Bill Snyder Highway Half & 5K And Friends

We spent last weekend in Manhattan with some of our friends.  Eric and Rex have been friends since Eric was in the 6th grade, about 27 years, and still are great friends.  In fact, Rex was the Best Man in our wedding.  Rex and Angie have 3 daughters all close in ages to our 3 children.  Our kids haven't played together for about 2 years, but got along great last weekend, and our 3 can't wait to see their friends again soon!  (I personally love the 2 generations of good friends we have going on with our families.  And, I too hope we will see our friends again soon.)

We got into Manhattan very very late Friday night.  We couldn't leave town until after Phoebe and Sarah's ball games, so we actually didn't get on the road till about 10pm.  Rex met us in the driveway as we pulled in... We all went in sleepily and got to bed.  Angie, Sarah, and I had a big 5K to run the next morning at 7am.  We all rolled out of bed super early and got to the race in time to park, and walk up to the starting line with about 10-15 minutes to spare.  Just enough time to visit a little with friends we saw there, stretch a little, and we were off!

Below, before the race ~ The Bill Snyder Highway Half & 5K ~  

Sarah, Angie and I ran the 5K.  Eric, Rex, and all the other (5) children were our cheering section.  The race started and ended in the parking lot of the Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium.

Before, and after, the race I also got to see and talk to one of my college friends, Jenni.  She was also entered in the 5K with some of her KSU sorority sisters.  Jenni has been working hard to get healthy and her hardwork is paying off.  She has lost over 75 pounds!  This was her first 5K to enter and she did it!  Way to go, Jenni!  #LittleLessLatzke

It was a slow start to the 5K.  When we lined up to start we didn't get up near the starting line, so when we started out we had a lot of people in front of us, (walkers and runners) to pass.  It took some time to weave our way in and around these people.  Sarah told me later that it felt like people were trying to stay in front of her and not let her pass...when she would go one way someone would step in front of her and she couldn't get around them.  It was a little under the mile mark when it finally felt like the people were spreading out and we had gotten out in front of the walkers and slow runners.  I knew I was in front of Angie and Sarah but was unsure as to how much in front of them I was.  I had hoped Sarah would follow along behind me, getting around people and out in front of them... that is something we need to work on for our future races.  She did however run the whole race and got her 5K PR, 27:58, in this race.

I crossed the finish line about a minute before Sarah and Angie, placing 2nd in my age bracket.  Every racer in the 5K received a wooden Powercat medal as they crossed the finish line.  Other medals with given to 1st through 3rd places in each age bracket.

Below, 2 pictures of me crossing the finish line.  I had on black capri running pants and a purple colored shirt.  I am about in the middle of the 2 pictures.

Sarah was 7th in her age bracket.  She was in the female 14 and under bracket, competing against elementary and middle-school aged girls.  

Below, 3 pictures of Sarah crossing the finish line.  She had on black shorts and a blueish purple shirt.  She was able to get a big sprint in prior to the finish line and pushed ahead, passing a few people including (to Angie's surprise) Angie.

Angie ran a good race as well.  It had been a long time since she had run a 5K.  Her personal goal was to run her race in under 30 minutes.  She did it!

Below, Angie on the right, crossing the finish line.  She was wearing dark gray capri running pants and shirt.

After the 5K race, while waiting around for the awards ceremony, we saw Bill Snyder walk up to the finish line.  He was there to help give out the awards after the 5K and the half marathon.  We caught him early, before a line formed to talk to him or to have a picture taken with him.  He talked to Sarah and told her that she had done a great job and to keep it up!  She was a little in awe after I explained to her that he is indeed the famous, very fantastic, Kansas State University football coach....and that he had actually just talked to and congratulated her on her race.

Silas wasn't so sure about Coach Snyder, but he was all about Willie the Wildcat.  He spotted him first from across the parking lot and wanted to go over to him right away.  (You may recall last December we attended a KSU basketball game and Silas had wanted to meet Willie then, but had not gotten to because to our disappointment, Willie had to leave before we could get up to him.)  Not today though!  We got to give Willie fives, get pictures taken with him, and wave at him many times throughout the morning.  Silas was in K-STATE Heaven.  This made my purple heart happy!

Bill Snyder presented me with my 2nd place medal!  We shook hands and posed for a couple pictures.

It was a long day!  Silas, Phoebe, and I all took short naps in the vehicle as we drove around Manhattan on Saturday afternoon.

We all enjoyed our time spent with Rex, Angie, and their girls.

Silas really liked driving the girls' jeeps around Rex and Angie's big yard.  We joked with him about taking Layla on a "date".

We spent a little time at the ball fields for some hitting practice.  Even Silas and Layla stepped up to the plate and each hit with some coaching from the daddies.

2 Generations of Friends ~ Below, left to right, Rex, Avery, Lexi, Layla, Sarah, Silas, Eric, and Phoebe. 

The girls, below, left to right, Avery, Lexi, Phoebe, Sarah, and Layla.

