My Olympians

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.  Or at least in this case, our already scheduled blog post.  Hahaha.  I've had these pictures uploaded since last week, and meant to blog about the kids' Track Camp last Friday, but I think my super tiredness must have kicked in once again and I didn't get it done.

Last week, the older three participated in an Olympic Track Camp through the Parks and Rec department.  They pretty much loved every second of it, even though it was BRUTALLY hot for most of the days and they were all SUPER sore from all that extra running.  :)

Friday was the last day of the camp, and culminated in an Olympic track meet between all the "countries" that were created during the week.  Ethan was Team USA, Grace represented Italy, and Sophie was from Brazil, of course.  Hahaha.  All the campers got to tie-dye t-shirts earlier in the week and wore them for the big meet.  Face painting was also in order for the morning, along with plenty of taunting amongst my kids.  {Seriously, if I had to hear one more fight between Ethan, Grace, and Sophie during the course of the week over whose team was better and which country would win the meet, I was going to lose it.}

{Grace was dead set on attaching that flag pole to the side of her face so that her face actually looked like the Italian flag.  Hahahaha.  Oh Grace.  She DID take it off when it came time to run.}

Team USA

Team Italy

Team Brazil

Scott was working from home that day, so he was able to join us for a couple hours that morning to watch the big kids run and help me corral the little ones on the field.  The meet opened with the "hurdles," and Grace and Sophie both participated -- although they were in different heats.  {And for the record, there were NO official scores or times being kept.  It was one of those everyone-has-fun-and-they-all-get-a-medal affairs.  :)  }

After the hurdles, Grace and Sophie both did the long jump, while Ethan geared up for the 100 meter dash.  Unfortunately for Ethan, I have no documentation for that race, AND the kid in the lane next to him TOTALLY kept knocking into his lane and as a result Ethan did NOT win his race.  Which, of course, he feels like he WOULD have won if no one was in his way.  ;)

Alex and Jane, meanwhile, were completely running rampant.  I sure was glad that Scott was there to help with those two clowns, because there's no way I could have watched the runners, taken pictures, AND kept track of Thing 1 and Thing 2 if he wasn't there.

About 15 minutes into the meet, the skies opened and we were treated to a constant drizzle for the rest of the morning.  It was just enough to cool things off and feel refreshing, and not so much that it ruined the rest of the meet.  Basically, it was practically perfect in every way.

After the 100 meter dash was done, Ethan got ready for the 400 meter and totally vindicated himself with a win.  :)  Hahaha.  Grace and Sophie both ran the 400 as well, and then went back to back with the 1 mile.

I'm not quite sure why they had the girls 1 mile RIGHT after the 400, but that didn't stop Grace and Sophie from going all out, even though maybe it should have.  Haha.  Sophie went from acting like she was dying after the 400 to hopping up and running over to the line after hearing the last call for the 1 mile.  And then she shot out of there like a cannon for the first 100-200 meters of the race.  I don't think she realized she'd be doing 4 full laps around the track.  Yikes.  For a little while, though, she was leading the pack.  :)

It wasn't long before Sophie dropped behind, and Grace wasn't too far ahead.  Grace has had some foot problems since her feet starting growing so fast and so big, and it started acting up in the middle of the meet.  As a result, her foot was "killing her" (she said) and she didn't finish as strong as she would have liked.  I felt really bad for her, because I could tell it was hurting a lot, but she just wouldn't call it quits.

After the girls' mile was done, it was time for the boys' mile, and Ethan lined up one last time.  I know he was wanting to win this one as well, but I think he was still a bit tired from the 400 meter dash, and he hasn't quite learned pacing or racing strategy just yet.  {I think he came in 4th or 5th.}

{Grace made a little friend during the week.  Her name was Cassidy, and she tagged along behind Grace almost the entire day.  Hahaha.  What can I say?  Grace is the Pied Piper of Hamlin, part 2.}

Once the races were over, the medals were handed out and a big group picture was taken.  By someone.  I'm not sure if they'll be emailing that out, or if I should have run onto the field and taken a picture myself.  Hahaha.  At least I got a picture of MY crew before we left for the day.  :) 

All in all, it was a super successful week and meet.  I'm sure the kids will want to do it again next summer.  And perhaps Jane will join in the fray as well.  :)