School, birthday, and a 5K to boot!

We have had a very busy week this last week in August. Jackson began second grade on Tuesday and we had Tod's parents come visit for the weekend. During the weekend we managed to celebrate Austin's 5th birthday (which is actually on September 2) and cheer Jackson on in his running club's end of summer 5K.

Jackson had a great first week in second grade and we got a fantastic end of the week report from his teacher. It seems he is settling in nicely and following all of the class rules (no big surprise there; Jackson LOVES rules). Here is a picture of him on the first day of school:

Then we had the Dursts come in Friday for a fun labor day weekend! Saturday night we all went out for some delicious Italian food and cannoli for dessert (or Obi-Wan Cannoli as Austin calls it! Can you tell how much of a Star Wars fan he is?) to celebrate Austin's birthday. We came home and opened presents. Austin was on top of the world and LOVED all of his presents from Grandma and Granddad!

Silly Brothers!

Scooby-Doo Card!

Grandma really does a good job wrapping her gifts. No one can ever get into them!

Star Wars!!

Austin and Grandma

Sunday late afternoon, we headed over to Halyburton Park for Jackson's running club's end of summer 5K. I think we were all a little anxious about how it would go. It was the longest distance any of the kids had ever run with the club and we were about to find out what they were made of! The temperature was in the high 80's but boy was it humid! We kind of expected their times to be in the 50-60 minute range so imagine our surprise when the first two runners came in at just over 27 minutes! Their parents hadn't even made their way to the finish line yet! With times like that (these are 7 year olds) we feel sure they have a bright future in track! Every few minutes another runner would cross the finish line. It was very exciting and the best part was that EVERY child finished within 45 mintues AND with a huge smile on their face. I think even some of the parents were inspired to try a little jog this week! Here are some pictures:

The start of the race

The finish line

The Awards Ceremony

Jackson getting his medal from his coach

One big surprise for Jackson was a special award given to him by his running coach for the most miles run throughout the summer season. Not including the 5k on Sunday, Jackson ran over 18 miles during July and August. His running coach likes to say,"That's a lot of miles on those little legs!"

We had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and now we look forward to Austin beginning kindergarten this week. We'll keep you posted!!!