Track Season 2023

(March-May, 2023)

If I was caught up with the blog, I imagine you would have gotten each track meet as they happened, but I almost like doing all of them as one post more. So, hat tip to being behind. 

This was Pearl's first year doing track. Seventh grade is sometimes the most fun, since everyone is just finding out how fast they are or what they are good at. Pearl decided to do long distance, not sprints. And she tried out the long jump as well. 

TRACK MEET 1

Much like tennis, they got a few practices and then right into their first track meet. Sometimes the easiest way to learn, is to do. Pearl was so fresh and excited. And nervous. She was signed up for the 800m and the long jump. I wanted her to do the mile, but she said, "Not yet."

We got so much snow this year that it was amazing that most of the track meet days had good weather. It was still cold, but totally doable. One meet was canceled so they only had three meets before Alpine Days. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here are some ways to spot Pearl. 1) Long hair. She puts her hair back in a pony, but it's a LONG ponytail. 2) She is in the picture somewhere. I didn't put a picture on here that doesn't include her, so keep looking if you don't see her at first.

Here are the girls lined up for the 800m. They are learning where to stand and how to start.

It was just me at most of the meets, and I wanted to time Pearl. So I would often take a picture in the middle of the race instead of at the end because I was usually hitting the stop watch at the end. So this is Pearl coming around the first lap.

She did awesome. She got a 3:10 for her first try. That is pretty fast. 

She also did the long jump and got just over 10 feet. 

I've complained in the past that they are terrible about getting out results, but this year there was a website that was updated now and then and I was able to find official results for Pearl.

TRACK MEET 2

The second track meet was an away track meet. I told Pearl she should run the mile, but she didn't want to yet. That's fine. Pearl has such fun friends in track. She met lots of new people and some are close friends now. 

Here you can see her getting ready for the 800m. Can you see her long hair in the line? She learned that maybe she should get closer to the front if possible. 

I think Pearl came in 10th place, which is fitting since she also dropped 10 seconds off her time. Although the official time came back even faster for her. Just under 3 minutes. Nice job Pod.

And of course some more pictures with friends.

TRACK MEET 3 4

Well, track meet 3 was actually canceled, like I said, because of snow. This track meet was finally not too cold. It wasn't hot, but the sun was present. I actually came outside just a little late and guess what?? There was Pearl...running the mile. Little stinker. I mean, I was glad she was running it since I knew she'd be awesome, but I didn't get to time her. She did an amazing job. I think we checked times later and she ran it in 6:34. Pearl passed people on each lap. In fact, our principal, Mr. Elison, told Pearl she could catch a girl that wasn't too far away and Pearl chased her down. 

She also ran the 800m as usual, but just a little slower, which isn't surprising since she just ran the mile.

 She also made the school instagram post. Can you find her?

Alpine days was coming up and I actually had no idea if Pearl would be running. She usually finished around 4th for our 7th grade girls in the 800m and she only ran the mile once. There are rules about how they choose people, but I don't know how hard and fast they are. Pearl did say that they did a mini track meet with just our school (to make up for the one they missed) and they had the 7th grade girls run the 400m to see who could make up a 4x400 relay team. 

So I was pleasantly surprised to see that Pearl made 3 events for Alpine Days. That's awesome for her first year.

ALPINE DAYS

Naturally, Alpine days was super hot. None of the kids were used to running in heat since...Utah. Lots of people got sunburned and were struggling with heat fatigue, but it was an awesome two days of track and field.

Beau and Analena came on both days to watch Pearl run! So cool. 

Pearl ran the mile on day one. Look for the blue shorts. That is how I always picked her out. Here she is waiting in her group. There were two groups that ran the mile. Pearl was in the faster group. That is always daunting, but it makes people run faster. You have to remember that this is only the second time Pearl is running the mile. 

They had one false start, but the second took. Pearl stayed between two large groups for most of the race. At the end, there was quite a hoard of girls smashed together. But she did amazing!! Of course, she got a PR of 6:14. I'll save you some time looking back through the blog, but all the girls were right around there. June's time in 7th grade was 6:13. Ivory ran a personal best of 6:15 in 9th grade. All right there together. 

We celebrated with shaved ice. 

Pearl got 12th overall, which is fantastic!

