A Boy and His Dog
Category: Children
Prediction Run
A few weeks ago, Audrey was invited to her first prediction run. Â She ran 5k in the woods ahead of the friend who invited her. Â Mark and Andrea have joined her for the last two weeks.
Mark said that when they get to the race, they write down the time they think they will take to run 5k. Â After running, they write down their time and find out how close they were.
This was Andrea’s first time running the 5k and she took 28 minutes.  Since she only runs during soccer, that is not bad.  Mark was off by 28 seconds on his guess of 22 minutes.  Audrey however, ran it in 26.58, which was 2 seconds off of her guess and won this week!  She came home with a medal and a huge smile.
A Bird in the Hand
This morning the children discovered a fledgling on our front ledge.  We needed to move him because we did not want the dogs to find him and we did not know how well he could fly.
Adrian tried to get him, but the bird hopped away. Â Then Megan tried and he hopped right on her hand! Â He perched for a very short while and then fluttered away. Â He did not fly well at all.
The kids slowly tried to catch him again to move him and he fluttered to the wall and perched there.  Since he was safe there, we watched him until he flew away to another branch and then Adrian watched until he flew to a much safer tree in the woods.
Here is Megan’s view of the story.
We found a fledgling.  She was very cute. I named her Rose. She is very pretty.  She is soft soft. I was glad to be able to hold her.  I wish Adrian could have too.
Last Soccer Games
Today was our last soccer games for the season. Â Adrian tried hard and attempted a few goals. Â They won, 2:1.
Megan’s team had a harder time focusing because it was getting warmer and the kids were complaining they were too hot. Â Megan made a goal, and her team won 5:1.
For the last period, the coaches were invited to play with the team.  Mark and Audrey both enjoyed being able to play.
After the games, we had a picnic and then an “awards” ceremony. Â We ended the season with the sprinklers 
turned on and everyone enjoying them.
The Tea Party
Megan was given two dolls from a lady at church.  They are very old dolls.  The one’s eyes open and close and the dress is falling apart from age.  The other doll and dress is in better condition and the hair and eyes are painted on. I am guessing they are from the 1950’s because they look similar to a larger doll my mom owns.
Kayak Day Trip
This weekend, the kids were invited to go kayaking with a friend.  Poppa Wood volunteered to be their “trial guide”. My children have kayaked a little bit, but never for an extended time.  They learned quickly and enjoyed a morning on the river.
When they met up with us around noon, Allan took the younger two for a short “spin” around.  Then we spent the early afternoon talking and enjoying a picnic with the Woods.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday!
Audrey
Audrey was invited out for lunch today. She was sweet enough to pose for a few pictures before she left with her friend.
Pink Scarf
When Andrea was three, we went to Pakistan. She loved the dupattas that I wore while there and we got her a pink one that she used. The material has been used for many things since then. While it often is used as clothing, it has been a blanket, a tent ora sling for dollies.
Megan was playing with it and I asked if I could use her as a model. I told her just to play however she wanted. I think she was an excellent model!
Soccer Weekend
We had five soccer games this weekend. Andrea, subbing for another team, played in three games. Friday’s game was good, but they lost 1-2. Saturday’s game was vicious. Andrea came home telling how mean the other team was. One of her team mates ended up with a bloody nose, one had a hurt leg and two were knocked out! Andrea said she played the whole game, but was considering asking for a sub because the other team started going after her and she was getting mad at them. 
Today’s game was a rough game because the other team was really good, but they played fair and it was fun to watch.
While Allan took Andrea to her game yesterday, Mark was the coach for Adrian’s team. Mark did a great job as coach. 
Adrian almost made a goal, the ball hit the goal frame and bounced back at him. The kids played hard and won 3-1!
Megan played well too. Audrey was her team’s main coach and tried to encourage the team to pass the ball and let the ones who had not made a goal yet, try for one. That is difficult since we have a “me! me! team”.
Megan almost made a goal, but she did not really care that she missed. She proved to me that she understood the reason for soccer the best on her team. She played hard and tried her best, and did not care about who made the goals. At the end of the game, she was excited about all the fun she had. 
We have no games over the holiday weekend. We are looking forward to a quiet soccer week.
Climbing Trees
Audrey discovered a bird’s nest in our Japanese Maple tree. She has been climbing the tree everyday watching the baby birds hatch and grow. Megan has been disappointed, because she wanted to see the babies too.
She has been trying hard to climb the tree with Audrey. If someone gives her a boost up, she has been comfortable sitting on a bottom branch. However; today, she really wanted to see the babies. So she managed to get over by Audrey and excitedly watched the birds for a few minutes.
Instead of hugging the tree coming down, she faced out. As she got to the last branch that someone needs to help her down at, she smiled big. Then she let go and jumped for me to catch her!
