Summer 2010 - Swim Team

This is what else we have been busy with this summer - swim team! Both kids decided to give it a try this year and loved it! At first neither one wanted to participate in the actual meets, but once they gave it a try, they were hooked. I think they did a great job for their first times and definitely improved their swimming skills. Matigan took two levels of swim lessons this summer and passed both! Only one more level to take next summer and then she will be done! Elliott is in lane 4 (far right) on the starting block. His friend, Brayden, is on the left (lane 2).
Matigan doing the breast stroke - the one she was the best at!

Elliott and the freestyle - he started out just doing the 25 yard race, but was doing 100 yards by the end! I was very impressed - he could definitely beat me!

At the league meet, the kids each won a couple of ribbons for winning their heat.

Getting ribbons was part of what they looked forward to. They each won several from individual races to relay races. Elliott received 10th on the 100 yard freestyle at league and his 100 yard medley relay team was 5th at league. With as many kids as were there, I think he did great!

Matigan was very proud of her heat winner ribbon - you would have thought it was a gold medal!

If you look closely, you can see my mom and Kris on the right. At the meets, there are easy up tents every where. This year we were able to bum some space in our friend's tents, but I think we may have to invest in one for ourselves!

A very popular activity is writing all over yourself with Sharpies - favorite saying

"Eat my bubbles!"

Hanging out with the girls!

Summer 2010 - Ball games

One of the things that has kept us so busy this summer is ball games. Matigan played coach pitch softball and Elliott played Pee-Wee baseball. Matigan played on a "travel" team which meant we spent a couple of weekends at softball games all day long. She also played on a league team which played teams from Abilene, Riley Co., and Junction City. It was a good experience for her, and I think she enjoyed the socializing. It was fun to see the improvement she made over the season.

Elliott played through the rec department, so all of his games were in Abilene. Kris helped coach his team which Elliott really enjoyed. There was quite an age range on the teams at this level (just finished 3rd up to just finished 6th), so this was sometimes a frustration when playing teams which seemed to have more of the older kids. Elliott did a great job though both with hitting and fielding. He typically played 1st base, but also tried a few other spots including catcher. This wasn't his favorite at first, but he didn't mind it as much by the end. He actually seems to have a pretty good arm and did well getting the ball across the field.

Field Days and Track

Not only did each of the kids participate in their school field days, but they also went to the local Optimist club's track meet. They thought this was great because they actually got to try some of the field events that they have watched Marcus and other high schoolers do at the track meets.

Elliott tries the high jump.

Second place finish on the long jump!
Yeah! Ribbons!

Stretch those long legs!

Almost to the finish line!

Check out the form!

Matigan's field day events

Parents get to help!

Even Officer Kobiskie got in on the action!

Elliott's Field Day

Yikes! I think you are supposed to land on your feet!

Mother-Daughter Tea - 1st Christian Church

What do a bunch of princesses do on a Sunday afternoon? Have a tea of course! With lots of yummy fingerfoods and good princess friends!

Elliott volunteered (I know - can you believe it???) to sing with his class at the dedication of his school, Garfield Upper Elementary, to the national register of historic places. It was a fun evening with hotdogs and cupcakes and various performers to mimic the original dedication when Garfield was first opened. At the end, I ended up taking two extra girls home for a sleep-over and Elliott went to a friend's house.

The next morning, we went to the annual fly-in and pancake feed. This has become a tradition for us, and we have so many airplane pictures from this, but here are a few more!

Elliott's spring program - it was a great patriotic themed program. Elliott learned all the military songs, and did a great job playing the recorder. It will be interesting to see what instrument he ends up playing. He tried out Kris' old trumpet the other day when we were at Grandma and Grandpa Kobiskie's! Kris and I both played the trumpet, so we had a good time trying to see if we still had what it takes to play it!

Catching Up . . .

My original reason for starting this blog was to share what was going on in our lives with friends and family that we do not see regularly. Plus it is a great way to sort of do an on-line photo journal of the kids since I do not do the scrapbooking. However, life gets busy and now with baseball, softball, swimming, and camps all coming to an end . . . I thought I would squeeze in a few posts to show what has been going on in the past month and a half before we are overwhelmed with fair activities!