attending the school. We will see what happens!
Jason, Alaina and I just got back from a week in Portland for the Triple Crown Softball world series. This is a week long softball tournament from players ages 12-18. There were fewer teams this year compared to last year in Alaina's age bracket, but a lot of older teams.
The team did not do as well as they wanted to (they came in 3rd in the Gold Bracket), but Alaina had a good tournament, including her first triple--her coach had her hit instead of slap during the tournament, which was fun for her.
The beginning of the week was hot (100!), but luckily the second half of the week cooled down.
There was some downtime during the tournament too--the girls spent one day swimming in a tributary of the Colombia river.
On that day, Jason and I took a hike near Mt. Hood called the Tom Dick and Harry hike. It was a beautiful hike to the top of a small mountain (Tom) with views of Mt Hood, Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens. It was really quite scenic, and only about an hour away from Portland. Unfortunately, on the way way down the mountain, Jason slammed his foot into a rock as he was walking downhill, and ended up breaking his big toe! Yuck.
We also enjoyed some good food in Portland, including out favorites Grassa, Pine State Biscuits and Lardo. And, a walk around the Portland Rose garden--always beautiful.
Anyway, it was a bit of a let down to the softball season, which has not been too great. But onward.
