The Worst Race Ever-- 2019

To be fair, last year Annika enjoyed this race, but there must come a time in every young runner's life when they have a Terrible Race. Annika's fifth race was that race, even though she was all grins at the beginning.

 Zeke took a bunch of pictures after the start gun, but this is the only one that had people we actually knew in it. Hi, Titi, Justin, and Arlan!

Then the boring people who weren't running the race just stood around and waited...

...some more fashionably than others.

Aidan and I took a cue from Zeke and upped our game.

When Annika and Cadie appeared, I had to chuckle. The scene was an exact replica of last year's race, except that Annika had lost her grin along the way and looked miserable. Plus, Cadie beat her by full seconds instead of milliseconds. Even though I knew it was bound to come sometime, I felt sad not seeing Annika grin her way across a finish line.

Millie, Debbie, and the boys crossed the line neck-in-neck, too, or would have had they been racing.

Susannah felt guilty for running past this older gentleman right before the finish line, even though he was cheering her on and telling her to go faster. :)

Even the Worst Race Ever had a silver (or gold, rather) lining. Annika now has another trophy to balance out the one from last year. Plus, she shaved some seconds off of last year's time, so that's not too shabby, either.

Caleb went to get his trophy, and then the fun started.

By the time the third Purdy got their trophy, a stranger nearby us said, "Purdy family reunion!" and there were still three Purdys to go! They killed that race, huh?

    

Group photo of the Purdy Family & Friends Running Club. As you can see, Annika had recovered her grin by this point.

Even with her grin returned, she was still wiped out enough for a daytime nap.

Best Follow-up Race Ever!: 2019

*Crummy phone pictures. My apologies.

Well, we owe Owen a big round of applause for lots of reasons, but in this particular instance, on the heels of the Terrible Race, for alerting Annika to a race 10 minutes away from us. She was planning on making some extra money on her first babysitting job, Millie gave her five dollars toward the cost, there was a Newbsanity discount, plus the profit goes toward cancer research. There were more reasons to race in it than to not race in it, and she took the plunge.

It was early in the morning on a Sunday, with just enough time to drive over, hop out, run, eat a donut, hop back, shower, and head to church.

With a grin!

At the finish line, blurry Owen beat the guy behind him!

Later, blurry Annika  appeared...with a grin!  Phew.

She got first in her age group again (early morning races = little competition), but that didn't make her happiest. What made her happiest was that she had FUN the ENTIRE time! She chatted with people and talked to the cutest little girl in a stroller and breathed easy and-- did I mention she had FUN the ENTIRE time?  The funny thing is that when she saw her chip time, she had run faster than in The Terrible Race, all while having FUN the ENTIRE time.

Many people from Newbsanity raced to honor the memory of a Newbsanity friend's wife who died of cancer last year. From the time she first met him, Annika has talked about what a nice guy he is, how kind, and, especially, of his big grin.  It was a race she was glad to take part in.

Leftovers

Of late, when stirfry is on the menu, Ezekiel will disappear into the kitchen and return with wooden skewers to serve as chopsticks. One night, after he began eating, Skylark disappeared into the kitchen and returned with enormous roasting sticks that we'd last used for marshmallows.

Whatever floats your stirfry boat!

One enchanted evening, Grandpa Owen made a fire and brought sparklers!

Sometimes, Cadence just vanishes. Disappears. Kapoof! It's most mysterious.

Here are crummy phone snapshots (except for the ones from other people, as noted):


This is not a crummy picture! It is a rare picture of me with my Heart. He is my favorite, he took me on a date, and when I told him I was full, he bought me the largest ice cream cone in the state.

It's really no wonder that he doesn't take me out very often.

Non-crummy snapshot alert! Matt and Rebecca shared these from a day with the Parseghians, who are among the best of good folk.

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush...

Anto gave Aidan one of his young life's finest moments, to date.

And Skylark ate a few more mulberries on the way home.

Someday, this endearing doofus will appear at your door with a special delivery.

The girls got a complete room makeover; Zeke got...well, Zeke got a shelf. 

I know, buddy, I know.

August Was for Green and Growing

 

(picture by Birdie)

(picture by Birdie)


August was also for sleepovers stacked on top of sleepovers, cookouts, swimming, visiting, visitors, vegetables-- fistfuls, bowlfuls, shirtfuls, and wagonfuls-- and so much dervish whirling that these snapshots only touch the half of it.

My whole self is slowing and settling into colder days and slower rhythms. It's odd to scroll through all these photos. They make me tired, but we enjoyed August, packed to the brim as it was with good.

September soon.

Maybe.

Blueberry Boy on Blueberry Hill

Our picking window was small due to out-of-town trips, so we didn't find many for our buckets. Somehow, we still found a way to fill our bellies, though. Aidan was in heaven and sang a little song while munching.  The lyrics went something like this, "Blueberry! Bluuuuuueberry [munch], blueberry, bluuuuueberry [munch], bluebeeeeeeeeeery."

For those who remember his aversion to all things healthy, you know this is a beautiful thing. Last year, he began to eat frozen blueberries, but fresh ones still made him gag. This year, fresh blueberries cause him to break into song! Small steps.