run, livia, run...

last week livia competed in her first cross country meet. I have say that I have NEVER been a runner, but I was excited to see that Livia wanted to "give a go" when the opportunity presented itself. Each year at the beginning of the school year, Park Elementary holds a Cross Country meet for grades 2-5. Since Livia is a second grader (sigh) this year, she was finally able to participate. Here are some pictures from the after school meet. Enjoy!

 stretching before the "big run"

 the stretching was lead by the boys and girls high school cross country team

 hudson, lauren, livia, and sophia before the meet

 lauren and livia are in the same second grade class this year and lauren's mom works with me at park

 the second and third grade girls waiting for the gun to fire to signal the beginning of the race...can you see that they are ready to run?

 the girls had to run 600 meters (2 times around the park)

 livia's first lap around (can you see she is looking for us?)

 here they come! making their last lap around

livia making it to the finish line!

 livia placed 7th out of 23 second and third grade girls with a time of 3:03...we are so proud of her!

last pin of summer...

on sunday, the withers family put on their twins gear and headed to minneapolis for some good 'ol family fun! Bobby found us some tickets in the first row out in left field - home run row :) It was a beautiful (and hot) day for baseball and the girls were thrilled (the adults were pretty jazzed, too!). We told the girls that if they were good, we would have a surprise for them after the game...scroll down below to see the surprise!

 parked and ready for some baseball!

 greg gorg waved at me...kevin smalley isn't too sure about me, i guess ;)

 we found our seats!

 the withers girls

 taking it all in...

 seeing the sights around the stadium before the game began

 

the happiest place on earth...er, minnesota!

 life, liberty, and the pursuit of baseball!

 sophia made it through the game, however, she was getting a little "hairy" toward the 8th inning. BUT, we made it!

 as we were walking home after the game livia said, "you and daddy can NEVER come to another twins game without me. Okay, mom?" I think she liked the game!

 the view from our seats...ben revere waved to us!

 the mascots were huddled up and ready to run...our view from our seats above them. i couldn't help but yell out, "I love Target!" Bullseye gave me a thumbs up!

 and they're off!

 can you see that one of the mascots lost a shoe? we thought that was pretty hilarious!

 waiting in line after the game to run the bases!

 walking down to the field

 ON THE FIELD!!!

 photo op for mom and dad!

 one of my favorite pictures with my favorite people...after running the bases at Target Field

 check out the line of kids and families ready to run the bases!

what a great end to a fantastic summer filled with lots of memorable "pins" on our bucket list!

the first of many firsts...

welcome back! i have been behind in my posts...mainly because blogger told me that my photo storage was full (what? there was a maximum amount of storage on my blog? i guess i found out the hard way). Well, instead of paying for more space, I did what most cheap Americans would do - I started a new blog :) I tried hard to find an address that was similar to our last address, but you would be surprised by how many names are taken. Oh well...I hope you enjoy the first of many posts on our new blog!

 livia on the first day of 2nd grade

 daddy made stop sign pancakes in honor of the first day of school

 livia and mommy heading to school. we are at the same school this year...so special!

 what a handsome pair!

 ready to go to school! 

 livia's desk in mrs. mathews's classroom

 livia and mrs. mathews

 as some of you already know, i switched grades this year. I went from teaching 3rd grade to 4th grade ( I finally got promoted!). Because of this change, I also had to switch classrooms with my third grade friend, Brandi. One of the "perks" of changing grade levels this year is my friend, Katie; she also came with me from third grade. It is going to be a year filled with "firsts" for me and Livia!

katie, nesha, and kris...ready for our fourth grade kiddos to arrive!