Half Pint Triathlon

This morning Carter did the Half Pint Triathlon at the Franklin Rec Center. 

It is only for kids age 8-12 (on race day unlike sanctioned triathlons which is based on your age on December 31st).  We were out of town for it last year so this was the first year that Carter did this tri.  He was in the junior division (which is for ages 8 and 9).  It's a shorter triathlon - 50 meter swim, 1.5 mile bike, and 0.5 mile run.  Carter was excited for the shorter distance.  I wanted to get in a run yesterday so he and Rylan rode their bikes on the course and adjacent greenway (while I pushed Gray in the jogging stroller) before we did packet pickup.  Then we stuck around and swam for an hour.

We got to the race around 6:15 am and had plenty of time to get a great spot in transition.  The race finally started at 7:30 am.

There were a small group of Best Buddies kids (that need assistance) and then the juniors were off.  Carter had a great swim and passed the kid in front of him.

The start of the bike section ...

And finishing his second loop on the bike (and passing Cohen who was Carter's buddy in the Tri My Best Triathlon two summers ago).  We see Cohen at every triathlon we do and love catching up with him and his sweet family.  He needs less and less assistance every race and I'm sure we'll be racing with the able bodied kids soon!

Starting the run ...

Carter finished super strong and sprinted the last 100 yards or so of the race.

Carter's times weren't as good last summer as the summer before but I could tell he was trying harder again this race.  Unfortunately there were issues with the timing software so they didn't have results done at the race.  They were finally posted this afternoon and Carter got second in the juniors division!!!  His best finish ever in a triathlon!!!

What got him that place were his transition times - they were significantly faster than any other boy in the junior division.  And he only beat the kid in 3rd place by 2.6 seconds!  Here are Carter's times:

Swim - 1:25.0 (Rank - 5th)
Transition 1 - 0:40.1
Bike - 6:29.3 (Rank - 7th / Pace - 13.9 mph)
Transition 2 - 0:16.6
Run - 4:12.1 (Rank - 8th / Pace - 8:24/mile)

Total Time - 13:03.1 (Rank - 2nd)

We are super proud of Carter.  We were told before leaving that the race organizers would send out the gift card prizes to the first and second place kids in each division.  Carter is excited to see what he won!

Kids Arts Festival

We spent most of the day at the Kids Arts Festival at Pinkerton Park.  We've been out of town for it the last few years and were excited to be here this year!

The boys spent hours doing tons of free crafts ...

They got some cool arm painting done too ...

But the big event for the boys was the art contest.  Carter and Rylan were both able to submit two pieces of art work.  Unfortunately I don't think they received Rylan's application for some reason (they didn't have tags for his work).  And while his art was still on display, I don't think it was judged.  And we all know Rylan is not the best with not winning.  Not that he would have necessarily won, but he did submit some good stuff.

Carter though placed first in the intermediate (grades 3-5) drawing category!

He had done this awesome drawing at school near the end of the year!  I think it is awesome!

His work will be displayed at the Franklin City Hall all summer.

Pulled Teeth

Carter had four baby teeth pulled today to make some room for his orthodontic work.  He had his two upper lateral incisors and two lower canines pulled.  He's now lost more teeth than Rylan again :)

Carter has known about this for almost two months.  He'd randomly think about it and get very nervous.  He's our worrier so waiting has been tough for him.  As expected, he was VERY nervous today.  He told me on the way home from swim team practice that the only thing that calmed him down was music.  So we quickly loaded some music onto one of my old phones and found his headphones to use before and during his appointment.

Luckily (as I had told him) the actual removal was a hundred times easier than everything he was imagining.  We decided to do nitrous since Carter was so nervous and that may or may not have helped.  The dentist applied numbing gel and waited 10 minutes to do the shots.  Carter felt a few tiny pinches but didn't even flinch.  Then after each tooth was removed, he'd say "Wow, that didn't hurt!".  The dentist did the top two teeth and then asked Carter if he should go ahead and do the bottom two or do them at another appointment.  Carter was good with going ahead and doing them all.

He totally milked it for sympathy in this picture on our way home!

Because he looked like this as soon as he spit out the gauze.

You can sort of see the holes in Carter's mouth in these pictures.

Carter should be starting lower braces and an expander soon.

The canines had a lot big roots than the incisors!

Now Carter is excited to see how nice the tooth fairy is tonight!

Last Day of School

Carter and Rylan's last day of school was May 18th.   Carter finished third grade and Rylan finished first.

I'm the lead room parent for both of their classes so we did basically the same party in both rooms.  I ran Carter's party this time and someone else led Rylan's (I led Rylan's winter party).

My favorite party activity was the shark photo booth.  Gray helped me make two of these!

They were a huge hit in both classes.

Carter and Whit:

Carter with Pierce and Luke:

Rylan with Cody and Bhavik:

Rylan and Cody:

Rylan and Bhavik:

Carter and I both LOVED his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Miller.  She taught reading and language arts.  She's one of those teachers you'll always remember and who has a big impact on your future.  She was also battling thyroid cancer all year.  Unlike last year, she was able to keep the kids in the dark because she didn't lose her hair during treatment like she had the last school year.  As far as I know, Carter had no idea.

