The Chestertown Running Festival...Yeah, we did it!

I think it was about May, when I mentioned to my dear sister in law that I have a goal --'one day, sometime in my future, I want  to run a 5K'.  I forgot that this dear sister in law LOVES to run.  She's run 5K's, 10K's, 1/2 marathons, and full marathons....what was I thinking?  In all honesty, I'm glad I did, as I doubt I would have made this running wish come forth from the deep recesses of my mind and make it really happen.    The day after my confession, she called to tell me that she has found the perfect race....in Chestertown MD.  It had a 5K and 1/2 marathon all in one.

So from there, I started training with the "Couch to 5K" running plan....and a few months later I did it!!! I ran

my first ever 5K race.  Connor joined me too.  In June sometime, he began working towards his fitness merit badge. We became running partners helping get each other out of bed for early morning training.  I cherish the time we had jogging together, and talking about all sorts of things.  I loved our time together on our trip and can't wait for another race to run....as I'm not going to stop!  Our next event will be the "Raleigh Rock" race in March.  I think we may even have another addition to our running team....we'll just have to wait and see if it works out!

Here's Connor on the last 2 tenths of the race.

 
.....so close to the finish line!    and one of me to prove I really was running.

 

Whew, what a fun finish!  Here with Nicole (Risa's friend) and Risa!  They completed  13.1 miles.  Connor has that as a goal for next year....I'm still running, I'm just not sure if it will be 13.1 miles by next year or not....we'll see!

The race was held in a beautiful town along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.  I loved all the cute historic homes and ambiance of the area.  The whole weekend was great.  We traveled with Brian and Risa...and the ever so cute little boys, Logan and Brennan.  We stayed in a nice hotel in Dover Delaware, enjoyed the pool and hot tub- relaxing and getting ready for the big race.  Dinner was at a super yummy pizza place.  I loved the thick crunchy crust. On the way home we replenished at Cracker Barrel, mmmmmm, potato casserole for me, and southern fried chicken for Connor!  Yep, this was a great weekend.  For Connor and I, it was our "Christmas Coupon' activity.  Originally I gave him a ticket for a bike ride along the New River Trail and a hot dog or ice cream lunch.  I think this substitution will suffice.

I even got him to take a photo with me!

Hello everyone. As you will probably figure out soon enough, it's Connor speaking. To start with, Mom doesn't know if she's going to be running a half marathon in 1 year, but I do. She will. I'm going to drag her along whether she likes it or not. Anyway, in 6 months, I plan on running a 10-k. As hard as that will be, I intend to do it. By the time I go on my mission I hope to have run at least one marathon. A full one. I have little to say about the trip itself. I went, and  I ran 3.1 miles.

Wolf Creek Indian Village

For history we are back to the time period of 1600's- 1850's.   Learning about Indian culture is definitely something we want to do this year....so off we went to Wolf Creek Indian Village just a short 40 minutes away from home.   During the construction of I77,, in 1977, they discovered these Indian ruins.  After a state archaeological investigation they determined that this was an authentic ancient Indian site.  In 1996 a recreation of the site based on the records made by the archaeologist was made.  In 1998 the Wolf Creek Indian Village was open for visitors.  We had an enjoyable time learning about the culture and customs of people from this area.  The archeologist were never able to identify excatctly which tribe these people were from, so they showed what life was like for most of the Woodlands  or Algonquin tribes of this area.

a fire pit....and food storage.  They would string beans, sliced and dried squash and corn, still attached to the cob for use later.



They used a talking stick to control interruptions when people were talking....you were only allowed to talk if you had the talking stick in your hand.  Here the guide is allowing each child to ask a question or tell something new they learned.  Hummmm, maybe we'll have to adopt this tradition for family home evening, or any other time I want them to stop talking....ahhh, can you hear it, QUIET!

Below,  these are a representation of their homes.   The original site had the post holes still there so they were reconstructed exactly as they were years and years ago.

The group was broken into two....older kids and younger one.  Connor and Cailin enjoyed there time with the older kids.  Delaney, Liam and I went with the younger group.  As is always the case, Connor really did enjoy the trip, he's just bent on never smiling for a camera!!

Here they were given the opportunity to "drill hole", using he tools they would have used in the 1500's.  I think I'll stick with my Black and Decker.

Examining the stones used in the spears, which were used for hunting and proctection.

As was the custom, they were given the chance to have their face painted with a symbol.

Grinding corn for food or clay to make pots.

Our group.

Now the little Indians must be fed!

Truman's Aunt Farm--a FIAR book

We just  finished up our row of Truman's Aunt Farm.  This was a lighthearted fun book.

The book is about Truman who is told by his Aunt Fran that she will be sending him an ant farm for his birthday present....only he gets many aunts....not ants!     He feeds and cares for them, watches them work and play and finally finds home for them. In the end, he and his Aunt Fran share a special day together.

 We took the time to learn about the insect ants (and others too)  Liam and Delaney learned what characteristics make an insect --exoskeleton, three body parts, six legs.

They watched  Magic School Bus and Bill Nye the Science Guy videos from YouTube. We read other books and learned about the different kind of ants there are.

 I was given this ant hill contraption from a friend (which is what inspired me to start our year with this book).  The coupon for ants from the company was missing.  After a website search I decided I didn't want to spend the extra money to buy a new coupon...and then buy the ants,  we just gathered some ants from our garden.  

Of course we explored homonyms.

 and made an Ant farm cake (actually brownies topped with frosting and cracker crumbs for 'dirt'. Chocolate chips were used to make the ants.

They really enjoyed writing  letters to their aunts....but since I was out of stamps I helped them send the letters  by email.  They've really enjoyed getting responses back.  Everyone loves mail...email is no exception.

 
We played around with the art style that  G Brian Karas used when he did the illustrations for the book.  Circular swirlies for cheeks, large bodies with itty bitty feet and hands.  We pulled out our new watercolor pencils.  They were fun to work with.