The Accidental Boilermaker

 Evelyn had a meet yesterday and today. It’s been so hot, I wish they could get some cooler weather to run in. She ran a 16:43 and 16:56. But now she has a full week before she races again.  It’s a rush to pick up Jameson and get to the meets, especially if they are away. Today was at a middle school 30 minutes away.  We missed the boys but were on time for the girls. Evelyn and her friend Daphne often run together. Today I picked up Daphne’s brother Levi from school with Jameson and together they cheered on the  girls.

 It was a busy day. We left the house at 9:30 for Evelyn’s cross country invitational. Middle school girls ran at 11:30 but Evelyn wanted to see the high school girls run at 10:30.  She had a really good run, hitting another PR at 16:03. She finished 6th on her team and was 88th out of 148 girls.  The event ended before the rain came but that meant our plan for a picnic lunch before Jameson’s soccer game needed to change.  Thankfully we did find a place we could sit outside and be protected from the rain. Jameson entered his Iresine brilliantissima plant into the school plant show and he won a blue ribbon. That meant he got to show his plant at the city final plant show. We dropped it off Friday night.  Because of Jameson’s soccer games, we weren’t able to attend the city plant show. But between games we ran over to pickup his plant. And he won another blue ribbon! He was so excited. Soccer games went well too. They won the first and lost the second.  Overa...

 Evelyn had her first middle school cross country meet yesterday. She looked good and was happy with her time, 17:04 for a 3K. This was faster than her team qualifying time which she was proud of. She finished 12th out of 27 and 6th for her team. She was the fastest 6th grade girl on her team too. Out of the top 9 girls from her team, 8 are Girls on the Run alumni which is pretty cool too.  Lap One Lap Two

 Overnight lows were chilly so we all slept in because we were warm in our sleeping bags. We did finally get up, eat breakfast and go for a hike. We climbed up Mount Randall and instead of hiking down to the beach, Jameson asked if we could climb another dune and then head back to Mount Randall. It’s more fun to climb dunes and run down them then hike all over.  After lunch it was beach time! It was a little warmer and less windy so the water felt a touch warmer.  After swimming Jameson asked if we could visit a farmers market down the road. They had lots of fun stuff. We settled on a jar of raspberry peach jam. Then we made our annual trip to the Beach Bucket for ice cream.  We enjoyed a nice big fire back at the campsite with hobo pies and s’mores. Two nights felt so short; no one really wanted to leave the next day. Monday morning we climbed the dune one last time and said goodbye to Lake Michigan. 

 We went camping at Warren dunes over the weekend. We drove up Saturday, set up camp and headed to the beach.  I thought the water was cold but Evelyn did not. She was out swimming the most. We came back to the camp site to make dinner. Then went back to the beach for the sunset. 

 First day of school was Thursday. Evelyn is out the door so early compared to Jameson.  We had time to play a game before he and I needed to leave the house. But starting tomorrow, the difference won’t be so big since Jameson’s bus pick up time was moved forward 15 minutes. Evelyn rode her bike to school both days. She gets home so much earlier too but cross country starts tomorrow so that will also change. Evelyn knows at least one person in all her classes and seems to like her teachers. Jameson has the same 4th grade teacher that Evelyn had but was disappointed none of his friends from his third grade class are in his class this year. He knows lots of the girls, but that doesn’t count. Today I got to use two different birthday gifts. Nate and the kids gave me an inflatable SUP. In the morning we went to Leo, rented two kayaks from the FW Outfitters and paddled around the Cedarville reservoir and the st Joseph river. Nate rested in the shade for the first hour while me and ...

 School starts tomorrow! We squeezed in some fun things these last few days. Tuesday we swam at a friend’s house. Friday we went rock climbing. We practically had the place to ourselves. We all climbed and had a fun time. Today we went to a park just to spend some time outside. We decided on Lakeside because they have a fishing pond. Jameson of course caught a fish.