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Hurdles and Marbles

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This was quite a busy week! We had a trip to the local park, a visit with a long, lost friend, a celebration of life (much love to Em and her family), wacky hair day, work-work-work, and Ava's Track & Field day. My snazzy new to-do app is keeping me on track, so I'm even knocking off some projects that have been on my list for a few years. Feels fantastic to be so productive and to be using my time so well!

We've always known that Ava isn't the most athletically inclined...and that's ok! She's incredibly creative and crafty, and she loves to read. If there was a track day for that, she'd win it all!  The second graders had their track day this past Tuesday...the weather was hot and sunny, and the kids were excited! Both Scott and I went, along with Grandma Karen, Grandpa Doug, and Grandpa Whitey.  Ava had quite the little cheering crew.  Actually, the other kids in her group did, too, so we were a mob when we moved between all of the different events.  18 events in 2 hours = sheer exhaustion!

Shoe Kick - on her first try, Ava ended up kicking her shoe backwards!



Long Jump



Stilts - she did WAY better at this than I expected!



Her buddy Mark popped into the picture...


Water Relay





Marble Find - this was Ava's favorite event


Space Ship Relay - all of the kids loved this one!




Aerobic Throw - she has amazing form in this picture (not so much in real life.)  All of the events had parent volunteers staffing them...this poor guy was in a shirt and tie. It was SO hot out there, I can't imagine he was comfortable!


Ice Cream Cone Carry - this event seemed to last FOR-ever




Punting, Kicking - when Ava kept the ball on the ground, she did ok.  When she decided to drop kick it...well, she managed to kick it backwards so it bounced off her head and then went flying.  Amazing...



Daddy's Girl!


Egg Relay - another one that seemed to last forever.  When they had to carry things, the time went very, very slowly...


Potato Sack Relay - love how they are both in the air on this one!



Ava and Mark gave up on jumping and decided to use the sacks as a shelter instead.  They were quite the pair together!


Home Run Trot



Tire Pull Race


Corn Hole Toss


Grandpa Whitey looks great here - Ava was laughing too hard to smile!


She calmed down a bit for a pic with Grandpa Doug and Grandma Karen


Ava and Me!


Shuttle Run - Ava didn't quite follow the directions on this, so the parent volunteer kindly let her go again, and advised that Ava had fumbled, a.k.a. "not listening"!


Throwing Station


Hurdles - she NAILED this one!  She didn't knock anything over and successfully jumped over all of them.  Fantastic job, Ava!



Pooped by the end...


The weather was lovely last Sunday, so I took both kids to the neighborhood park for a bit. And our neighbor reminded me that the pool is open for the summer this weekend - can't wait to check it out!  

Now that Ava has decided she likes her bike, we can't keep up with her.  Poor G had to run after her to get to the park!


Ava never wore bows or headbands as a baby, and that has translated to often just wearing her hair down now...but when Wacky Hair Day came along this week, we decided to give it a whirl!



We all went to Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey's house yesterday, and G thought he was pretty cool in sunglasses.


He must get this from me, as I always wear my sunglasses up on my head!



They finally settled down a bit...this was a rare moment when they were both calm and relaxed.


Scott is smoking a HUGE pork shoulder today, and is finishing up some fine details on the deck.  We'll be having Grandma Karen and Grandpa Doug over for the yummy dinner later, and we've entertained the idea of boat shopping this weekend.  Should be a great rest of the weekend and a fantastic Memorial Day!

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