Dayzdtomato: September Happenings

September kicked off like most Septembers do, with the first day of school. I continue to torture the kids with the requisite first day of school picture outside the front door. They are of course sporting new school clothes and backpacks for the big occasion.

So far school is going well and the kids like their teachers. Siena has her first "boy" teacher and thinks he's pretty cool.

My aunt Mary Lou turned 65 last Tuesday. To celebrate the occasion, my uncle Bruce invited the whole Torland family aboard the Portland Spirit. As a bonus, it was a surprise to Mary Lou! She thought the evening was just going to be her and Bruce. I know she loves spending time with family though and I think she was really happy to see everyone.

The kids were on hand for their first nice evening out on the town. Course, they had to ham it up a bit.

Berren and Calvin waiting for food.

Jocelyn and Rory having fun.

The Waters and Evanses.

Mason and Papa Ron. My mom was in California with her siblings visiting other relatives so she missed this cruise.

The view off the top deck leaving the city.

Hey, who's that couple that looks like they stepped straight out of some accounting offices?

The Hams!

It was a very fun evening. Wonderful food and even better company. Glad we could celebrate with Auntie Lou.

Yesterday was also a big day. First there was the annual North Clackamas soccer jamboree. Siena is Gangam Styling it!

Then she decided to take a break in the slightly shadier dug out.

Meanwhile, Mason and his teammates Krelis, Thomas, Adan, and Wyatt strategize the upcoming speed kick.

Mason clocked in around 27 mph. Not bad #3.

Luis is coaching the team again this year and we've been busy with practices and games. It's a fun time of year for the Cruz clan.

Siena on the other hand is content to play on the phone in the middle of the grass.

We bee lined it straight from the jamboree downtown for the Timbers game. Not only were we going to the game, but Junior arranged for the kids to be Junior Joeys. Well, technically he arranged for Mason to be a Junior Joey but since Siena was along for the ride, Joey said he could use all the help he could get.

What does being a Junior Joey entail? Well, a big hint is this stack of scarves:

Here's the kids decked in their gear with Timber Joey. For those of you that aren't as big of Timbers fans as us, Joey is basically the team mascot. He pumps up the crowd and saws a hunk of log off whenever the team scores.

Joey handing out scarves to his helpers.

The kids decked out in about 7-8 scarves each. Did I mention it was in the 90s? And about 10 degrees even hotter on the field? We didn't care.

View of the Timbers Army from the field.

The kids getting ready.

Waving to the crowd as they walk over to the log area.

Their job as Junior Joeys is to lay out the scarves on the log before the game.

Here they're working with Joey to get everything in place.

Plenty of tv cameras around. Near as we could tell, the footage just ended up briefly on the big screen. Siena was bummed. She wanted to be on tv.

Straightening out the last of the logs.

The kids waving to the Timbers Army. Toward the end the Army started chanting "Little Timbers" to the kids.

These guys LOVED this experience!!!

After that, the highlight of the game for Siena was the cotton candy.

Mason and I enjoying the game.

Snuggle with my cotton candy girl.

The game was topped off with an exciting 3-0 win over Cascade Cup rivals Vancouver.

The team celebrating the big win with the Army after the game.

As part of their Junior Joey participation, we got 3 passes to the post game autograph session. The autographers were reserves on the team but it was still pretty cool to be able to get some swag signed and to meet some real players.