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!

Edward's First Concert Summer 2016

 We took Edward to his first concert with us this summer in Indianapolis at the Banker's Life Fieldhouse venue.  Here is Coldplay coming on stage that evening as part of their Head Full of Dreams tour.

Edward and his friend Harry just before the concert began.  They were duly impressed with the night's performance.

 The visual effects were simply outstanding!

 We were meters away from Coldplay during their stage C part of the evening's performance.  What an unexpected surprise!

Having fun at a local toy store before the concert.

Aaron's Sunflowers August 2016

Aaron started growing these two sunflowers from seeds given to him from his Kindergarten teacher in class in May.  This is a recent picture of how they look now.  He is very proud of how tall they have gotten.  A bee has been busy visiting them all summer.  Aaron is looking forward to harvesting the seeds and sharing them.

Family Oceanside Vacation (Our First!) in North Carolina August 2016

Our first day on Wrightsville Beach.  It was supposed to rain so we were pleasantly surprised we made it there.  Actually there were five warm days with thunderstorms only at night, thank goodness.

Trying out the boogie boards and enjoying the waves.  Aaron is still so light that he rode the waves all the way to the water's edge, no problem!

Our last day on the coast, finally taking the family picture.  Family fun came first!  Goodbye and hope to be back soon!