Good-bye, Fall!

The pumpkins are off the porch.  The Christmas decorations are up.  The winter coats are hanging on the hooks.  The calendars have turned over to December.  It's official.  Fall is over.  And as we say good-bye to our fall season, it's a good time to catch up on all the things that have kept us busy through the remainder of this fall season.  Since I've fallen behind, yet again, on the blog, here are some of the highlights from October and November.

Although our pumpkin farm outings have diminished over the years, we always find at least one day to go to Ackerman Farms to pick out our pumpkins.

We fed some animals, rode the hayrack, drank some hot cider, and picked out our carving pumpkins.

Adelie and Briggs both ran in the Run with Reagan 5K.  Briggs got 3rd in the 14 and under division with a time of 27:50, and Adelie got 1st in her division with a time of 33:04.

Since Staley and I had to leave immediately after the race for a cross country meet, both Adelie and Briggs ran on their own.  Briggs surprised me by not only running the whole way, but also running faster than I thought he would.  After the race, I said, "You ran really fast, buddy!  And you didn't even train."  To which he replied, "Yes I did!  I ran a mile with Staley last week."  So I guess the training plan for an 8 year old boy is fitting in a mile the week before the race.

The girls and I went with an NTA friend and her mom to see 'Clue' at the Barn Theater.  It was a good meal, a fun show, and we always love the opportunity to support McKinley when she performs.

We also enjoyed the opportunity to see the high school NTA group perform 'Sleepy Hollow.'

The kids joined their cousins to run in the Heartland 5K (for Staley, Liam, and Adelie) and the 1 mile fun run (Briggs and Caroline).  Lucy had no interest in running.

Staley got 1st in her age group with a time of 23:25, just 14 seconds behind the overall female winner.

Adelie finished in a time of 32:38.

They did not time the fun run or give out medals, but Briggs was the 3rd overall finisher.

We closed out our October with Halloween.  Briggs initially wanted to make his own dragon costume, but I helped him come up with something easier.  Briggs ended up being Mario, Staley decided at the last minute to be Luigi, and Adelie was Staley.

Briggs was the only one of the kids who got to dress up for school and have a Halloween party.

Staley did get to dress up in her 80's outfit for the Halloween band concert, which was the week before Halloween.

The kids carved their pumpkins right when they got home from school on Halloween.  Staley made an 'XC' on hers, Briggs carved a dragon/serpent creature into his, and...

Adelie made a mustache man.

Although it was a cold night, we did a little trick or treating with some friends and then had dinner with the Hostetlers.

Zach, Staley, one of her friends, and I went to cheer on the high school runners at the state cross country meet.  We are starting to get used to the fact that Staley takes off with friends as soon as we get anywhere.

Briggs got to hang out with some friends at a bowling party for one of the girls in his class.

Dance team has gotten fully underway.  As soon as cross country ended, Staley started back with dance team practices.  Although they haven't had their first competition yet, Staley has practices and dances at home basketball games most days after school and a few evenings each week.

Staley and her Bible quizzing team from church traveled to Miracle Camp in Michigan one week-end for their first quiz off.  They went undefeated on the day and ended up winning the Quiz Off.  Although we weren't there to cheer them on, her coach sent us updates all day long.

With the busy family schedule, we don't always find as much time for family outings with all of us.  But the week of Thanksgiving, we took advantage of a free evening to go see 'Wish' in the movie theater.  It was the first time all 5 of us were together in the movie theater in about 5 or 6 years.  We were due.

Staley and Zach ran a Turkey Trot race on Thanksgiving morning.  Zach ran a new personal best time of 20:50 for the 3 mile course while Staley finished in 23:09.  

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the family.  We enjoyed a scrumptious meal, game playing, and hanging out with cousins at Zach's Aunt Sandi's house.

Then the girls and I headed over to Danvers to see my side of the family for a little more Thanksgiving fun.

It's always fun to spend time with family, and the kids love opportunities to hang out with their cousins.

Zach and I closed out November with a trip to Dallas.  Zach went for work, and I went for fun.

We had a few days to explore Dallas together before his conference.  Visiting the JFK assassination sites, memorial, and museum was a highlight.

We also enjoyed good food and drinks, explored downtown Dallas, slept in, watched in room movies, had dinner with friends and co-workers, and did a little running.  In my free time while Zach worked, I also relaxed, did a little shopping, went for a few walks, and read a book.

The kids had a great time with grandparents while we enjoyed a little time together.  And we got to mark off another state that we've visited.  Winning!

Our fall has flown by, and it's hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner.

I am so thankful for my family and all the memories that we have made this fall.

They Say...

