Another Fun Summer Swimming with the K.C. Waves

Grace takes the blue ribbon for her 26.55 second freestyle swim!

Archie met his personal goal of swimming the 25-yard freestyle race in less than 20 seconds (19.96). Plus, he won second place in the most competitive event. (Second place is the highest he's ever gotten for any individual event although his free relay team has placed second several times and even swam in 1m15s one week!)

By the last meet, Grace set another personal best of 26.02 in freestyle. (She placed first in three of five meets and second in the other two.)

Grace also did well in backstroke earning one first place, one second place, two third places, and one fifth place. Her fastest time was 31.5 seconds.

Archie totally looks the part. He's a little beach bum with bleach blonde hair, a super tan, and visible abs. Here he is stretching a bit before an event.

Archie swam fly in every meet and never DQ'd. He was terrified he would DQ during time trials and really built his strength as the season went on. By the last meet, he got a time of 31.25 seconds.

Archie with his second place freestyle ribbon.

The first meet was a great season starter. We called it the best meet in the DeJarnette family swim history bar none at the time. (I think the last meet ended up even better, though.) During the first meet Archie got third in both back and fly.

The fun doesn't stop with the last race. It was pure joy for Grace and her friend, Anna, to help Coach Stephen bring in the lane lines after the last home meet.

Go K.C. Waves!

It's a Hard Knock Life!

Archie and Grace have been enjoying ice skating lessons. (Archie's only taken seven; Grace had a few more.) They did super in their first recital. My favorite part is when they skate together in the middle.

The Sporty Siblings

Talent

Archie has always loved to stand on his head. He can do it now for over 1 minute!!! Gymnastics are in his future, I think.

Grace really mastered "snowboarding" sled style this winter. I was proud of her for holding a standing position so long.

Happy 2014

This was the kids' first time ice skating, and they had a blast! Archie finally got it shortly before our time expired. They are both begging to return. I think Grace has visions of being a champion figure skater! She kept asked me how she could get in the Olympics :)

A Need for Speed...

Summer Series Fun Run

Most Tuesday nights this summer, we were able to run a one-mile fun run sponsored by the Howard County Striders. They had an awards ceremony on the last night, and all the five-and-unders got medals. Grace's PR for the season was 11:49, and Archie's was 10:36. It was a very hilly course. Congrats!

What can you do in 1 min. 9 sec.?

Enough time to throw a load of laundry in the wash? Run upstairs to grab something and be so distracted by a screaming kid you forget what you were going to grab and head back down? For Archie, it is now enough time to swim a length (25 meters) of the pool. This is his first year on swim team, and he is loving it. We worked hard in the indoor pool for about two weeks to get him ready for the K.C. Waves time trials.

Archie is getting quite brave in the water. This is the first day he jumped off the diving board.

Fun Saturday

What's even better than a birthday party? A birthday party followed by a soccer game. We had a blast this morning at our 3-year-old neighbor's farm party.

Archie on the cow train!

Grace loved feeding the goats. She wasn't even a little scared!

Today was team picture day. We arrived at the field about one minute before the big event.

Archie's soccer is really improving. He absolutely loves it! Their team is really good. It is one of the largest (number of players) and tallest teams in the league. They are currently 3-0. There are two kids who are soccer machines. They score almost every time they get the ball. I've promised Archie an ice cream when he gets his first goal. Their coaches are really great, too!

The Big Race

Archie did it, and I am SO SO proud of him! He completed his FIRST kids' marathon last week in Virginia Beach. In the three months leading up to race day, we ran 25 miles in one-mile increments. Some of those miles were run in uncomfortably cold weather, too. He ran the final mile with 4,500 other kids on race day. His time was 10:24 - not bad for a first timed race. Mom was pretty nervous turning him loose in a crowd that big. After the race, he went straight to our appointed meeting spot and Hunt found him with no problems. My little boy is growing up. This feels like a major milestone.

