Another Saturday

Paige asked to do an aerial class this year even though it wasn't part of her regular training and we were a bit hesitant because she already had so many hours we decided to let her give it a shot. I'm so glad we did because she loooooves it! And apparently she's pretty proficient at it. Last week two different parents sent me pictures of Paige during class because they were so impressed with her skills! 

Another big part of our Saturday was Owen's cross country meet! We weren't even sure he'd be participating because he had a mystery toe injury (no clue how it happened!) but he rallied and did a great job! I couldn't even tell you what his time was, I was just proud of him for putting in the effort!

Mid-race

Luca and Owen

Owen and Hazel, we took a picture last year too!

 

The Weekend

On Saturday, Owen had another cross country meet but this time it was at his own school! He came in 4th out of kids on his team but improved his time by about 15 seconds! 

Sprint to the finish

Masks on

Masks off

On Sunday we went on a hike and had some disagreements about how many stairs we were walking up and down so we walked both sets again. Paige was right:)

We went on a hike and earned ourselves some...

Ice cream! This was an ice cream/cereal bar. You chose a cereal, two mixins, and a drizzle for the top. Everyone but Pat liked it but it was way too much ice cream! Owen was the only one that finished his!

Half Marathon!

I was torn about training for a half marathon this year with so much being up in the air. I knew it was a very real possibility that I would put a bunch of time in and then the race could be cancelled or the race might continue and I wouldn't be comfortable going. I decided to just go for it and do the training and decide later. Pat accompanied me on his bike every weekend for my long training runs and we would chat or listen to podcasts. I loved having his company! Ultimately, the race ended up going virtual so I never signed up but Pat and I did go out that same day and run the same course I run every year. I was a little worried when the morning started out with thunderstorms but we waited them out and started the run around 10:45, no chatting or podcasts this time, I listened to my half marathon playlist. It ended up being great weather! We ran into some muddy trails where I almost fell and we had to wait at a couple stoplights because the roads weren't closed but even that didn't take as long as I thought it would. We got lucky with our timing! In the end, I ended up finishing with 1:56:24, about 3.5 minutes shorter than my goal time. Then we had a half mile walk back to the car because the winding trails was a longer course than the road would have been in the normal race. 

Ready to go!

I joked to Pat that he should sing the National Anthem for the start of the race and he did:)

Done!

Done!

Ready to go home! With a quick stop at Starbucks for a pink drink!

 

Cross Country!

Owen had his first cross country meet last weekend! Lots of new rules of course. They've lowered the number of schools that are participating in any given meet to 3 so the starting line wasn't crowded at all. Also, Owen's school has a surprisingly low number of kids on the team which I can't figure out! Another new rule is only two spectators per kid but I'd say even less than that turned out. We thought Owen did great but he was disappointed with his time so he's made some new goals for himself. We're not sure what he got overall but he was the third finisher from his team! 

Stretching

The lineup

Mid-race!

 

First Day of School!

Ahh, the first day of school! This was unlike any other we've had. The kids woke up, had breakfast, got dressed and...sat down in their rooms. So strange! We anticipated that there would be some problems on the first day and we were right. The day starts at 8am and ends at 1 for Paige and 1:40 for Owen. Each kid only had teachers show up to two classes. Owen had classmates chatting aloud about people, not realizing people could hear them (or not caring??). Luckily it was harmless and hilarious! The kids actually spent a lot of time playing on the iPad or phone because they had to sit at the computer in case the teacher showed up but there wasn't anything to do! Things got better as the week went on and by Friday Owen had a complete day and Paige had all of her classes but one. Her gym teacher didn't show up either day!

 

Back to School Feast!

We actually got our Back to School Feast in a couple days before school started! I was checking back on the very first time we did this and I wrote about how we would probably get even fancier as the years went on and...no, we haven't gotten any fancier at all! It's really the addition of a banner, candles and placemats that change the dinner from any normal dinner but there is an extra level of excitement and anticipation too! It was fun to celebrate this year too because it's Paige's first year in middle school and Owen's last year in middle school! We gave the kids some putty to keep by their desks for when they get antsy because being stuck at a computer during virtual learning could be tough! We had ravioli, broccoli and peach crisp for dessert. All were delicious!

 

Last Days of Summer

Today is the last day of Summer but we fit a lot of fun into these last couple of weeks. This summer was really special and different and frustrating at times. We spent a lot of time together and had to get creative with our activities. We had to find the line between being safe and being social and the kids and Pat and I did not always agree on where that was so it was tough at moments! I hope we are not still in this position a year from now but I also know this situation brought us some special moments too. 

Here's a roundup of any summer pictures from the last couple weeks that I hadn't posted!

We met one of Owen's teammates and his sister at Rinky Dink for the second summer in a row to do some mini golf and bumper boats (Here's last year)

Masks down for some slushies!

Bumper boats are always the biggest hit! They get soaked but it's always so hot they dry off quickly

Paige's beach obsession has died down a little but she still wanted to fit one more trip in with her buddy Maeve.

Paige started taking an aerials class and she is so excited! I rarely go into the studio now but I popped in at her request and got to see her climbing. Pretty soon she'll be able to get to the top!

There has been no shortage of screen time this summer and this is the kids typical setup

Paige has started learning her solo for the upcoming dance competition season! She's loving it!

We finally got to the drive-in! We'd been waiting all summer for a movie that we actually wanted to see to be playing and we got lucky right at the end with Bill and Ted Face the Music! The weather was perfect and we got a great spot!

Owen has been training for cross country even though we weren't sure they'd even have a meet. We got this notification from his coach, featuring Owen, so I guess it's on!

Crazy amounts of rain flooded the rivers so we went and checked it out. This is usually a waterfall...

 

Ode to Griffin

I haven't done a Griffin post in awhile and I had a backlog of adorable pictures so here you go!

I was in the middle of folding towels and Griffin helped himself to this spot. 

He hates being picked up but he was tolerating me this day

 

I repeat...he hates being picked up:)

This tunnel is the other new toy he got when we bought the fish. He will sit on one end of a tunnel and wait for someone to walk by so he can dive through and scare them!

Still a little big for this spot but I love that he uses it!

This is one of my favorite things! Griffin wanders the house all day and is always somewhere different but at the end of the day when the kids go to sleep he settles down right between their rooms. Sometimes he's there for 15 minutes, other times he stays in that spot for hours. So sweet!