The other day, Adelie made a popsicle recipe out of a cookbook she got from the library.  It was just frozen apple juice and gummy bears.  Briggs was trying it out and exclaimed, "Adelie!  This is SO good!  It's like a professional popsicle!"

#professionalpopsicles

A few weeks ago, the kids participated in a road race/fun run over in Bloomington.  It was hosted by a local community college to support their cross country program.  While on their campus for the race, Adelie asked, "What college is this?"  I replied, "Heartland."  To which she responded, "Isn't that the college that's really hard to get into?"  I had to think for a second and then said, "Nope.  You're thinking of Harvard."

#basicallythesame

We were talking to the kids about going as a family to watch the high school cross country state meet several weeks ago.  Briggs, who apparently had his fill of watching cross country meets, began to throw a fit about going.  As he was yelling about the meet, he shouted, "I hate cross country!  It's stupid and boring and weird!  All you do is clap and cheer for a bunch of runners."

#truth
#soweird

Briggs shared this little insight with me the other day.  "People say that water doesn't have a taste, but it actually does.  I can't really explain it, but it just tastes sort of watery."

#waterywater

Briggs was having a conversation with Zach about the library.  He stated,  "I love the library...(long pause)...and the Smoky Mountains."

#metoobuddy

These kids just make me smile!

Truth

Zach took Briggs to see a movie in the movie theater yesterday.  As they were getting ready to leave, Briggs told me, "I need to go to the bathroom before we leave because if you have to go to the bathroom during the movie, they don't even pause it."

#truth

Cross Country

There are many things that I have always loved about fall.  The changing colors.  Wearing boots and sweatshirts.  Football games.  Pumpkin farms.  And cross country.  Cross country is my favorite sport and fall to me isn't complete without cross country.  As a 7th grader, Staley was so excited for her chance to start on her cross country journey.

Staley LOVED being a part of this team.

Staley and I had cross country practice or a cross country meet 5 days/week from the beginning of August through last weekend.

Staley's time at the first meet of the year (which was also the first meet of her cross country career) was 16:28 for 2 miles.

Staley got her final PR of the season at the State Cross Country Championships where she ran a 14:09.  A more than 2 minute improvement from the start of the season to the end of the season is pretty impressive!

Staley worked hard in the summer and throughout the season.  She earned a spot on the varsity squad (top 7 runners) for the first meet and never relinquished her spot.  She was typically the #5 or #6 runner for her team throughout the year.

I really enjoyed many aspects of helping coach this team, but getting to spend so much time with Staley and watch her work hard, improve, and love this sport that I love was by far the best part.

The team was filled with many of Staley's closest friends, and she grew closer to other teammates throughout the year.  Some of the highlights of the season included...

Going to Wally's for dinner and fun after the meet in Pontiac

The girls' 3rd place finish at the Trojan Invite

All the Homecoming festivities like making shirts, decorating the float, and representing the cross country team in the parade

The muddy, messy chaos that is the EPG Invite (where the girls again got 3rd place)

Seeing friends from other schools at various meets, including NTA friends, Penguin friends, and church friends...

and cousins too!

A girl's first place team finish at the Conference meet

Team lunch and movie day before Sectionals...

where the kids watched 'McFarland, USA' and then got to have a Zoom talk with Thomas Valles, one of the runners highlighted in the movie.

The biggest season highlight...a 2nd place team finish at Sectionals, meaning that the girl's team qualified for State!  Even more impressive, all 7 of the varsity girls plus the 3 alternates were all 7th graders.

Qualifying for State was a huge accomplishment for the team.

State prep week was just full of fun!  We took a fieldtrip to Maxwell Park to run on the state course...

followed by dinner at Core Life Eatery.

There was soccer for practice day, State signs, the State send-off at school, State goody bags, State shirts...

and a night before State team dinner and movie night at our house for the boy's and girl's sectional runners.

The State meet day was chilly and misty/overcast, but the excitement about being there was enough to overcome the weather.

Staley was the only runner from our team who got a PR that day, but the girls still finished 15th as a team and hopefully got a taste for what they could accomplish next year as 8th graders.

So many team members, friends from school, and families came to support the state runners.

Although Grammie and Grandpa were out of town, Uma and Papa braved the cold to cheer on Staley...

as did Liam, Caroline, and Lucy (and their parents).

It was a great day and a great end to a great season!

Cross country was a full family affair this year.  Zach, Adelie, and Briggs were at almost every meet.  Zach was the ultimate supporter of the team, while Adelie and Briggs liked hanging out with their friends, getting to know kids on the team, and eating Kona Ice.

I learned a lot through helping coach this year.  I really enjoyed the kids, the families, the head coach, and the whole experience.

I'm really proud of Staley and all she accomplished this year.

Hooray for cross country!!