Aaron Earns His Green Belt In Taekwondo December 2016

Aaron passed his Green belt in Taekwondo this month. He managed to pass the flying kick test. Impressive for a boy who just turned seven!

USATF Junior Olympics Shelbyville, IN 2016

Edward ran towards a new PR of 11:12 this past Saturday at the USATF Junior Olympics here in Shelbyville, Indiana.  To say the least, we are very proud of him.

He ended up 25th out of a pool of 65 runners in the 11 to 12 year old age group.  He qualifies to advance to the Regional USATF Junior Olympics in De Kalb, Illinois which we are still dediding upon.

Here is Aaron happily posing with the neighbourhood Lowe's hardware store inflatable bear.  He was pretty excited with the arrangement they had on display.

Hallowe'en 2016

Edward decided to forgo a new costume and went with last year's Spooky mask while Aaron set his mind on being Steve from Minecraft.  Edward and his friend took Aaron up and down our street which is chock full of families and kids so Aaron was sure to get a full bag of treats.  Mom and Dad stayed home, guarding their pirate treasure, giving out Pirate Booty snack bags and chocolate wrapped in gold and silver foil in place of treasure from Spanish galleons.  

Aaron was super excited to give out the pirate treasure on our spookily lit up front porch, lit up pumpkins, blinking skull and all!  There were so many trick or treaters that we almost got cleaned out by 7:30 pm when our chest had first been overflowing.  Luckily we had set aside some non sugary treats for the teal pumpkin we displayed which included paint sets, sticker sheets, paper pads, etc., that were happily accepted in place of the Pirate Booty.  Great night for it with the weather cooperating this year.  Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!

5th Annual Purdue Half Marathon/5K October 2016

We all participated together for the 1st time as a family in the Purdue Boilermaker 5K this past Saturday.  Edward went on ahead, eager to place in his age group.  Aaron insisted on being a speed demon at the beginning of the race and had me racing after him, in fear of losing him among the throng of 800+ runners.  Andrew caught up with him just as I was losing steam in my struggle to keep up with Aaron.  Somehow, after the 2 mile point, we all failed to notice each other and crossed paths with Mom thinking she was way behind yet in fact Andrew and Aaron had finally decided to walk the rest of the way.  Edward faired best in the end with a new PR of 21:47, placing 4th in his age group and 22nd overall, including adults.  Awesome run, Edward!  Inspiration to the rest of us to get our act together next year!

Aaron's October Cub Scout Pack Meeting

 The Cub Scout monthly Pack meeting that Aaron is a member of had the boys shooting up bottle rockets powered by air pressure high up into the sky.  Each den fashioned their own out of a pop bottle and a tennis ball and took turns blasting them up into the sky.  Needless to say, they were pretty excited and had a great time watching them soar and then land, sometimes in a tree or out in the baseball diamond.   Aaron is a Tiger cub scout and Andrew is the Cub Master this year.  They are looking forward to a busy year filled with activities achieving badges, belt loops and pins.  Happy learning!

Edward Attends the State Cross Country Meet October 2016

               

Edward ran the Boys Junior Varsity 3 km race at the Indiana State Meet in Carmel, Indiana this past Saturday with the West Side Junior High School team.  He achieved a PR of 12:28 albeit it was a challenging, hilly course, 66th out of 452 participants.  He's now in grade seven and training to get under 11 minutes by grade eight.  Thank you to Coach Polk for pushing Edward and the team to achieve their best.  What a great season overall.  West Side came first for the girls varsity team and fourth for the boys varsity team with many PRs.  Go Red Devil Pride!

Edward's Boy Scout Kayaking Camping Trip August 2016

Edward participated in his Boy Scout troops' Kayaking/Canoeing trip last weekend, putting six kayaking hours in. Great accomplishment! He's going to learn how to canoe next time. Very proud of him!