Fun Run

The annual school Fun Run is something we all look forward to. 

It has typically been held in the spring, right before Spring Break. But this year, it was moved to the fall so that the money raised would benefit the entire school year. That means we had a Fun Run in the spring and in the fall in 2017, so we have lots of 2017 t-shirts around the house now.

We started out bright and early to show our support for second grade Nash.

Crew of course had to wear one of the many Fun Run t-shirts we own just like his big brothers. He settled right in to high-fiving duty.

It wasn't long before he gave that up and just ran with all the second graders. 

We knew it might rain and before the race was over, it started drizzling.

Crew shielded himself with my backpack cover.

Nash, however, didn't mind finishing out that race in the rain one bit.

We came back a few hours later to watch fourth grade Blake run.

Crew didn't waste any time jumping in this time around.

Finn stuck to cheerleader duty.

There were dark clouds looming but we made it through Blake's race with no rainfall.

Blake and Nash ran 70 laps between them and Crew added in some more. The fundraiser was a huge success as always. And there's something about the whole town being out for an event that just makes me happy.

Fun Run

One of my favorite events at the boys' elementary school is the annual Fun Run.

The whole community comes out to rally around their joggers. There is music blasting while the students run their hearts out to raise money for their school.

Crew came prepared in his brother's t-shirt from a previous year so he could show his ultimate high-fiving support.

He was there to encourage Blake to press on each time he lapped around.

Finn joined in briefly but was more interested in the snacks he scrounged up.

The students received a quick check mark each time they completed a lap and were capped off at 35 laps.

Once they completed 35 laps, they could walk or run for fun. Crew was Blake's biggest cheerleader at the finish line when the time finally ran out.

A few hours later, we came back for round two to support Nash.

Once again, Crew was his brother's number one fan.

The best part of the day was when the popsicles appeared and Crew and Finn were invited to participate in the celebration.

They wedged themselves right into the row of first graders and Nash couldn't have been prouder to show off his little brothers.

Especially when his female classmates fought over who got to hold Finn...

The school principal agreed to dress up as the Statue of Liberty if the students could collect sponsors from all 50 states. I guess that's not impossible in a school with 1200 students, but it still amazed me that our community had connections spanning the entire US.

The Fun Run conveniently took place on the last day of school before spring break. The thought of no homework for an entire week gave everyone (including parents) an extra energy boost.

School Shenanigans

Having two school-aged children (plus two toddlers) is downright exhausting. It seems like I barely get them off to school with their lunches and gym shoes and library books and then they are home already with growling stomachs and overflowing backpacks. By the time we sort out the dirty lunchboxes and papers from school and work on homework, it's time to do it all over again.

Blake happened to have a huge presentation due on an American hero the same week that I was asked to give a presentation to dozens of women. He built a model airplane to represent the Wright brothers in between my frantic PowerPoint preparations. I remembered at midnight the night before his presentation was due that I promised him LEGO socks for silly sock day. 

I started laughing as I was hot glueing those LEGO bricks onto socks in the wee hours of the morning because ironically, the topic that I had just finished presenting to the group of women was organization. I usually feel like we're barely surviving when it comes to all things school related. We've forgotten library books and math facts tests more times than I can count. But the boys are in such good hands at their school. They wake up excited to go every morning.

Nash was supposed to dress like a 100-year-old on his 100th day of school. We managed to scrounge up some things that morning.

One of the most anticipated events of the year is the annual Jog-a-Thon. They held the event right before spring break this year and we got to come to cheer on and high-five our runners.

I love anything that has to do with school spirit and community gatherings, so we had a really fun morning going back and forth to the school and socializing with friends and neighbors. The event is so well-run. The room moms take all of the t-shirts home ahead of time and tie-dye them according to the each class's team color. They set up water bottle stations with bunches of balloons that color-coordinate. There is an entertaining live DJ and various exercise stations that the students rotate through to break up the jogging.

The 2nd graders had a bright and early time slot.

Nash was excited to catch a glimpse of the action and cheer on his big brother.

The whole school turned into a shirt-signing frenzy.

Of course we had to have a little neighbor-frousin reunion since their shirts made a rainbow.

A couple of hours later, we came back to support Nash's class and do it all over again.

Nash adores his kindergarten teacher and her affinity for Starbucks and her dog, Buxley. 

During our brief interlude back at home, Crew decided that he wanted to participate in the run. We found Blake's shirt from last year and he could not have been more thrilled to have his very own Jog-a-Thon shirt. Nash was pretty elated to have him on board as well.

Nash loved showing off his little brother to his friends, who were so welcoming and inclusive.

Nash lovingly showed Crew the ropes of the Jog-a-Thon and Crew was over the moon about hanging out with the big kids. It is his dream to go to school one day. But thankfully, that day isn't for a couple more years because I don't know how I will be able to handle three elementary aged children!