Still Running

Ready to run

Pre race smiles

Last summer, Erin and I trained for a local Women's 4 Mile race.  She had an absolute blast, and finished a minute ahead of me.  But once the race was over, it was pulling teeth to get her to run with me again.  Objective met, objective finished.  No more running with mommy.
Back in March I started running more again.  I tried to get Erin to run with me some, but she wasn't into it.  And running with a 9 year old who's not into it is not so much fun for mommy.  But there came a chance to sign up for a local 5K.  The organization is one that supports and works with people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).  In my job, I'm working with several kids afflicted with ASD and felt called to get back out and run again.  I asked Erin if she wanted to run with me and she immediately said yes.  I explained that we would need to train a little bit, her response "OK".
I got her out to run with me twice before the race.  Much of that under great duress.  We did one 3 mile run here around the neighborhood.  There was quite a bit of walking and grumbling, but we finished.
The morning of the race was cool but beautiful.  The night before I toyed with not waking Erin for the race.  It had been a long week and I knew she really needed to sleep.  We had already decided that Tom and Jeff would stay at home so Jeff could sleep in.  But Erin woke bright and early, popped out of bed and quickly dressed for the race.  We had a simple breakfast of bread and fruit since we were still over an hour from race start.

Post race glow

Once we got there, Erin confirmed that she was allowed to walk.  I said of course if we needed to walk we would.  The course is rather hilly and narrow to start so our first half mile was rather slow.  Once things opened up I let Erin set the pace and we moved along nicely.  I took the lead for much of the hilly 2nd mile.  Erin asked to stop and walk and few times, but I kept her talking and thinking by quizzing her on multiplication facts.  As long as she could answer her times tables, I figured we could keep our pace.  She kept answering.  We kept running.
The final mile is almost all down hill, with one steep hill right at the end.  I was well in the lead moving down that hill and could hear her about 20 feet behind me.  There were other runners and a little crowd at the bottom of the hill and I heard several of them cheering Erin on, and a little smile came over my face.  That is, until I realized that she was cruising right past me at some breakneck speed.  I tried to catch up with her, but she got me in the end, just like last summer.
The next day I checked on the local running club's website.  They post times for their sponsored runs, and had times posted for our run.  Lo and behold, Erin finished 2nd in her age group, just a minute behind the winner.
We finished our morning with free bagels and fruit at the race and headed home to fill Jeffrey and daddy in on the great news.

Pan

Michael and Peter

My little Michael

Back at the beginning of March Jeffrey's music teacher recommended him to the high school to fill the role of Michael (the youngest boy) in Peter Pan.  After going and auditioning before three complete strangers he got the part.  He spent most of March and April at rehearsal.  Every day after school he would go down to the high school and hang out with his friends.  He was very lucky that the cast quickly took him in and made him part of the family.  They didn't really mind having a 7 year old boy running around, jumping on their backs, being silly with them.
They had their 3 shows this weekend.  It was a long week of rehearsals, but he made it through.  One night he got home and barely made it to his bed before falling asleep.  The next night he came home completely hyper and singing silly warm-up songs at 11 PM because he couldn't fall asleep.
The shows all were great.  Jeff had his moments of goofiness on stage, and by Friday night his allergies were bothering him to the point he was sniffling into his head mic.  But you could tell he was just having so much fun.  He loved the dances and especially the "combat" scenes.  His favorite part about the combat scene was where he got to jump onto a pirate's back and then steal her sword and sit on her.
After the last show he was invited to come to the cast party.  I brought him thinking the high school kids didn't really want a little kid running around (especially at 11 PM).  But they continued their inclusion of him, letting him jump and play with them.  By midnight, when I coaxed him to leave, we headed to the car and Jeff started sobbing.  It was all setting in that the show was done.  He had spent more time with these folks than our family for the past few weeks, and seen them all every day for the past month.  They had become his family.  His little heart broke when he realized that he wasn't going to be with his friends every day any more, and especially the "seniors going to college".  I explained to him we would see them other places around town.  I mean, there's always Wal-Mart :)
So here are a few photos and quick video clips that I got during the shows.  The photos were taken by some of the high school students and shared on the play website.

They never let me play father

Flying!

This tie, won't tie

Tender Shepherd

I'm so proud of our little guy for working so hard and being brave enough to get up there with a bunch of big kids and just have fun.  Way to go buddy.

His buddy Charlie

On the "rock" outside the school

Spring Break!

Outside the VA Science Center

We spent our Spring Break taking short trips from home.  Knowing that the end of April and all of May are always crazy we decided to hang it a little low.  Mostly we hung around town, but we did break out into Richmond a few times as well as spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa W. who we hadn't seen since Thanksgiving.

The week started with Easter and our first soccer game of the season.  We hung low for the weekend.  It was beautiful on Saturday and the kids spent their first long day playing in the woods behind the house.  We also colored our eggs that day.  Easter turned out cooler and rainy, but still a lovely day at home.

Monday turned beautiful again and we dug out the bikes.  I wanted to get in a run and the kids wanted to bike so we headed to the river in C'ville to get our move on.  They both had a blast on their bikes and then played around at the playground for a while when we got back.

Spinning!

Tuesday the kids had some friends over for the day and they spent most of their time hanging out back down in the woods.  There was also some Wii Just Dance 4 time.



