Cross-Country State Championship

Today was the Vermont State Championship in Middle-School Cross Country. It was held up in the mountains of Stowe at the Trapp Family Lodge and it was as rainy and cold and miserable as a Vermont November day can be. Neither the weather nor the tons of Halloween candy Lucy ate last night slowed her down at all -- she had one of her best races ever and I am so proud of her. (Though I have to ask, why couldn't she have her best race after having a healthy smoothie or something?)

 

 

One of my favorite things about this cross-country team is the coach. Liz is a colleague of mine at Norwich and a professor of exercise science. She teaches the girls about overall health and nutrition as well as coaching their running techniques. And she's always incredibly positive and happy to be with the girls. Lucy is lucky to come under her influence. 

 

Another of my favorite things is this lovely cohort of girls. Here they are huddled together in the team tent after the race. They all did their hair in braids today, with team colors maroon and white ribbons. I love that they push each other academically as well as in their running. Even with two-hour daily practices (some at 6:00am!) and two races a week, they still get excellent grades.

 

 

 

Our tiny little school took third in the state for girls middle-school cross country, and last week took first overall in Northern Vermont. No wonder they're so happy!

Soccer

Gavin had an excellent fall soccer season with the Dynamos. Lots of his friends play on the team, and getting to be with his pals and getting to run around for an hour a few times a week is a perfect combination for this boy.

 

 

To the right of Gavin in this picture (on the other team, in the green penny) is Nils, a good friend of his from church. We have Nils' dad Jeff to thank for these great pictures.

 

You might also notice in the background . . . Coach Gray! Austin might be actually growing to like soccer, even though his main job as assistant coach through two seasons has been crowd control in a group of very social, highly-distractable, extremely active boys.

Halloween

Gavin has gotten really into Dr. Who the past few months. It was inevitable that he would dream up some fantastic costume for Halloween from his favorite show. We threw around a few ideas that seemed really complicated, then he settled on wanting to be the TARDIS, which is the police phone booth Dr. Who makes into a time machine. We found a great box and spray painted it blue then decoupaged on the essential elements. He looked perfect.

 

 

Gavin's final elementary school costume parade. He turned his box sideways so he could walk in it more easily.

 

 

Lucy dressed up as "Disgust" from the movie Inside Out for the middle school dance. Her friend was Joy. Really, perfect choices for both of them.

Lucy's Birthday

After an easy, low-key birthday party last year, Lucy decided to celebrate turning 13 with a party extravaganza. She wanted a mystery party -- but this year, a murder mystery. We found instructions for a fun fairy-tale themed murder party and Lucy invited all her best girlfriends, who all came dressed as their "character" in wonderfully creative costumes.

 

 

There was much disappointment that I hadn't planned another rendition of Cheeto-head. Instead, we played pop-everyone's-balloon-before-yours-gets-popped.

 

The girls really got into the murder mystery. They figured out clues and suspects and everything. Unfortunately, they all guessed wrong on the murderer!

 

Post-mystery presents, followed by So I Married an Axe Murderer and popcorn.

 

Happy birthday to my favorite teenager!

Convocation

As my "reward" for winning the Dodge Award this year, I spoke at Convocation. Nothing like wearing yards of velvet and polyester on the hottest day of the year! I kept my speech nice and short, though, which may have been what people liked most about it.

Corps march down.

My march up.

Speechifying.

My support crew . . . love them!

 

Birthday Trips

This guy is 45 years old!

 

 

We decided to celebrate his birthday with a trip to Granby Zoo.

Riding the camels.

Feeding the rays.

The Lorakeet Lady.

Chasing each other around the track.

Giant bubble pool.

My awesome family.

For Gavin's birthday, Gram and Papa took everyone to the VonTrapp Lodge in Stowe for a weekend of fun, games, and lots of German food.

Valley mist.

Gavin's favorite gift.

Pretzels and bratwurst on the patio.

Ping-Pong and air hockey.

Handstands in the pool.

Gorgeous birthday weather!

Victoria & Olympic National Park

Victoria

Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, BC

 After the wedding, we took a couple of days to explore Victoria. I wish we'd had more time, it was amazing. I had no idea this little gem was hidden up there on the western edge of Canada. The place was very British, and very Pacific Northwest, but also very Canadian.

 

We feel welcome!

Even the tour busses look British!

Creative busking.

We happened into a little Indian cultural festival, complete with dancing, food, and henna painting. This wasn't quite the "Indian" culture we hoped to find -- Austin was all excited about the First Nations stuff -- but we had a great time. Gavin discovered the delights of Indian food and Lucy got a henna tattoo. 

Indian dance festival

Gavin discovers Tandoori Chicken.

Lucy's henna hands.

The Royal British Columbia Museum was incredibly cool. I could have stayed there all day. One level of the museum was all about natural history, with taxidermy animal tableax and nice aquariums. The other level was all about human culture, evenly divided between an impressive First Nations presentation (including languages, which the kids loved) and an immersive display of early white British Columbia culture that felt as though you were walking along streets from 100 or 200 years ago. 

Chased by a Wooly Mammoth.

Real totem poles.

Ferry ride back. (See, I was there!)

 Olympic National Park

 

Love these kids.

After our visit to Victoria, we were able to catch up with Dave & Kara one last time, for an evening jaunt along Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. The weather was absolutely clear and perfect -- bad for Washington, which is having a drought, but perfect for tourists hoping to see the ridgelines of the Olympic range. 

A perfectly clear day.

Fishers & Grays

A little hike through Olympic National Park

Bye, Washington! We will miss you.