Landsharks

Jenna ran in the Landsharks Cross Country season this fall. She worked hard, starting August 30th - practicing 2 or more times a week from 7:10 to 7:45 am. (Kellen and I worked hard too!) Her first race was Sunday afternoon, September 22nd. My camera finked out right when I tried to take her picture. But, my friend got this great video - even better! 1/2 mile in 5:07.8. So proud of our girl! (See video 0398 clip in "Landsharks XC '13" pictures folder.)

Football Season Kick-off

Friday night, Sept. 6th was the first LPHS home football game. Kellen had been looking forward to this for almost a month! He's been playing with pompoms at home and talking about seeing the cheerleaders.

The kids had a blast dancing whenever the band played! (See videos 0728 and 0730 in "LPHS 2013-14" pictures folder.)

Kellen made it for the whole game for the first time! In the end, he was the last one dancing. Jenna was curled up on my lap, cold and sleepy.

Saturday, Papa, Kevin, and I went to the Air Force Academy game. During the pre-game show, there were some parachutists and the last one turned out to be the Air Force Falcon!

Saturday night, we watched Michigan beat Notre Dame! Then, on Sunday, I was showing the kids the video I took of the Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps half-time show. Kellen LOVED it and asked for it over and over and over again. Then, I realized I could show him something beter. So, I put in some DCI (Drum Corps International) videos. Now, he keeps requesting the "butter" (better) band videos. Then, he puts his cape on and gets his "trumpent" out. All in all, a great football weekend.

"The best day of my life!"

Jenna didn't have school today. Kellen and I were happy to have her home with us and I planned a super fun day. We started out from the house at 7:00 am to get to Landsharks practice (a running club for kids that Jenna loves). The practice was optional since there wasn't school today, she wanted to go, so we went. Landsharks finished around 7:45 am and we had a little time to spend before being back at school for Jenna to do her literacy testing. So, we went with some friends down the road a little ways to a bakery for a yummy second breakfast! 8:40 am to 9:00 am, Jenna had her literacy test. Then, we were off to our surprise destination.

We have been reading Charlotte's Web over the past two weeks. Last night we read quite a bit so we could get to the end. I wanted to get finished before today, so I could surprise Jenna and take her to this Charlotte's Web themed park.

I first heard about this park when I visited my friend's mom's blog. She lives near us and posted that the park was near her home. So, I got the scoop on the location. Then, I decided that we could read the book together before we went.

I wish that I had a video of Jenna's reaction when she realized where we were. At first, we just sat in the car for a while. Then, she said, "That looks like a web! And there's horses . . . and a barn . . . and a spider . . . and a pig! Mama! We're at Charlotte's Web!" Pure excitement! This girl is fun to surprise.

She found a piece of wheat-type grass and put it in her mouth, "like they do on a farm." 

She inspected Wilbur to make sure he had a bronze medal like in the book. 

The beloved Charlotte 

Our monkey swinging from the bar 

Jenna spent most of the hour we spent there climbing all over this web. This little spot was her favorite perch, near her "egg sac."

In true Jenna form, we had to act out the story. I was so impressed by how much detail she remembered. She was Charlotte, Kellen was Templeton, and I was Wilbur. When it came to the part where Wilbur asks Charlotte why she is so quiet and she's supposed to tell him it's because she won't ever see her children, Jenna said, "I don't want to pretend that part."

Finally, at the end of our time, she got the courage to climb to the very top. As we were leaving for our next stop, the library, she exclaimed, "That park is my favorite place. And this is the best day of my life!"

After the library, we put our bag full of new books in the car. Then, I said, "I have one more surprise. How about we have frozen yogurt for lunch?" They were super excited. So, we walked down the street a little ways and had our yogurt lunch. When we got home, Jenna begged for me to let her read her new books before her naptime. So, she had reading time and then we all had good naps. Ready and excited for the first football game tonight. It was so great to have a purely fun day!