I've been a slacker on this blog, but I had a few random good photos from the last few months that I wanted to share.
First, Neil and Martina and family came in early August. It was a quick visit, but we enjoyed spending as much time with them as possible. The girls all went out shopping the Crawl - a 30+ mile strip of yard sales along Route 11. It was a pretty unsuccessful trip for us, but Rachel did talk me into our own chocolate fountain. It proved a very yummy and messy purchase.
Here, little Drew (who spent the entire week he was here telling me, "I don't love you" completely unprompted) enjoyed my purchase. I don't think it helped to endear me to him, though.
My kids really enjoyed their time with their cousins. Alex always has a good time with Jonathan. We took him for a couple days while Rachel remained at Gramma and Paka's house to visit with Ashley.
Beautiful girls - Josie, Ashley and Rachel
First Day of School
This is a big year for Matthew - Kindergarten. I think he was excited. I know that academically he is ready. I was a little worried about his ability to sit still and obey the rules of the classroom. To make it even more difficult, he has his two buddies in his class. While they are best friends, he is definitely the leader of the group - usually getting them all in trouble. After a couple months, he has managed to not get into too much trouble, so I guess he's adjusting.
Trip to DC
As summer was ending, I was feeling guilty that I had not taken the kids to DC. We live so close, but I just take advantage enough. One of the biggest problems with DC is that some of the attractions require tickets, so you need to plan ahead. I just never do that. Once again, my kids want to go up into the Washington Monument and there are no tickets available. It would have been a good day to go because the earthquake happened the day after and no one is allowed in for the time being until they fix it. But, we still enjoyed a few of the exhibits at the Natural History Museum and walked to the WWII monument. The kids really wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial, but it is just a little too far to walk. The trip was similar to previous ones - a little fun, a lot of logistics, some attitude, and leftover feeling of wondering why I try to do this. Maybe next time...
The attitude begins to show....
Riding bikes in a Hurricane? Only my children. They had a good time, though. You cannot appreciate how hard it was raining in the picture, but it is pouring here.
The Heritage 5K
Dave was running the half marathon with Tara. I saw that the 5K had awards for 9 and Under, so I knew that Alex should run it to get a chance to place. I thought they had a mile for the younger kids. But, it turned out that the mile was on the day before. When I told the kids, they were very disappointed and said that they wanted to run the 5K, too. I told them they were going to need to run with Daddy to see how far it really is. I kind of joked with Dave that he should drop the car off at the shop and run home with the kids. I guess he thought that was a good idea, and so off they went. I was worried because there was no way to turn around if the boys gave up. As it was getting dark, I got nervous. So, Rachel and I got in the car and went looking for them. I couldn't find them and was really getting worried as we passed our house to go on another loop. They were almost home! It was amazing - 32 minutes or so for just over a 5K.
I planned to run with Zack and Matthew in the race so that I could help keep them going slow at the beginning and help make sure they stayed on track through the whole race. I was very worried because I had not run much. But, I figured that I would be fine. How hard can it be to keep up with a 5-year old in a 3-mile race? As we started, Zack took off with Alex. I tried to call him back, but he didn't want to run with me. Matthew stayed with me a little bit, but within 1/2 mile, he was gone. He had weaved in and out of people, and I just didn't feel that I could do that. I figured I would just stay slow and catch up to them when they got tired and slacked off. As we approached the turnaround, I saw all 3 of the boys in age order. It was fun to give them a high five and some encouragement. I saw that they were doing well and pretty far ahead. So, I picked it up a little. But, I could not even get them in my sights. The finish of the race was around the track at the high school. As I approached the track, I thought I might get to see the boys finish, but no, they were all 3 done and cheering for me.
I was so impressed with them for pushing themselves through the whole race. Alex finished in 26:12 with definite room to improve if he can better pace himself. Zack finished in 27:20 and Matthew 27:41. This placed them 1st, 3rd, and 4th in the 9 and Under. Matthew was the only 5 year old in the race. They are already excited about the next race! Me, with a 29:04 time, I'll be happy to video tape next time. Or, maybe I'll train so I can beat my 5-year old. It might be the only chance I will ever have to beat him.
Tara finished the half marathon, as Dave cheers her on. Both Tara and Dave did well.
