The Accidental Boilermaker

 Sunday morning started with some drizzle. It was a little tricky fixing breakfast but not too bad. We didn’t have great cell service at our campsite so it was hard to check the weather.  We still decided to try for a hike and see National Bridge, this time from a different trail.  Our site was right along a creek that the kids could splash around in and Jameson liked to skip stones. It also came in handy when we needed to rinse off muddy shoes and feet.  Before our hike we stopped in town for gas and ice.  The rain started to pick up, so we looked around the visitor center and started brainstorming back up indoor activities.  Something everyone thought sounded fun was kayaking underground in an old mine but the soonest we could get a reservation was Tuesday.  So for the afternoon we decided to visit a history museum just up the road.  By the time we arrived at the trailhead the rain had let up. We found the sky lift that brings people who don’t w...

 Saturday we left to go camping at Red River Gorge in Kentucky. Nate and I can’t agree how we decided on Kentucky. I think it’s because last summer we had friends who went to New River Gorge in West Virginia and it sounded like a really fun place. But then I just misremembered the name when we started making our summer vacation plans. Nate thinks different friends showed us a picture of either Natural Bridge or Red River Gorge and said wouldn’t this be a cool place to visit and that’s where we got the idea. I have no recollection of this. Either way Red River Gorge is a very cool place to visit and we had a great time.  We stayed at Natural Bridge State Park. Our site was huge and the tent side was very quiet. Our biggest concern was the weather. Not only did it predict rain for everyday we were camping, it had rained significantly before we arrived. Thankfully our site was not a muddy mess and even though we drove through rain, it was not raining when we arrived.  We set...

 Last day of 6th and 4th grade. Overall, a good school year. Lots of highlights and good memories but we are all ready for summer.  Evelyn was awarded high academic honors at the 6th grade honor breakfast on Monday.  I couldn’t attend so a friend shared the picture and news.   I forgot to take Jameson’s picture before school. We wanted to get to school in time to enjoy a coffee and hot chocolate from Travelin’ Toms curtesy of the PTA.  Soccer ended on Tuesday with parent v player, awards, and coaches dinner. Jameson graduates to travel in the fall but in the meantime he’s looking forward to some low-key summer rec soccer.

 Let’s talk 5Ks. The GOTR 5K was on Sunday. I think it went off well; I’ve received no angry emails suggesting otherwise.  It’s just such a big, stressful day that I can’t really enjoy any of it and only see the problems or things that could go better.  We did a color run this season. Another reason I was so stressed out but again everyone seems to think it went great. We had three color stations - pink, green and purple. Very GOTR colors. I wish I had gotten a better picture of what Evelyn looked like at the end. Jameson was the first place finisher (even though we don’t do placement awards) so he was able to tell the color throwers he didn’t want color.  We might have to have a discussion in the fall if he’s allowed to run again; he’s just too fast.  Back in April the three of us did a 5K just for fun. It was a breezy, cold day.  Jameson ran out ahead and Evelyn and I ran together until the very end when she decided to sprint to the finish and I just coul...

 Today was the 4th grade Hoosier wax museum. Kids have been working hard researching their famous Hoosier and writing their mini speech. Jameson was Mad Anthony Wayne, revolutionary war hero who built the fort that became the city of Fort Wayne.  He really wanted to be DeMarcus Beasley (American soccer player) but he wasn’t an option.  The event started with a performance of Back Home Again in Indiana and Take Me Out to the Ballgame (music by a Hoosier) followed by two recorder pieces. They ended by singing Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson. Students then reported to their museum location and waited for visitors to press their button, causing the wax figures to come to life and recite their speech.  Other famous Hoosiers I learned about induced Shelley Long, Axel Rose, Madam CJ Walker, David Letterman, John Wooden, Lilly King, and Skylar Diggins. 

 We survived the month of April!  With soccer, track, piano and girls on the run, our schedule was very carefully orchestrated.  I can only remember one hiccup where I had to call Nate while at GOTR because a pop up storm canceled Evelyn’s track meet.  The bus was returning to school early and who was going to be there to pick her up. Wednesday night at goalie training, the dad of one of Jameson’s friends offered us tickets to the Fort Wayne Football Club’s home opener at their brand new stadium.  With no plans for Saturday night we were pretty excited. The stadium is not finished and the section our seats were in was not open. None of the rows were labeled and the seats weren’t numbered so we kind of guessed what seats seemed appropriate.  A few people were frustrated by the situation but most people were in good spirits and just tried to find seats in the general area of their ticket.  It was a fun night.  Fort Wayne scored the opening goal but ...

 It was a busy week! But we survived.  Girls on the Run started. Indoor soccer ended. Middle school track started. Lip sync was Wednesday night. Jameson’s class performed Golden from K Pop Demon Hunters.  Saturday was AIMs (achievement in music). I stayed with Jameson as he went to all his stations. He did, I thought, a great job on his repertoire pieces. We could hear Evelyn’s second repertoire piece through the door and it sounded great too. We went straight from AIMs to FAME (festival of art and music education) because we wanted to hear the elementary school choir.  We knew a good number of kids singing and a bunch of their older siblings were around for Evelyn to hang out with. Jameson even saw two soccer friends. Sunday we finally made it to a Komets hockey game. It wasn’t a super exciting game as the Komets scored the only goal early in the first period. But it’s always a good game when your team wins.