And, 1 tired boy, who did NOT want to leave Manhattan!  Be still my purple heart.  What a GREAT weekend!

To find out more about the Bill Snyder Highway Half & 5K CLICK HERE.

Phoebe's May School Happenings

Phoebe had a fun Kindergarten year.  She enjoyed school and looked forward to going each day.  She loved her teacher and had a lot of friends that she liked playing with and being around.  There was one day at breakfast this year, when I overheard her talking to Sarah before school... She said to Sarah in a sad voice, "I don't want to go to school.  I don't like school. (then a dramatic pause) Just kidding!  I LOVE School!"  She learned to read and can sit down and read stories now to herself or others.  She impresses us with her addition and subtraction skills and seems to like the challenge of figuring out the answer to math problems.  She made a lot of progress academically and in speech this year.  She had a packet of homework almost every week of school this year that she completed at home and returned each week.  She did not complain, but rather enjoyed completing the worksheets, writing, reading, and math.

Memories of Kindergarten

My favorite thing about my teacher is... "She lets me play!"

My favorite thing to do at recess is... "Monkey bars"

The best thing about kindergarten is... "Reading books"

5 Things I've Learned In Kindergarten...

1. "Be Nice"
2. "Write"
3. "Reading"
4. "About Animals"
5. "Math"

How do you use a compass?  What is it used for?
Phoebe:  On a map.  You can use one when you are hiking so you know where to go.  It tells you west and east and north and south.

What are some of your favorite animals?
Phoebe:  Dogs, Cats, Monkeys, Lions, Bears, Tigers

What do you hope to do during your summer break?
Phoebe:  Go swimming.  Go to a motel and stay there 10 days.  Go to Ernie and Judy's house.  Do swimming lessons.  Go to the cabin.

Tell me how you made the pretty picture/art below?
Phoebe:  I drawed first with my crayons.  Then I used paint.  And I painted the whole thing.

Tell me about the writing journal below.  (I took a few pictures from inside the journal.  There were MANY more entries in this journal that Phoebe wrote, drew, and colored a picture for.  I just selected a few to photograph and share.)
Phoebe:  I wrote in my journal every week.  We had to write sentences and draw a picture to go with the sentences.

Above left, the front cover of her journal.  Above right, journal entry says, "I want to travel to whe 10 dc" (I want to travel to Washington D.C.)

Above left, says, "I like my dog my dog levs in are klnni" (I like my dog.  My dog lives in our kennel.)  Above right, says, "the moon is a rock" (The moon is a rock.)

Above left, says, "a Rainbows is Kulufl. a Rainbows has red and green and yellow and orange and blue and purple." (A rainbow is colorful.  A rainbow has red and green and yellow and orange and blue and purple.)  Above right, says, "If I fownd a pot of gold I would shu it wih my fwis."  (If I found a pot of gold I would share it with my friends.)

Above left, says, "Plants gro flowers and udl stuf."  (Plants grow flowers and other stuff.)  Above left, says, "I will share because I wut to be nice."  (I will share because I want to be nice.)

Above left, says, "I see a iadbug and it eded a ant!"  (I see a ladybug and it eated a ant!)  Above right, says, " I have tee ball to dae I like tee Ball!"  (I have tee ball today.  I like tee ball!)

Above, says, "My shoe is a tenusho.  and it hah spots on it.  and it has flais.  and it is purple!"  (My shoe sis a tennis shoe.  And it has spots on it.  And it has flowers.  And it is purple.)

Tell me about going to the AR Store?  How many points did you have to spend?
Phoebe:  I got to go to the AR Store and I got a book with my points.  I got points from taking AR tests on the computer.  (Accelerated Reader tests are reading comprehension tests taken and tracked on the computer at school.)  I had 3 points.

Phoebe steadily improved her Language Arts, Writing, Mathematics, Personal/Social, Technology, Physical Education, and Music skills all year long.  For the 4th nine weeks report card period she received 58 S's!  Excellent work this year Phoebe!  (S- Satisfactory, E- Emerging, NM- No Mark, Not assessed at this time)

There was an all school assembly and talent show on the last day of school.  Each Kindergarten class performed a song with actions/skit in front of the whole school.  Phoebe's class acted out and sang the song, "My Mother Is A Baker".  Two children were assigned each role in the song.  Each role, had a action and singing part.  Phoebe and her friend, Lila, played the part of the Grandma.
To hear the song, "My Mother Is A Baker", CLICK HERE.

What was your part in the class performance for the assembly?  Did you practice a lot for the performance?  Were you nervous?
Phoebe:  I was a Grandma.  Yes we practiced a lot in my classroom.  Lila and I wore the red hats that our neighbor, Ruth, gived to me and Sarah.  Nope, I was not nervous.  I was happy.  I looked out at people and I sang and did the actions.

Below is Phoebe's May calendar that she brought home every night from school in May.  A parent must initial it each night and send it back to school in the morning.  Each school day, at the end of the day, Phoebe gets to color the square with the color that her clip/clothespin has moved to and is still on at the end of the day.  11 green days and 2 blue days in May.