Grace is never one to be left out of the fun. She ran the Leprechaun Dash - all 26.2 yards of it. Yes, that's right, like the distance across your living room. It was totally a vanity race, but Grace would have been devastated not to get her goody bag and tee shirt. As you can see from the pictures, she was pretty happy afterward. Her sprint was untimed, but we are pretty sure she was second across the finish line. Of course, the first out of the corral tends to have the advantage in such a short race. But the key is Grace made sure she was first in the corral.

I think more races are in our future. Who knows? Mom might even start running again.

Turkey Dash Through the Park 2K FUN!!! The First Race for Grace (and Archie)

It's been awhile since I've run a race, ummmm.ok...before kids. I guess 2K was the right distance to re-start with. I ran with Archie, and Hunt ran with Grace. So proud of them both! Archie got off to a rough start with is shoe flying off and a cramp in his side, but he walked a minute, and then we went slow and steady to the finish. (Well, Archie took off on a mad sprint when the finish line was in sight.) We were definitely middle-of-the-pack finishers, but all the kids got medals. Meanwhile, Grace and Hunt were going great until we got near, Grace fell, and she was (in the words of Hunt) demoralized when we passed them. Nevertheless, I'm super proud of her for going on her own steam all the way. Hunt said she ran a lot of it.

Grace upon entering the trail portion of the run: "What if we get lost in these big woods? How will we ever get back to Maryland?" Hunt said it drew quite a few giggles.

Take me out to the T-BALL game!

Let's go, Pirates! Archie loves pirates so I think it's appropriate he is on the pirates team. He looks so cute in his uniform. (The kids have team shirts and hats but can wear whatever pants they want. Archie doesn't see much point in sliding into bases so insists on shorts.) Grace enjoyed hanging out in the outfield while Hunter helped make sure Archie watched the balls and went after them. (Ok, well, she got a little bored.)

This is what I have gleaned from watching about t-ball rules.

1. There is no score keeping (hence everybody wins at t-ball)

2. Everyone bats every inning. There are two innings per game.

3. You only run one base no matter what.

4. There are no strikes and no outs.

5. You always throw the ball to first base no matter where the players are.

6. Kids will get mixed up about what direction to run, who should get the ball, whether they should drop the bat before they run. Coaches and parents can steer them in the right direction. It's pretty funny!

7. It's a simple game. Don't think I've missed anything. If you can think of more rules, add on in the comments :)

 One, two, three - PIRATES! Their coach is a veteran. One little boy broke his leg two days before practice started, but he's determined to still come to all the games and practices.

 Since it's the church league, they have pre-game prayer.

Grace thinks she's on the team, too. She likes to sit on the bench with her pink Dora glove.

The Game

No need to talk about who won or lost - just the fun we had being together tonight while Grandma watched the kids.

I was pretty mesmerized watching the majorette twirl three fiery batons. Don't think I've ever seen that before at a football game.

What didn't happen at this baseball game?

Last weekend we enjoyed the good weather with a picnic at the duck pond and an evening at the Virginia Tech Baseball Game. What didn't happen at the game? Any watching of baseball whatsoever. I really wanted to watch the game, but I had to keep all my attention on my kids and the neighbor who were running everywhere in the outfield and all over the stands. It was still fun!

We tried to get a pic with everyone in Hokie gear. Maybe we'll have better luck at the spring game?

Picnic at the duckpond:

On our way:
Looking for the action:

Too cute to sit still:

Grace's preferred way of entertaining herself. There are about 1 million of these steps in the outfield seating area, and Grace wanted to climb all of them. Someone commented, "I don't know if you'll sleep good tonight or if she will." My reply, "I hope both of us do, and we did."

A cheer for the Hokies!

Since our little fighting gobblers helped the Hokies win last week, I thought we'd do our best again today. Here's our family gearing up for the NC State game! (Yes, I was wearing a maroon and orange sweater, too!)