Day 2, Pearl was running the 800m. There were so many girls and it was a crush the whole time. One of Pearl's friends fell on the second lap and still got up to get 9th. She's a great runner. I was so proud of Pearl's time. She got a PR with a time of 2:52.

And now for the surprise event. The 4x400. During the mini track meet, Pearl got one of the fastest times for the 400m, so they put her on the relay team, with three other girls, who also had NEVER run the event. They had NEVER passed the baton before, so they were a little apprehensive about the whole thing. The girls chose which spots they wanted and Pearl was going to run first. But when they went down for the event, the coach changed it all up. He told Pearl she was running last. She and third-leg girl had the fastest times for the group. 

There were six teams and as you can see from where Pearl was standing, that her team started a little slow and was in fifth place. They line the girls up in order, to receive the batons.

Pearl's teammate made up a lot of ground and was almost able to pass the girl in front of her, but she didn't know if she could. Everyone was lined up, so she figured she had to stay in that order. So they came in pretty close together. Here you can see Pearl getting the baton. 

And the two girls took off.

But Pearl passed the other girl on the first turn. Can you see her? She passed her on the inside too. It was epic.

And then she never let the girl catch up. You can barely see the two on the other side of the track. Go blue shorts!

She finished strong and their team came in fourth. Sadly, I have no other stats. I never learned their team time or where they finished overall. I only have Pearl's individual 400m time of 1:14. Good job chica.

I would say with resounding assurity that Pearl had a great first year of track. I hope she runs again next year but we'll see what happens. But she will always have these great memories.

Three Falls

(June 1st, 2023)

Three Falls is a super fun hike. This time of year brings lots of pretty wildflowers. We've had a lot more moisture this year as well, so I'm sure that helps. I went and hiked this trail at the end of school with some of the faculty. It was so nice that I wanted to share the adventure with the girls. So it was our first hike of the summer.

But I should warn you up front. There is only one waterfall, not three. 

It was a really great day for hiking. It started sunny, but was overcast for most of the hike, so it wasn't too hot. Here we are ready to go. It's nice because Beau came and Daisy was around too. We missed both of them on many of our hikes last year.

The flowers were so pretty and there were lots of butterflies. Pearl tried to catch one the whole time. I caught this one in a picture. (You can't really say on film anymore...)

Look how gorgeous the mountains are. This was such a lovely day.

We brought the water backpack and took turns carrying it. 

It was a good thing we had water. There wasn't much shade and some people are more prone to dehydration.

Selfie on the way.

The hike is kind of funny. The loop we did ends on a road. The road goes back down to the parking lot. In order to see the waterfall, you cross the road and hike up the other side. Meaning, you could just drive up the road and hike the 100 yards to see the waterfall. But where is the fun in that?? We hiked over and got a picture with one of the falls behind us.

Sadly, you can't really get to the water. We hiked up and around the corner but the trail seemed to be going away from the falls, so we gave up. But not before Pearl found a snake. He was such a cutie, climbing in a tree. I just missed his head in the second picture. He turned at the wrong moment.

We also tried climbing down, but the trail was steep and still didn't get us to the water. We were all tired by then, so I took a couple more photos and we called it a day.

It was so fun to hike with my tough girls. They all be mighty.

We could hear another falls on the way back down the road, but according to a sign, it was private property. Logan told me on the faculty hike that it was a view only for the local residents. That seems a little unfair, but it wasn't the day to break the law. Don't worry...another day.

We celebrated with Purple Turtle. When you walk that far, you need to replenish the calories. ;p

Tricky SFX

(April 5th, 2023)

 We always love when Ivory does her FX for us or on us. But this last Spring Break, Ives decided to mix it up. She calls it her tricky SFX. It is when she has someone do the effects on her and she gives them instructions as they go. 

I was slated to try this out, but I was busy so she started with Pearl. Pearl did such a good job that we called it good for the week. Let's check out her mad skills, being guided by Ivory along the way.

There are always a lot of options of things to try. Pearl opted for a stitched over eye. She started by gluing a cotton circle over Ivory's eye.

Next she covered it with putty and smoothed it out. 

Now the tricky part. Pearl very carefully stitched thread into the eye area. I bet this was nerve-racking for Ivory. I would be super worried about a needle going into my eye. But Ivory took it in stride. And Pearl was a boss and didn't even come close to blinding her.

Now to add some color. I got a close up at this point. Very creepy.

