Blue Ribbon, Baby!!!

So, Mackendra's second x-country race of the year resulted in another Blue Ribbon (1st Place).  And this time, her Mom and Dad were able to watch her finish the race.

At her first race, Mack also came first, but her Mom and Dad were not very well informed and were standing at the wrong finish line waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting....so....they missed it.

Good thing Mackendra didn't seem to mind that much.

The girl is a natural!  I was standing at the finish line waiting for her to round the corner and happened to overhear some other parents...

"That little girl in the red who entered the trees first...she's a great little runner...she has great mechanics.  You can just tell she's a good runner.  Yup...there she is, out in front.  What a great stride she has."

Made me day!  I'm so happy that she is having fun and working hard.  It is a bonus that she ended up with two blue ribbons.  She has 3 more races this season.  Hopefully they will all end with smiles.

REPRESENT!!! Check out #6 in the Canada Jersey

Official U16 Canadian National Team

Presented with the Silver Medals at the FIBA U16 Americas in Cancun, Mexico

Listening to Coach

Nice form, good concentration, good lift.  But did it go in?

I'm so incredibly proud of Aislinn.  Representing her country in international competition will probably be a highlight of her life.  Keep up the hard work, my love.

My B-ballin' offsping...

Nice form!

Aislinn playing Varsity ball this year.  OMG!  That girl in blue is huge!

...with a whopper!!!! Ladies and gentlemen!

Mackendra participated in her very first "Showdeo".  All the participants had different tasks they had to do while riding their horse.  They were awarded points according to fastest time and whether they completed the task.  In the 4 events, Mackendra placed in two of them.  She achieved 8th place in the riding while her arms were taped down around her waist, and she achieved 4th place in the above event...the riding while holding a Whopper candy on a spoon event.

Way to go kiddo!  Not bad for 3 lessons!

...a wonderful day...ruined.

Imagine a beautiful, crisp October evening.

Imagine that you are a nine year old girl on her very first horse back riding lesson.

Imagine that you are riding a gorgeous paint horse and having the time of your life.

Imagine you have finished your ride and are running around with your new friends, the other children in the horse riding lesson.

Imagine playing "horse tag".

Imagine running away as fast a you can from the kid that is "it", and they are running as fast as they can to tag you...imagine them catching you and giving you a little shove.

Imagine you falling forward and your shoulder slamming into a post and the breath being knocked out of you.

Imagine the ride to the hospital and the pain every time you try to move your arm.

Imagine your Mom's feeling of hopelessness as she receives a call from almost 300 miles away that you are going into xray, that the doctor is sure that you've fractured your left clavicle.

That's a wonderful day....ruined.

...R.I.P. Roxy the Hamster

Yesterday was a sad day.  Mackendra's hamster, Roxy, died during the night.  We knew she was coming to her end...she hadn't been moving or eating, or doing much of anything for the last two weeks.

So, we said our goodbyes and then buried her in the woods behind our house.

R.I.P. Roxy, you were a good pet.

...what a weekend!

So, you might ask, "what did you give the kids to make them fall asleep like that?"
And my answer would have to be..."a great weekend!"

We travelled down to Portland again this weekend.  Aislinn had a 3-on-3 tournament down there.  It was such a great atmosphere.  I'm not sure of the numbers, but there must have been about 250 teams, of all age groups playing outside 3-on-3.  SO MUCH FUN!!!  Aislinn's team was called the Dream Team.  And they were in the Gr. 9 division.  They had 2 games on the Saturday to rank them and won the first game handily, but lost a close one the next game.  They ended up playing 4 games on the Sunday, the second game against the same team they lost to the previous day, and winning the whole gosh darn division!  Yup!  They ended up the Gr. 9 Girls Champions!  Aislinn played amazingly.  She took her team on her shoulders and carried them all the way to the winner's circle.  Not to say that her teammates didn't help...they were fabulous!  They all contributed.  But Aislinn was in a different mindspace...she did not want to lose...she didn't let them lose.  I think it was the best I have ever seen her compete.  It was so great.

This was right after the won the last game.  The girls made their own shirts.  Cute huh?

And these were the shirts they won!  Even cuter!!!

It was Frank's birthday today as well.  When Aislinn asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told her that the best present would be a championship...so, Frank was one happy birthday boy.

This was the only picture that I have of Frank this weekend.  It is actually me and him trying to figure out how to use the camera on my tablet.  Haha.

Mackendra figured it out way before us.  Witness one of her self portraits.

So, after 6 games and a great weekend of basketball, this was the girls on the drive home.