NCAA DIII Track Meet

The object of our Memorial Day adventures was to go see Aunt R race in the DIII National Track meet. So in preparation for our 3 days of cheering, M made shirts for herself and C and I. Without M, there would be no nieces for R, so thus M is the founder of the Aunt R Fan Club.C is the smallest but biggest fan of Aunt R.
I am fast and cute, just like Aunt R.

The schedule of events was the 400 hurdle prelims Thursday night, 400 open prelim Friday night and final events Saturday. After G&G picked us up from the airport, they drove back to the hotel slowly letting all of us take a short nap. Then we checked into the hotel and tried to go swimming. However, a storm started just as we go into the hot tub. M had C on her knees and was talking to G when the thunder crashed above us. M and G jumped out of the pool, because when the thunder crashed M was still trying to process the shock she had felt in the pool. Once the thunder boomed, M realized she had just felt the lightening strike through the water. Since swimming was over, it was time to get dressed and eat supper before the track meet. Luckily the storm cleared off and by the time R ran it was clear and sunny.

The most important thing about watching a track meet is making sure you get enough fluids!

R won her heat of the 400 hurdles so a race on Saturday was guaranteed. Aunt R came to see us after the race and admire the little Calvin fans.

The disappointment of the weekend was that Aunt M wasn't able to make her flights work to come and hang out with us also. But we made the most of it and lots of fun with G&G. Thursday night C and I were ready for bed, so G took us back to the hotel right after seeing Aunt R.

We slept in Friday morning, ate breakfast, went swimming, took naps, ate lunch and got ready to go see Aunt R run again.

Helping G&G cheer.

Sadly R was just inches away from 2nd place in her heat of the open 400 and missed out by about half a second on time, so she just had the hurdles to focus on for Saturday.After the race on Friday, C and I helped Aunt R cool down. An ice bath is a must for any injured athlete.

So I showed Aunt R how you had to get in and soak. I let her do all the hard work though and I only stayed for about 10 seconds.

Saturday we took it easy in the morning and M and C took a nap before heading to the track again for the final day of races. It was a warm day. C hanging out in the shade.

Being silly.

Hanging out and having fun.

In addition to Aunt R's races, M thought the most exciting race was the Men's 100 meter final. All 8 runners finished within .11 seconds! The winner's time was 10.91--the 8th place time was 11.02. Photo finish for all 8 places. So exciting! My favorite event was the steeple chase. Jumping over hurdles and landing in water--what could be more fun than that!!

Hanging out with G.

Getting ready for the big race.

Time to run.
5th place finish.

Standing on the award podium. Congratulations Aunt R. It was fun to watch you run.

Aunt R and G&G.

Aunt R with her fan club. We were the favorites of the Calvin track fans.

Here was the bulk of the Calvin track fans, cheering for the Women's 5K. Look closely--can you see me with Aunt R?

Aunt R and Coach D--the assistant and sprint coach.

The final of the 400 hurdles. GO Rachel (ignore the yelling in the background!)

Plan B

This weekend we were planning to do our first camping trip of the year. BUT when 6 inches of new snow fell in Estes on Wednesday and the forecast for the weekend was rain, M&D decided that heading out to the high country was probably not such a good idea. So time for Plan B. M&D had saved up a couple free hotel nights and M had 2 restaurant gift cards that hadn't been used, so it was decided a cheap weekend away in Denver was just the right thing for our family time. Since M&D had already taken Friday off, we got up early and worked on the camper to get it ready for next weekend. Then M&D did a couple other projects around the house and we were off to Denver, after stopping to say hi to G and her sister who was visiting for the weekend. The first thing we did when we got to Denver was to stop and get M's wedding ring in for her 6-month cleaning (2 1/2 years late!!). It was a good thing too, since one of the prongs was loose and about to break off. Having to wait until Sunday to pick the ring back up wasn't too big of deal, since we were already planning to be in the area.
Upon getting to the hotel, we found supper and then came back to swim before bed.
Saturday morning after breakfast we swam for a short bit while we waited for the Children's museum to open. M&D had never been to the Denver Children's Museum, but M had heard lots of great things. So once we knew it would be open, off we went for our day's adventures. The first thing we did was drive the fire engine.

