We went to Mackinaw for Labor Day...Surprise:) It was a perfect weekend for boating, so the kids explored islands and went swimming off shore. We walked the bridge, Taylor in heels, hung out in town, and had fun with friends.
Middle School Cross Country! Taylor is in her 2nd year of running on the cross country team. While Kevin and I both ran track, we were sprinters, not long distance runners! I can't even comprehend how she can run a 5 mile practice, or run a 2 mile race! The team is doing VERY well. Tay has a friend that comes in 1st or 2nd at every meet, even the large invitationals where there are over 100 runners. Tay has earned a medal in every race that has had medal opportunities! Last weekend at Delta College, the Shepherd Middle School Girls and Boys teams came in 2nd only to a middle school that has more students that Shepherd has K-12. Here's a fact that I have learned...In cross country, they give points to the first 5 runners from every team that crosses the finish line. The other runners are there to "push" the top 5 from their team. Each of these runners earns points based on the place that they came in (ie. 1st place earns 1 point, 6th place earns 6 points for the team, 19th earns 19 points for the team as long as they were one of the first 5 from that team to cross). The goal is to be the team with the fewest points. If a team has fewer than 5 runners, then that team cannot compete for team placement. Interesting huh?
Tay at Delta, crossing the finish line. This was a 2 mile race. You can see the time in the upper right corner showing that she crossed in 15:06 minutes (about a 7 1/2 minute mile).
Tay coming in to the finish line at Delta. Right in front of her is a runner from West Intermediate in Mt. Pleasant, where I ran track. I said "West is Best" at one point in the day. Tay did not think that this was very funny!
Tay and another team member with their former coach and teacher who retired this year and now lives in Florida. The kids were thrilled that they came back for Homecoming and attended the meet.
Bear's Baptism on a beautiful and sunny day at a park in Lansing. Later we went to Bear's football game, where Jenny Mankel (Myers) youngest Kameron was also playing football on the next field over! We ended the day with an amazing dessert compliments of Susie!
P.S. I also am in full swing at CMU, which is really why there have been no posts! We moved into our new building and have had many special events because of it. I recently counted how many tours we've given of the new preschool space and I had over 8 in a two week time period, several at night and on weekends! It doesn't seem to be slowing down, as I've just scheduled another one for today, tomorrow, three for next week, and at least one for the week following. I also spent an hour with a CM Life reporter yesterday who is working on an article about the program. On top of that, I just received a large grant to create a state resource center at CMU (child care and early learning), which has required many trips to Lansing and an upcoming shift in my workload (meaning...more work). That officially begins tomorrow, October 1.
And I did remember to text Susu on her Birthday!!! We even ate dinner out to celebrate for her.
How is your life going?