But it wasn't enough. Pearl needed to add more blood. 

The result is rather gory. Can you see the needle is still in there? It's a little hard to pick out with all the ichor.

I think it was a bonding experience. These two sisters are sweet.

What you don't see is that Ivory wore that makeup and went grocery shopping with me. We got some weird looks, plenty of stares, and a few compliments. I'm sure it was a little disorienting for Ives. After all, she could only see out of one eye.

So when she came home, off came the makeup. Looks like the patch came off nicely.

The clean up is always faster than the application. Although along the way, you may look like you enjoyed a plate of spaghetti more than you should. :)

Overall, it was a really diverting fun activity for spring break. Thanks for the tricky SFX Ives.

His House, Our House

(May 30th, 2023)

The Saratoga Springs Temple is finished and they are currently doing their open house. I scheduled a time for us to go ages ago. I thought it would work better once school was over. So Tuesday morning, we all went over to see the new temple. Ironically, we ran into a couple of the teachers from the Junior High. Two teachers, Mrs. Schlosser and Ms. Stanger retired this year and they happened to arrive the same time we did. It was really nice to see them. 

The temple is really beautiful. I love the stained glass and the chandeliers are gorgeous. I also love to see the art they put up in the temple. I recognized several pieces and a few were new to me. It is always neat to walk through with the girls and answer their questions. 

We got a couple photos outside and while we were leaving. 

Then the next day, Tyler and I went to the Jordan River temple, another first for me. It is really pretty from the outside. I saw some of the same art inside that temple as the Saratoga Springs temple. The inside of the Jordan River temple is a little confusing though. We got a little turned around, but the nice thing is that the temple is filled with people who are happy to help you out. 

Back at our house, we got the carpets cleaned. (We've been busy bees this week with cleaning and painting.) We moved all the furniture so the carpets would be clear. Daisy found herself a little cave. She put on her headlight and read inside. :)

The carpets looked great. I like our guy, Mahonri. I've only met awesome people with that name. 

We didn't watch a movie on Tuesday. (See, I told you the schedule was flexible.) But we did make a treat on Wednesday. I tried Lemon Blueberry sweet rolls. They were super tasty. I took some around to neighbors and got rave reviews. I will definitely make those again. 

We went hiking on Thursday, but that is a post in itself since I have lots of fun pictures. But it has been a great first week of summer. 

Kicking Off Summer with PAINT

(May 29th, 2023)

I know I'm not quite caught up, but if you recall, last summer, I decided to be current. And it was glorious and cathartic. It kept me from going crazy and I can't even tell you how excited I am to think that once I finish up April and May, I am officially caught up. Like for reals. So I am doing exactly what I did last year. Summer is starting and you will get what is happening now, with a sprinkling (or shower) of previous activities. 

I'm not nearly as scheduled as last year, but I still did a bit of planning...because it's me. Here is a very flexible agenda for summer.

Monday - Cleaning day
Tuesday - Finish cleaning day and possibly watch a movie
Wednesday - Treat day
Thursday - Hike day
Friday - Very flexible extra day to use however

See? Not overloaded at all. There are other goals going on, such as ab workouts and a pull-up challenge, but I already know I will probably not be great at keeping up with those. I also have a pile of books to read. I'll be a little more dedicated to that.

Monday was a cleaning day, but Tyler also saw the opportunity to paint the kitchen. We have been slowly moving through the house with our light grey paint. I really love it and I think it makes everything feel cooler. (literally) It was time to paint more of the main level; kitchen and possibly entryway. The kids are actually really great painters. They took right to it. They were creative and got into all the tricky spots.

Meanwhile, I was not involved. I already had a designated area to clean and I wasn't going to ignore it. My task was the sunroom. Yikes, it was messy. 

So I spent my morning upstairs while everyone painted downstairs. By lunchtime, projects were looking good. I was done with the sunroom.

And painters downstairs were finished with the kitchen. We broke for lunch.

In the afternoon, Ivory went to work and the girls thought we could get more done. I no longer had an excuse to stay away, so I joined the workers and we painted our way down the entryway and to the front foyer. 

It still needs a little touch up, but it looks great! All in one day. Good work crew. Also, Tyler got some new lighting for up above and for the first time, our above-cupboard area looks almost professional. 

It was quite the day of accomplishments. I believe that everyone had paint on them somewhere. But that is a job well done!