D even helped C dress as a firefighter. The sirens and horns worked too.

Then we went to the room that taught us all about the animals--both under our feet and over our heads. There were tunnels and trees to climb.
C even dressed up as a rabbit and got into the spirit of scampering around the forest looking for food.There were trains to build--I supervised while D built the bridge between tables--puppet shows to put on...

and dance shows to perform.

C even stocked the produce shelves while I waited in line to check out my groceries.

We sat during story-time...
and D & I stayed longer to finish some more books.There was so much to do and we could have stayed much longer but it was getting close to lunchtime. Besides M&D kept looking out the window at the beautiful sunny day. So we decided to go get lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon outside. However, by the time we got to the Zoo the wind started picking up and the clouds were rolling in, but we decided to make the best of the sunny day we had left.
C wasn't too sure about the wild peacocks roaming free.

One was even in full plume.

The polar bear playing with his broken ball.

Another bird safe behind the fence. C wasn't too sure about the glass exhibits. She didn't quite understand the animal couldn't get to her, so when the huge fish and Komodo dragon came near the glass C backed away from it.

Enjoying one of the many animals. Notice I am holding the map, ready to tell M&D which way to go next.

2 hours at the museum and 2 hours at the zoo were long enough. I got tired of walking and M&D got tired of carrying 2 little girls around the Zoo, so we headed back to the hotel. After a short nap in the car I was ready to swim again. It was a wonderful weekend, full of family togetherness. And it turned out to be two beautiful sunny days. M&D were a little disappointed that we cancelled the camping trip, but I am sure we stayed much warmer in the hotel and we were all together so that is really all that matters. M says it was the best weekend she's had in a long time. No cleaning or errands, just fun time together with D and us girls.

The bubble room at the Children's museum.

End of year celebration

Last Wednesday, we had our end of the year celebration for Y school. From the weather that day, you would have thought it was a day in March rather than mid-May. My whole class singing to our parents.

Waiting patiently for my name to be called....

and my teacher to give me my present. Then I got to go sit with M while the older half of my class went through their graduation ceremony. I will be returning next year, so I just watched.

Singing YMCA.

We even know our months of the year.

Enjoy and have a great summer everyone. I have one more week of school and then Day Camp starts. I plan to have lots of fun enjoying the outdoors.

New van

We bought a new van last week, and it is the oldest vehicle we have so far, but it looks really nice. I've had fun riding in it so far. M and D hope to get a few years out of it and so put off having to buy M another commuter car. It is AWD so it will do good in the winter months, while the car still has a few years of life in it to commute during the summer months.l

Hair cut

M decided she was going to try to cut my hair herself. It just needed a trim and M didn't see spending the money for someone else to do it. After we got done and M was complaining to D that I moved too much, D said "that's why it is worth paying someone else." So now it is voting time. Did M do a good enough job to continue in the future or not?
BeforeAfterM's verdict is that it isn't perfectly straight, but my hair is so wild and crazy anyhow that most people probably won't notice. And I'm too young to care anyhow!!!

Yard Work

Last weekend was such beautiful weather that M decided it was a good day to replenish the rock alongside our house. It is a project that has been needing to get done for three years, but with little kids running everywhere, M just never had the energy to take on such a project.
As with any special event, the right outfit is essential. So I did my best to choose a good outfit!!! M just laughed at me and let me run outside. Part of the reason M laughed so hard was because this new dress I am wearing is actually a shirt that is only 2 sizes bigger than what I currently wear. I guess whatever works!!Part of the reason M was finally willing to take on this project is because she solicited the help of P and his trailer. We did about 6 wheelbarrows full to the flower beds and the back patio.

Then with the rest of the load P tilted his trailer and slowly drove forward, while M raked and leveled behind him. But with a ton of rock and a good hour of work the rock is again level with the driveway. Thanks P for helping. And it's a good thing P was there to help us since M was busy chasing after C as she was visiting the neighbors' houses!

The other excitement for me that morning was the huge crane that was in our neighborhood. P thought maybe someone was trying to move a hot tub or something.