Race Day!

Today was Monica's first cross country meet! Anton and I really had no idea what to expect and were trying to be prepared for everything from her crying and refusing to run all the way to her winning the whole thing (she does have good genes you know :) ). It was a warm day (84 degrees) but there was a nice breeze blowing at Woodland Park, where the meet was held. We made camp near the tent set up for our team, the South End Saints, which is comprised of students from St. Francis, St. Philomena, and St. Bernadette. It's K-8 so as you can imagine, the meet was absolutely crazy. Here are a few moments we captured:

Monica and Eva, pre-race.

Team prayer and pep-talk from Coach Bruce.

Disgruntled fan: "I wanna run too!"

Warm-up and stretching

The race was about 1/2 mile. The course started on the grass field you see here, then they funnel onto a trail that loops them around and back toward the grass for the finish.

She finished... and with a big smile on her face! They don't keep times or places for her age group, but she was about middle of the pack.

Post-run cool down and water. What a great day!

Friends

We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends in our lives. Last night we had a group over for thai food take-out, followed by girls nite out and guys nite in. The guys watched the Husky game :( and played a nerdy board game. Us girls checked out the new mall and had dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. (Well, for me "dessert" is fried calamari and a pint of Mac n Jack's.) Of course I had to check the game score at the bar every ten mintues, but eventually I stopped checking and instead just drowned my sorrows. When we finally got home we watched a hilarious episode of Saturday night live... tons of political impersonations from this past week. Anyway it was a great evening. And as always I'm reminded of how lucky we are to have great friends to share our daily, or at least weekly, lives with. Our cup runneth over!

Correction

I take back everything I said a few days ago about the differences between boys and girls!

A Fort

Why buy toys? Pillows and blankets are just as fun!

Games Kramers Play

I used to not really believe in fundamental differences between boys and girls. I totally believed in nurture over nature. Now, I don't deny that girls can sling mud with the boys and so forth, but as a parents of one of each, I can say that in my experience boys and girls are TOTALLY different. (I have noticed this through my teaching as well.)
Here's a quick glimpse of this in the Kramer household:

Jack's favorite toys and games: cars and trucks, building things, anything sports. Here he is holding his favorite nerf football.

Monica's favorite toys and games: Polly Pockets, her dollhouse, playing house/teacher/doctor, baby doll, and any toys that are PINK. Here she is with "Dora" the bear whom she loves to dress up in pink and pretend to take her to a bear school.

Fall Favorites and the Fair

Here are some of my favorite things about fall:
1. Football
2. Halloween and Thanksgiving
3. Tailgating
4. Saturday afternoon naps
5. New episodes of our favorite shows
6. Fall decor in the house
7. Back to school excitement and new students
8. Getting cozy under blankets on the couch with a movie or a good book (I would add by the fireplace here but unfortunately that's one thing our house doesn't have!)
9 Fall activities: cross country, soccer, etc.
10 The FAIR!

We "Did the Puyallup" yesterday with Rob, Courtney, and Hayden. I was excited to go to the fair, even though unfortunately we picked the first rainy day of September. But being true Seattleites, rain never deters us. I really had no idea what a huge hit the fair would be with the kids. Jack sat in his stroller for hours: completely mesmerized by everything around him. We discovered the key to his heart: elephant ears! I've never seen him devour something so quickly. And Moncia was totally in heaven with the food, sites, and activities.

Here was our day by the numbers: 4 burgers and fries, 1 giant elephant ear, 1 corn on the cob, 1 bag of pink cotton candy, 20 ride tickets, 3 cool rides (merry-go-round, ferris wheel, and kids' coaster), over 20 different types of animals, 3 giant pumpkins, and 7 potty stops.

What a day!

Jack toe-to-toe with a sheep

Petting a bunny

Milking a "cow"

This was MY favorite spot

Self-portrait on the ferris wheel

Hayden on the merry-go-round with Courtney
Monica and I right behind them

A little nervous going on the roller coaster all by herself

All smiles once it gets started!

First taste of cotton candy: yum!

Snazzy Shoes

Here's Mo sporting her new shoes for Cross Country. Her first pair of running shoes!
Looking pretty spiffy, Little Miss!

Before and After

Before school...

After school...

This week is off to a good start. Jack seems to be having fun at daycare, and we are so pleased with having a great place for him with a caring staff right on the Kennedy campus! He loves his cars lunchbox and playing with all the other kids the most, although he still has some time of adjustment each morning, apparently. Monica is really enjoying kindergarten. She especially likes recess and is excited to have three times outside once full-days begin next week. Drop-offs have been hard, but today was her first day of no tears. Yay! She and her friend Eva started cross country practice Monday.

Dawgs in the dumps, but we still love 'em!

It's always a bummer weekend when both the Huskies and the Hawks lose. Unfortunately it looks like we better get used to it or risk depression for the entire fall. Despite a heartbreak loss to BYU Saturday, we still had a great time at the game and dinner w/ the Brouillards at Buca di Beppos afterwards.

Haircuts

Barber Keri was on duty Friday night. Pretty much everyone got a hair cut, although Scott chickened out at the last minute. We also watched the movie "Storm Over Everest," which I would highly recommend.

Family Workout

The weather has been so awesome, we've been outside almost every day. This usually involves some combination of Monica riding her bike, Jack walking or in the jogging stroller, and Anton and I scampering along behind trying to catch them.

"Hey, Daddy, that's MY bike!"

"Look, no training wheels!"

"Let's run, Mom!"

The Big K

Well she's officially a kindergartener. The drop-off was pretty rough, but when I arrived home from work she was all smiles. Nanie K had picked her up and Monica reported that she'd had a great time and even showed Nanie around her classroom. They had a homework sheet (geez, even I don't give homework the first day!) which asked the students to write down their favorite and least favorite parts of their first day of kindergarten, and to draw a picture of their new friends. Under what she liked least, Monica wrote "Nothing!" I'm sure she'll have her share of ups and downs to come, but I think today can go in the record books as a success! Now we'll just have to see how Jack does at daycare tomorrow.

Breakfast: pears and leftover waffles. Yum!

"Don't forget to snap a picture of me today too!"

With Dora lunchbox and backpack from Guatemala, courtesy of Grandpa Mike.

Getting settled as Mrs. Dirks explains the first activity (Monica's back is to the camera).
A few sniffles as we say good-bye.