Carter's other teacher was Ms. Smith.  She was new to the school this year and taught math, science, and social studies.  Carter liked her as well but she just wasn't on the same level as Mrs. Miller.

Rylan's teacher was Mrs. Tullis.  She was also new to our school.  Like his kindergarten teacher, she was also pregnant and due in the summer.  Her due date is tomorrow but I'm guessing her little girl has already arrived.  Rylan really liked Mrs. Tullis and I loved her organization and structure.

Both boys had great years and are looking forward to next school year (though they are still excited for summer and the break!).

Summer Goals

We can check one thing off our summer goals list!  Rylan has learned to ride a bike!

Rylan has refused to learn for years.  He has had no interest.  But I also know his personality and know that his perfectionism has prevented him from trying.  Rylan does not like to fail (or even be less than perfect).  So he refused to try because he knew he couldn't just get on a bike and do it perfectly immediately.  Plus he feared anyone seeing him learning and being anything less than perfect.

But for some reason this morning he said he wanted to do it.  So after convincing him that all the kids on our street were at camps or daycare, he and I got to it.  It took less than 30 minutes and now he can do this ...

All-Stars - 2017 & 2018

I started this post a year ago and never finished it - oops!

Both Carter and Rylan made the all-star baseball team last spring (2017)! 

Our league does a game for each age group.  Carter was an all-star for the 8-year-old league and Rylan was for the 7-year-old league.

I watched Carter's game and Brian watched Rylan's game.  I know Brian took some pictures but I'm not sure if he still has them.  Here is one of both boys though I took after the game with their trophies.

The 8 year-old all-stars:

Carter and Drew were the two players from their team.

Carter and Drew with Coach Jeff:

Coach Jeff's kids (who are both Carter's teammates) made signs and cheered on Carter.

This season (spring 2018) Rylan was officially on the all-star team and Carter was an alternate.  Coach Jeff got to pick 4 all-stars this season.  He had to decided between Carter and another kid for the fourth spot.  He had trouble deciding and asked us if we'd mind if he let the other kid be the official all-star since Carter was one the previous year.  We were fine with that and we asked Carter and he really wanted his teammate to have the opportunity (sweet boy!). 

Brian is Rylan's coach.  He picked Rylan and two of his teammates as the all-stars.

The game was on Friday night.  Unfortunately the game was rained out after just a few minutes.  It was rescheduled for the next morning but overlapped with Carter and Rylan's last soccer games of the season so Rylan didn't get to play.  Luckily he was okay with that!

The boys have both improved a lot this year and really enjoy playing baseball!  We're really proud of how hard they have worked!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Rylan had his "winning-est" week ever last week!

On Friday (5/11), he got 2nd place in his age group in the TryBoro 5K.

On Tuesday (5/15), his baseball team finished runner-up in the Brentwood Ball Club 8YO tournament.

On Friday (5/18), he played in the All-Star game for Brentwood Ball Club 8YO division.

Luckily none of that goes to his head - ha!

Colt Bolt

Carter did running club this year at school.  It's offered for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in the fall and spring for about 2 months each time.  The boys running club is on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is run by two of the PE coaches.  And it's free :)

Most semesters the coaches have the kids sign up for a local 1-mile fun run at the end of the session if they are interested.  This year though the coaches organized a race at school called the Colt Bolt.  It was open to 3rd-5th graders at our school (the kids didn't have to be in running club).  The race was one mile long, started on the track at school, did a loop in our neighborhood, and ended back on the track.  It was timed, included a shirt and participation medals, and trophies were given for 1st-3rd places.

Even though our Saturdays are usually really busy, the date for the race actually worked for us because the boys didn't have soccer games due to a local tournament using their fields and their baseball games were later in the day.  Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and the race got postponed a week because of rain.  And Carter could not do the new date because it overlapped with his baseball tournament.

However, Carter has the BEST PE coach in the world.  He loves Carter's effort and attitude so he asked if Carter would like to run the race course with him the Sunday after school ended and get his participation medal.  Yes!

So Carter and Coach Clark ran yesterday morning.

Coach Clark pushed Carter at the finish and he had a one-mile time of 7:23.  We looked it up and that put him in 14th place overall (more than half the kids in front of him were 5th graders).

Thanks Coach Clark!

Yearbook Cover

They did it again!  Both boys got on the cover of the school yearbook!  They are both on the back cover this year.  Including the front cover, back cover, and title page, only eight drawings are chosen.  Not all kids submit something, but there are still a lot that do.

Carter's drawing:

Rylan's drawing:

The yearbook:

We are so proud of our artistic boys!

TryBoro 5K

Carter and Rylan ran the TryBoro 5K last Friday evening.

This was Rylan's first time running the 5K (he's done the 2.5K the past two years).

And it was Carter's fourth time doing the 5K.

Carter ran by himself while I ran with Rylan.

Carter ran the 5K in 26:14 and finished 4th in his age group (8-9 year old boys).  He ALWAYS finishes 4th - he misses getting a trophy by one all the time.

Rylan ran the 5K in 28:57 and finished 2nd in his age group (boys 7 and under). 

Gray was a great cheerleader (along with Brian) as we ran.

Plus the boys got a nice shirt and participation medal.  We love this race and hope it continues for a long time!