Cross Country Meet 3 (District)

Summer ran in her third meet yesterday. She did AMAZING!

We got there and the kids were all up in the bleachers in their groups. I found Summer and ran up to say hello. She was pretty excited. Later, she told me that when the bus pulled into the school, she got a tickle in her tummy. "Kind of a nervous tickle and an excited tickle," she said.

Here she is at the starting line.

Off they go!

 And here she comes!

After the finish line:

She got an orange tshirt and a certificate.

 I love these last pictures. 

Summer ran this mile in 8.06! That is THIRTEEN seconds faster than her best time! We are so proud of her! She is amazing.

She didn't get first, second, or third, and she's a little disappointed about it. She got 12 out of 37--which is so impressive to me. 

She told me that on the bus to the meet, all the kids were chanting LLE! LLE! (Liberty Lake Elementary) She thought it was the coolest thing ever! haha.

The first thing she said after the finish line was "No more cross country!" I think she was a little relieved that it's over. But I'm sure she'll be excited when it starts up again next year.

We are so proud of her for doing it! Good job Summer!

Cross Country Meet 2

Summer had her second cross country meet. 

I think the most impressive thing about cross country is how they run UP HILL! She had to do it twice. And it was a pretty intense hill. 

Once again, the girl who got first ran the mile in under 8 minutes. But then . . . . here comes our sweet pink runner!

(I tried snapping photos and doing video so I missed as she ran past me, but you can see her running in the clip. Pink bottoms.)

 Summer's time was 8.23; she got second place. She's amazing!

She qualifies for the all city meet, which is Tuesday the 20th. We've looked at the times for the other runners that will be racing--many other girls are racing at under 8 minutes as well. We're not sure where she'll place, but we are sure proud of her for working so hard and doing so well.

Summer's First Day of School Pictures, Junie Smiling, and Pyper's Art Studio

So Summer's been in school for over a month, now but here are her first day of school pictures:

And June is smiling. ALL THE TIME. We love it! She is so sweet.

So now that Claire and Summer are in school, it's just Pip, Basil, and June. This is a very different dynamic than we've had before. I think Pyper really likes this time where she is the oldest and doesn't have anyone bossing her around.

One day, she set out a whole bunch of pictures and markers for her art studio, and when the girls got home, they were able to request a picture and a marker to color their pictures.

Garden Produce

We have LOVED having our garden so plentiful this year. It has been so fun seeing the girls go out and eat tomatoes whenever they wanted. We've loved our carrots, cucumbers, and now our peppers. Everything tastes so much better out of your garden!

Our carrots:

Tomatoes

Peppers

Produce (I think I got giant carrots or something!)

Peas

YES!! These are picked from our garden. They are delicious!

Already we are making big plans for our garden for next year!

Claire's Award

We got an email from Mrs. Ochse, Claire's Kindergarten teacher, last week saying there was going to be an assembly on Monday and Claire was going to get an award. We were super excited about it, but kept it a secret from her. I nonchalantly mentioned seeing a sign about an assembly on Monday and Claire ask what an assembly was. She had no idea what was coming!

We showed up and watched all the kids file in. It's a K-8 school, so when the Kindergarteners were the last to march in, they looked so little and tiny! And there was Claire, folding her arms, walking in so quietly. It was so cute! (She's the one in all black.)

It was an awards assembly, so other students got awards as well. The Fire Department crew was there to give high fives, shake hands, and give the awards.

There she is, giving a high five to a policeman.

Mrs. Ochse had picked four students in her class, and Claire was one of them. She got the Teacher's Choice Award.

For this award, Mrs. Ochse said she was a leader in her class of kindness and friendship. We are very proud of her!

Summer's Cross Country Meet

Summer had her first cross country meet today. She's been having three practices a week, building up for the meet that's a mile long, but most of those practices were full of long walks socializing with friends. Rhett and I were nervous to see how today would go. We can see a natural running ability in her, and we want to see her recognize it in herself as well. 

The first grade girls went first. Then the first grade boys. Then the second grade girls went. Summer was up. She's in a purple jersey on the left. She has white shorts underneath her pink shorts. You see her wave at 10 seconds. The race doesn't actually start until about 58 seconds into the clip.

Of course, when we got there and I started snapping pictures, my camera said the card was full. But I had just deleted all the pictures before we got there! So I was stressed trying to get the camera figured out. We did not want to miss this! Rhett got the beginning of the race on his phone, and while she was out running her mile, we googled how to get my card to work.

They did the loop twice to make a mile and as the girls first started coming around the loop, Claire said, "There's Summer!" There were only about five girls there, way ahead of the rest of the group. We were like, "No, that's not Summer." But then we saw the white shorts under the pink shorts and I knew it was her! I couldn't believe it! I about passed out! I was so excited. We all started yelling and cheering her on. Then waited anxiously for them to come around the loop again (which we couldn't see them doing because of all the people.) 

We finally got my camera fixed and just in time, because here they came again. The girl in first place was so fast! Wow. And then another small clump of girls--and Summer was still in third! We cheered and cheered.

I caught a few after-the-race pictures. She doesn't even look tired! 

And as we were walking out to the car, she ran another huge loop in another field! I think she was so excited she just had a ton of energy afterward.

Here's the list of girls and their times. Summer's time is 8.19.9. Because she was under 8.30, she qualifies to race in the all city meet as well.

 We let her pick out ice cream at Albertson's so we could all celebrate tonight. It was so fun. We are SO proud of her!

Pyper and Junie

I really should post an actual post, but it's evening and the girls are all sleeping and I'd rather just sit here and watch this cute little lullaby on youtube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiAzcWiwE5Y

But I do want to share this sweet picture of Pyper and Junie I took yesterday. I love it. Pyper was in the middle of saying something, which portrays her perfectly. She is such a talker. And then there's Junie with that rad hair and that sweet face. Love it.