Two Races & A Graduation
This past weekend just flew by! Probably because we had so many fun things to do...
We woke up early Saturday morning to take our son to his first race! My good friend was coordinating a small fun run as a fund raiser for gang prevention and since there was a quarter-mile kids fun we decided to sign our little guy up. He has been to many of our races, so we thought it was time he got to run in one of his own! He had been practicing running up and down our street and we knew he could finish. I think he was a little nervous as he asked me a couple of times, "But what if I don't win?" We tried to tell him that winning wasn't the important thing, and that we haven't ever won any of our races, but we still have fun.
Coming up to the finish line
The race was held in a neighborhood where the kids basically ran down a couple of streets and back. Our son started off full-speed and was huffing and puffing by the first corner! My hubby ran with him the whole way and helped him to pace himself so he could finish. He was able to keep running the whole way and he got a ribbon at the finish line. It was a perfect first race for him because there were not too many kids, it was pretty low-key and everyone was so encouraging. In fact, he was so into it, that he stood at the finish line during the whole adult's 2-mile race! He cheered and rang a cowbell for everyone that came across the finish line. Who knows if running will be his thing or not, but we are really proud of him for trying.
Later that day, we headed off to our local university to participate in the international students' commencement ceremony. It was a smaller ceremony, held in a concert hall for only the international students and their families & friends. We knew many of the students that were graduating and several more who were attending as well. One of the students who is part of our fellowship group on Friday nights was one of two student speakers. She was so composed and did a fantastic job. Overall, I am just so inspired and encouraged by these students who have moved far away from their families and homes to study here. They are such hard workers and humble too. I was really proud to be there and cheering for so many of them.
I was also really proud of my two kids who made it through the whole ceremony (an hour and a half) without melting down! Our babysitting option didn't really work out, so we decided to just go for it. I think it was a good choice, since most of the students really know us as a family and really enjoy our kids (I think they may have even been more happy to see them, than my husband and me!). It was also a good learning opportunity for our son to be there and to understand what it means to graduate and celebrate their accomplishment. We chose seats that were near the exit doors (just in case...) but it turned out that that was where the students entered and exited. At the end, as all the students left, our son decided to congratulate all the students by sticking out his hand to shake anyone's hand who noticed him. It was hillarious! He actually did know several students, but he was happy to congratulate even those he didn't know.
Congratulations Grads!
We woke up again early on Sunday morning to head off to another race. This one was a half-marathon that my husband and I signed up for as a 2-person relay. I ran the first 6.5 miles and he ran the second 6.6 miles (although we think he actually ran more than that...) It was the inaugural race for this event, and we wanted to check it out. I ran a very slow first half with my brother (who had also signed up to run as a relay) and my hubby ran a very fast half with his friend, for an overall time of 2:10. Again our kids proved themselves to be great spectators!
What an accomplished weekend for us all!
We woke up early Saturday morning to take our son to his first race! My good friend was coordinating a small fun run as a fund raiser for gang prevention and since there was a quarter-mile kids fun we decided to sign our little guy up. He has been to many of our races, so we thought it was time he got to run in one of his own! He had been practicing running up and down our street and we knew he could finish. I think he was a little nervous as he asked me a couple of times, "But what if I don't win?" We tried to tell him that winning wasn't the important thing, and that we haven't ever won any of our races, but we still have fun.
Coming up to the finish line
Later that day, we headed off to our local university to participate in the international students' commencement ceremony. It was a smaller ceremony, held in a concert hall for only the international students and their families & friends. We knew many of the students that were graduating and several more who were attending as well. One of the students who is part of our fellowship group on Friday nights was one of two student speakers. She was so composed and did a fantastic job. Overall, I am just so inspired and encouraged by these students who have moved far away from their families and homes to study here. They are such hard workers and humble too. I was really proud to be there and cheering for so many of them.
I was also really proud of my two kids who made it through the whole ceremony (an hour and a half) without melting down! Our babysitting option didn't really work out, so we decided to just go for it. I think it was a good choice, since most of the students really know us as a family and really enjoy our kids (I think they may have even been more happy to see them, than my husband and me!). It was also a good learning opportunity for our son to be there and to understand what it means to graduate and celebrate their accomplishment. We chose seats that were near the exit doors (just in case...) but it turned out that that was where the students entered and exited. At the end, as all the students left, our son decided to congratulate all the students by sticking out his hand to shake anyone's hand who noticed him. It was hillarious! He actually did know several students, but he was happy to congratulate even those he didn't know.
Congratulations Grads!We woke up again early on Sunday morning to head off to another race. This one was a half-marathon that my husband and I signed up for as a 2-person relay. I ran the first 6.5 miles and he ran the second 6.6 miles (although we think he actually ran more than that...) It was the inaugural race for this event, and we wanted to check it out. I ran a very slow first half with my brother (who had also signed up to run as a relay) and my hubby ran a very fast half with his friend, for an overall time of 2:10. Again our kids proved themselves to be great spectators!
What an accomplished weekend for us all!
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