From Brownie to Girl Scout

Last week, Peyton's Girl Scout troop held their bridging ceremony where Brownies cross "the bridge" to become full blown Girl Scouts. She gets a new sash and new patches and gets to embark on new and riskier adventures!

I loved my time as a Brownie and then a Girl Scout and would have continued it had it not been for our move to Illinois. Our troop was the best and our troop leaders were always so willing to take us on camp outs which was what we all looked forward to each season. I remember even going to the Poconos one winter camp out (of course I lived in NJ back then).

So I'm hoping that Peyton has just as great of a Girl Scout experience as I did when I was in the 4th grade. So far so good!

On her way over

Crossing the Bridge

Dash N Bash 2019

For the last 5 years our elementary school has held their annual Dash N Bash - a 1k race followed by a big party complete with inflatables, carnival games and food. It’s a huge hit with the kids and the week leading up to it begins with a spirit week.

It’s always a favorite of the girls to get to dress in their pjs for the day or participate in crazy hair day (Austen much preferred just the race). This year was the first year that Hailey got to officially participate and she was so excited. And I finally planned ahead for crazy hair day since I had 2 now really wanting to do it (even though I’m not a huge fan of it!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was fun to see both girls race. Peyton did great and ran at a good clip the entire way. She planned to run with another friend in her class and took off at warp speed. Her friend told her to slow down and she said, “I can’t! My dad promised me $5 if I was the first girl in my class across the finish line!” She says she won the $5 but I wasn’t there to verify as Hailey was starting as she was ending.

Hailey did great too. She started off smiling and running. She got second for girls in her class and her and the other girl beat most of the boys too! She was a little competitor and enjoyed her first Dash N Bash especially with her dad and brother as pacers for her class (see if you can spot them in the back of one of her pictures).

All in all a great 5th Dash N Bash and a great first one for Hailey.

 

Getting ready to race with her class

Smiling and running!

Peyton is on the left

Running hard!

 

Austen Hitting His Stride in XCountry

Austen in navy blue on the left running for CHMS

Austen's 7th grade cross country season is coming to an end with two more meets scheduled for this week and his big conference meet on Monday. He's looking to break into the top 15 this year at conference and has been running in at least the top 5-10 for his age group at various meets. They have a strong 7th grade team with Austen holding his own at the #4 spot.

His primary sport is soccer so he won't be running cross country when he gets to high school since the seasons conflict but it's been great training for him for soccer to get this much running in and an extra bonus that he's doing well at it too.

Here he is in fine form...

Kindergarten Update

Hailey is enjoying all of her new Kindergarten friends and of course has a few favorite boy friends. She has also expanded her circle of girl friends too which I was happy to see this year. She is on a girls soccer team and has also joined Tom and Peyton at Indian Princess events (think Girl Scouts but with Dads) so this has helped her develop stronger bonds with some of the girls. Very important since every girl needs at least one or two good girlfriends!

Since she attends school in the afternoon now it has been a bit of an adjustment for her (and me). She has asked me, "Mom, when is Kindergarten going to get here?!" And, "Why didn't you sign me up for the morning?" (I didn't because usually the afternoons are better - smaller class sizes and the veteran teacher.)

We have swimming and gymnastics one day a week in the mornings so that helps and us moms also schedule play dates on another day of the week to make the mornings go by quicker. 

 

We do her homework in the morning and a lot of reading. She’s really a great reader and her fluency has progressed quickly from when she first started to read. She enjoys doing homework and doesn’t mind sitting down in the morning to accomplish this. It’s really the time after school that’s been a period of adjustment for her as she is tired and needs a bit of downtime to recoup. But all in all, she’s so happy to be at the same school as her big sister!

Last Days of Summer...

We're grasping at the last days of summer over here trying not to let them slip through our fingers. Part of that is making sure we have plenty of time to spend at the beach house. So Labor Day Weekend, we made some concessions in our schedules and it allowed us to spend Friday night through Monday night in Michigan.

Saturday was a work day (it was a little on the cooler side too). Tom and Austen spent most of the day constructing our new shed while the girls and I ran errands and worked inside and then headed to the beach where the boys met up with us. At the end of the day, we were able to enjoy the golden hour and sunset by the lake and then headed up for a late dinner.

Sunday was more work as Tom bought a lawn mower and mowed the lawn. Our friends, who are building a house across the street from us, came up to check on their construction and we ended up spending the afternoon and early evening with them checking out one of the cider places we had been wanting to go to. They had lots of lawn games and a petting zoo for the kids so they were certainly entertained while we enjoyed our flights of cider. From there it was dinner and ice cream.

Monday morning we met up with another group of friends for breakfast and then headed down to the beach to soak up the sun on what was arguably the best day of the weekend before heading back home to Chicago.

Three nights there and still too short. Our only solace is that we get to go back next weekend for another 24 hours! That and technically there's still about 3 official weeks left of summer!