Wednesday we took that great trip to King's Dominion.  The redid the kid's area this winter so we spent a long time hanging there.  I have to admit that the new "Planet Snoopy" is pretty cool.  It is geared so that parents and children can enjoy the area together.  I ended up riding several of the rides with the kids, including one hot air balloon ride that soars into the air and has a wheel so the kids can turn the baskets.

Flying

On Thursday, Grandma and Grandpa arrived from New York - via 8 weeks in Florida.  They were greeted with an April sleet storm as we drove home from dinner.  We chilled out for the rest of the evening playing cards and hanging out.

Friday we headed back towards Richmond and checked out the Virginia Science Center.  It has tons of hands on activities and the kids really had a blast.  We caught a few shows, built arches, watched the pendulum, explored magnets and light.  Since the museum is housed in an old train station there are also several old trains outside.

With her new purse from Grandma

Placing the keystone

Saturday and Sunday we returned to chilling at home.  We had soccer and Jeff had a long rehearsal for Peter Pan.  There was lots of playing cards, sitting on the deck.  We went over to the campground where the RV was parked and used their "Jumping Pillow" for an hour or so on Sunday.  Talk about a workout.  So much fun though.

Soccer time

Jumping

Jumping in style

By Monday, everyone was worn out and ready for school again.  We had a great week, lots of fun and probably not as much rest as we needed.  But all in all it was a fun time.

Chilling with Grandpa

Oh how they grow...

I love daffodils. They have been my favorite flower for as long as I can remember.  As a birthday gift 8 years ago, my mom and Oma gave me a box of daffodil bulbs.  Every year since then I've watched for the first signs of spring when they poke above the ground (usually early February here in VA).  That same year I had my first blossoms I started taking pictures of the kids sitting with the flowers.  That year it seemed like I had hundreds of blossoms smothering my tiny babes.  

Well, 8 years later and my bulbs are getting tired.  I'm only getting a handful of blossoms this year.  It's a little sad.  They also seem so much smaller compared to my quickly growing babes.  So here are some photos throughout the years of the kids and my favorite flowers.  

My babies with so many flowers in 2006

Erin smelling her flower in 2007

Jeff with his daffodil - 2008

Easter Baskets and little flowers 2009

My growing girl - 2010

Sweeties with a flower - 2011

Surprise kisses with a tulip 2012

2013 -- Shadows on my girl

Looking at the flower

Growing so big

Silly, silly boy

Sweet little smile

So handsom

Small Stuff

Yay for Spring Break!

Since Erin was 9 months old she's been on her own, teeny-tiny growth curve.  She's petite, and definitely short for her class.  Many of the friends she hangs with are a good head (sometimes head/shoulders) taller than she is.  They can carry her around on their backs like she was a doll.  

Erin and one of her best friends from school.

Her brother on the other hand is at the opposite end of the growth curve.  He's one of the tallest in his class and it seems he will soon be taller than his mommy.  Being the tall kid is kinda cool, but no one throws you around like a doll.  He's been taller than her for a good 2 years.  Remember, she is 2 years older.

Erin has always been much more the thrill seeker than Jeff has.  She LOVES amusement parks and roller coasters.  The higher and faster the better.  And toss in a loop, and she's golden.  Unfortunately most of those rides have height requirements. 

Poofy hair pushed him into orange

Each summer we buy passes to a "nearby" (1.5 hours, but it's worth it) amusement park for the summer. They always open as a preview over spring break.  We took our first visit there today.  Upon arriving at the park, generally we wait in line for our wrist band.  The coveted band is orange in color and lets you ride anything you want.  The required height -- 54".  Last year her brother was close, but never close enough to garner himself an orange.  Today we approached the measuring marker and her brother proudly walked up to the color bar kiosk and stood well within the "orange" range.  Erin looked at me sadly, walked to the kiosk and was nowhere near that orange range.  Still solidly in purple.  For the third year in a row.  

Now you can ride some pretty awesome rides in purple.  You can rise up 272 feet into the air and then free fall at a speed of 72 MPH back to earth.  There is one steel coaster with loops, and another that blasts you off through a spiral incline.  Still, those really cool rides, the one that drops at a nearly 90 degree angle after climbing 300 feet, are restricted to the "orange" kids.  And those are the ones that she really wants to ride.  

I saw her face crumble, and held her against my chest while she cried. "It's not fair, it's just not fair.  I'm never going to be tall enough to ride the fun rides."  She sobbed for several minutes while park goers looked askew at me, "It's hard when baby brother gets into orange and she's still in purple," I tried to explain.  Especially when he takes one look at the Volcano and runs in terror.  

Riding Rebel Yell with a good friend

We met up with some friends a little bit later (after riding the flipping ship ride that holds you upside down) and her spirits lifted.  Her brother did get his first "orange" ride in later this afternoon (an inside-launch-flipping-spiraling-inthedark coaster) and loved it.  

Here's hoping that my sweet girl hits a growth spurt in the next few months so she might get a chance at some of these rides by the end of the season.  Otherwise, I'll have to continue to remind her that genes are not on her side (I'm only 5'1") but eventually she'll be able to sit next to me on Intimidator and scream with the best of them.  

Worn Out