Day 141

Today was our grand finale Girls on the Run 5K event!  And for the first year ever, it was being held as a community event at a local park.  Compare that to last fall when the girls ran a 5K in the parking lot of a church!  Today’s event was a real race, though not competitive.  I was excited, but nervous.  I hadn’t trained as much as I would have liked and hadn’t even walked the full distance continuously. 

But things started to look negative last night.  The forecast was calling for a 70% chance of rain and thunderstorms for the entire day and though the race would only be cancelled in the event of lighting, the rain would have put a damper on everything.  If that wasn’t bad enough, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to walk in the race.  LilCrockett stepped on my little toe, which was still healing from when I broke it in mid-April.  I slipped on a pair of tennis shoes and took a few steps to see how it would feel and I almost fell over in pain.  Ahhh, of all nights, why did it have to happen the night before our race?!!  I went to bed and said some prayers to chase away the rain and heal my toe (despite the fact that it was throbbing when I went to bed).

When I woke up, my toe wasn’t any better but the weather was beautiful.  I tried on every pair of tennis shoes I owned, but they hurt too much to wear; so I ended up slipping on my Keene’s shoes (actually there were a $15 Walmart knockoff pair).  I pretty much figured that I would just hang around the finish line and take pictures of the girls as they crossed.  Sad, but the end of the world. 

I downed some Advil and GothGirl and I headed to the race.  It was so amazing when we got there….there were girls in green shirts everywhere, plus other race participants in blue shirts, and volunteers in yellow shirts.  They had set up signs for each Girls on the Run group, so we would have a place to meet up.  There was face painting and hair painting and under-eye decals (to cut glare).  It was really moving to see such a wonderful event dedicated to these girls.  I think there were about 500 people participating, plus lots of onlookers cheering us on.

Since I was walking and such, I didn’t take my heavy Canon.  All photos were taken with my point and shoot. 

Our group of awesome girls (minus two)!!

Me with my fellow coaches!

Waiting for the start!

Two of my coworkers showed up.  The one in dark blue was slated to be my walking buddy (as the girls would leave me in the dust).  The one in yellow was there to run with her daughter (in turquoise).  I was so happy to have these ladies show up to help support a great program!

I told my walking buddy that I would just start walking and see how my toe felt, knowing I could turn around at any time since it was an out and back course.  The race officially started and we were off.  At first, my toe was a little sore; but then miraculously, the pain seemed to disappear.  I kept going….and going.  And before long, I knew I’d be able to finish the whole race.  I didn’t set any speed records (51 minutes), but considering that I hadn’t really trained for this event and was walking in Keene shoes with a broken toe on a course with some decent-size hills, I was elated!  And though I didn’t see her much, GothGirl had a great race too.  She and a few of her friends did a combination of walking and running and made it to the finish in about 45 minutes!

The organizers really made this race fun.  There were arches (made from cut hula hoops) and big high 5 signs, people ringing cowbells, mile markers, and water stations.  For their first community event, they did a great job of covering all the bases.  I felt really cheered on, so I know the girls must have felt it as well.   

And because it was an out-and-back course, I got to see all of my girls as they were coming back toward the finish!  (sadly, the photo of GothGirl was extremely blurry so I can’t share it with you)

After the race, we collected our finishers medals and headed to the pavilion for refreshments.  There was tons of food and I’m sure that made the girls happy!  I was ready for a drink and a chance to rest too.  Shortly thereafter, a zumba dance party started and the girls hung out for more photos and such.

Day 140

At the end of each school year, the kindergartners learn all about Hawaii and the kids get to do several fun events like pretend flight to Hawaii & a t-shirt painting days.  But the highlight of the year is the Hawaiian luau complete with games, snacks, and crafts.  The kids are split into small groups and they travel to each of the 4 kindergarten classrooms to do different events.  I helped out in LilCrockett’s classroom today and got several breaks to take pictures of him in the other rooms as well.  Because I was working, I didn’t want to lug my big Canon around; so, I had our little point and shoot instead.  Here are just a few from the day. 

 

Day 139

LilCrockett and our neighbor Lupa are such good pals and also such goofs.  They were clowning around on the mini trampoline tonight and I couldn’t resist taking some photos.  One would stand on the trampoline and step/jump as fast as they could while the other one would sit below and snap their fingers.  There was no method to their madness, just the pure joy of goofing off.  Love these shots!  Their faces, both serious and manic, crack me up!  I dread that day when Lupa gets too old to want to pal around with LilCrockett.

Day 138

LilCrockett’s friend came over tonight.  These boys, who have known each other since they were newborns (and live in the same neighborhood), beg to play with each other, but have a sibling-like relationship.  They are either getting along fabulously or bickering incessantly.  Unfortunately there’s really no in between.  It’s likely an age thing though as GothGirl and the friend’s sister, who are the same age as each other, behaved the same way when they were that age.  Look at this two awesome dudes, though! 

Day 137

Today I’m going to share a few photos of the plants and some other landscaping features in our yard.  These were taken both last night and tonight.

Coneflowers are so beautiful.  I saw this sparsely-petaled bloom tucked underneath a bunch of stems and leaves.  And besides the shortage of petals, it was dull in color as well.  Kind of reminds me of a Charlie-brown Christmas tree…so ugly, it’s cute!  

I am a turtle-lover, so I just had to get this hose guide when we saw it in the store a few years ago.  It still makes me smile!

And finally a shot of an unknown plant in my front flowerbed.  Anyone know what this is?  Whatever it is, it’s a beauty.  I love grass-like plants that bloom!  This one’s gray/sage-colored stems are gorgeous next to the pink blossoms.

Later this evening, the kids went for a walk down to the neighborhood pond with the neighbor girls.  They came back awhile later and yelled at us to come outside.  They had found a little friend…

Ambo took her chance at kissing the frog, but unfortunately no prince appeared.  I think she was hoping for Taylor Lautner anyway!

Day 136

Though LilCrockett’s first baseball game was cancelled on Saturday due to rain, he didn’t have to wait long.  Tonight was game 2 and it was a beautiful night (though a bit nippy).  We had to be at the ball diamonds a little early so that left plenty of time for us to stake some spots with our camp chairs and open my camera bag to get set up.  What did I see when I opened up the bag…..a spare lens and NO camera.  I about fell over.  Here it is LilCrockett’s first baseball game ever and I had forgotten the camera at home.  I could have been crushed, but I quickly regrouped and told myself that this is only game one of a bazillion games and there are still plenty more left in this season only.  And the great thing is that I was able to sit back and enjoy the game rather than worry about getting the perfect shots.  It was quite relaxing.  I might have to forget my camera at all his first games in the future!

But alas, I didn’t go completely picture-free.  I had my iPhone and here are a few shots from the evening. 

Here’s LilCrokett in red on first base.

There are 3 innings in a game.  During the first inning, LilCrockett played outfield (though they keep them pretty much in the far infield since none of the kids can bat into the outfield yet).  Then during the second inning, he was told he could play catcher.  You should have seen his eyes light up at getting to wear all the cool gear!  He actually didn’t do a whole lot as catcher but sit there.  He would get the few balls that rolled right to him, but that was it.  They didn’t want him to get up and chase balls as they wanted to make sure he stayed far away from the batter to avoid accidentally getting hit. 

After the game, I got a few shots of LilCrockett and a friend (and fellow teammate) hanging out in the yard.  These were taken with my Canon.

Day 135

It was another rainy day here and that meant my camera barely came out.  The cat was looking pretty cute laying half upside-down in his bed, so I fired off a few shots.