All Good Things...

Like a favorite song or an afternoon nap, so too summer vacation must come to an end. And as such, this past Monday saw the 3 older kids return to Red Lion Christian Academy for the 2009-10 school year.

Alex is now in 7th grade. Academically, he is 2 years ahead in math, taking Honors Algebra 1. He will also continue his efforts in band, but has also expanded his extra-curricular efforts into the middle school newspaper and is trying out for soccer as well.

Abigail has graduated up to 5th grade. Aside from her academics, she will continue playing the clarinet for band and is also seeking a larger role in a dramatic production.

Amanda has stepped up to 3rd grade. Academically, she's doing something none of the other kids (nor her father) have done and is being introduced to Spanish. In fact, I came home from work this evening and she very pointedly greeted me by saying, "Hola!"

As always, I present for your viewing pleasure our traditional pic of the kids leaving for their first day.

Running for a Cause

This past Saturday, Mom took part in her second 5k run of the season; the Red Lion Glasgow Fiasco 5K Run/Walk at Glasgow Park. The race attracted 150 attendants and proceeds benefit the RLCA Athletic Boosters Club.

In contrast to the last race she took part in, the GCA Runaway back in June, this time we opted to leave the kids at home with Grammy due to the miserable weather. In fact, we were seriously doubting the race would even happen when the radar showed approaching thunderstorms. But by God's good grace, when race time rolled around, we were blessed with a break in the deluge.

Of course, the important bit - The results: Mom finished the course in 29.50, coming in 79th. More importantly, she placed 2nd in the 30-39 year women class. Woo hoo! Not bad when you consider the puddles, mud, and 77 year old men she had to dodge. Way to go, Mom!

(Full results are available here (PDF).)

Next on the agenda? Mom keeps bringing up the idea of doing a triathlon. And a friend at church suggested they take part in a biathlon (I think she meant duathlon, but I needed a reason to post this pic).

Middle of Nowhere

On Wednesday, August 5th, Mom and I, on a whim, decided we should pack up the kids and head to the beach again that following Friday. As if this impromptu travel wasn't crazy enough, on Saturday morning we really went out on a limb and headed nearly an hour southward and met up with some friends at Assateague Island.

For those unfamiliar, Assateague is a long, narrow spit of land that runs along the eastern shore from Maryland to Virginia. On the island is a national park where the only natural inhabitants are wild horses, ponies, deer, mosquito and flies, all of which roam freely and often in close proximity to the park guests...with the latter closer than the former (ask my legs).

The North Beach is much like the beaches we normally frequent with a large parking lot and bath house. But that wasn't our destination. Instead, we dropped the van off at a remote parking lot, met our friends on the south beach, loaded our stuff into their Suburban and headed a couple of miles down shore via the sand. Check the picture at the beginning of the article. See that green arrow? Yeah, that's about where we were. No beach house. No roads. No data connection on my phone. This is a whole different way of beaching (can I use 'beach' as a verb?).

The whole experience was awesome. We had over 200 feet of beach front all to ourselves. We had a wide sandbar that allowed for some awesome skim-boarding for Aidan. We had lots of sun, comfortable temps, mild waves, hermit crabs, and...did I mention the amount of beach front we had all to ourselves?

Amanda's 8th Birthday

Last Wednesday, August 5th, our families gathered here at our house to celebrate Amanda's 8th birthday. In attendance were Nana and Poppop, Grammy, Grandad and Mommom, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Jenn, cousins Allie and Joey, Uncle Jason, Aunt Debbie, and cousins Nick and Brianna.

As Amanda matures, so are her gifts. This year saw a wealth of CD's and DVD's come her way. Also included was her trip to Harrington to see Demi Lovato in concert (previously covered here). My little girl is growing up so fast...

Happy Birthday Amanda.

Games Rednecks Play

OK, I'm not ashamed to admit it: I have a little redneck in me. Not too much, mind you. I have never ever degreased engine parts in the bathtub, had my home mistaken for a junkyard, or cut my grass and found a car. But I do find some strange pleasure in things like mud bog races or lawn mower races.

So in that spirit, my brood, along with neighborhood friend Zack, headed to Fairhill, MD on Saturday night to the Cecil County Fair to watch the annual Stoney Robert's Demolition Derby.



The night did start off a little wonky. We arrived >1 hour early and found the stands and walkways already jam packed due to the Vater's Monster Motorsports show which, unbeknownst to us, started earlier that evening. The Vater's show consisted of a monster truck show followed by a show involving 2 quads powered by helicopter jet turbines. They were really...something... Picture lots of noise, lots of fire, more noise, a lot of dust and toss in a little ash for good measure.

Once the Vater show wrapped up, we were able to finally find some bleacher seats; but only due to a family vacating some space due to the impending downpour headed our way. Yes, it rained on us. Significantly.

But the rains quickly subsided and the derby got under way. And how. We were treated to over 3 hours of mayhem resulting in the destruction of countless unsuspecting automobiles. Each heat, the kids picked their favorites, usually based on color or something, and rooted them on. Usually to the point their favorite fell disabled by the wayside, at which point they picked a new favorite. Somehow, by the end of each heat their favorite just happened to be the victor. I don't know how they do it.

As for Zack, he seemed to really enjoy his first Demo Derby. And next year I think he might take a stab at the greased pole contest. Yeah, there's a little redneck in us all...admit it.