Time Trialin' to Cyclocrossin'

Dahlen's gave Gerrit a time trial helmet that was left at the shop. Gerrit use to wear it all the time until Adam told him he had to wait to wear it until it fit him better. Emmit thinks its fun to wear a helmet even though we don't make him wear on when he rides/pushes his trike.
He hasn't quite figured out pedaling yet but know what needs to be done, just doesn't have the strength. So he pushes like Fred Flinstone and can get moving pretty fast - especially with an aerodynamic helmet!

Saturday was Adam's first race of the season. He used it more of a gauge to see where he's at compared to the competition. Before Adam's race was the kids' race. There were 3 kids and the 8 yr old wanted to do barriers so the route was a little longer than Gerrit would've liked, but he finished. He had a little help from dad getting the bike over the barriers but that was it. He pushed his bike through the sand and had an amazing remount! He took 2nd (the other little boy ran into the fence allowing Gerrit to pass him) and was awarded a neat little medal. He earned his Gatorade after this race and is ready for next week!

And this is how its suppose to be done:

Grandpa Bob and Geri were here for the weekend and came along as did Uncle Travis (he raced too). We did not take advantage of the mobile coffee/waffle van (top, right photo) - maybe next time!

Did You Know...

Autumn comes in a bag?

Gerrit went on a nature walk at school and when I picked him up, he ran over to his cubbie to show me his bag of 'Autumn'. It helped that the letter for the week was "A" so they were learning "A" words such as autumn.

Basketball - week 1

Gerrit started a 4 week basketball 'clinic'. This is how he was for the first 1/2 of it:
finger in mouth, not doing anything:

unless dad or mom was next to him:

He finally warmed up to everything going on and started to participate without his finger in his mouth or mom and dad in the wing.

Gerrit's shot, and of course Emmit had to try it too:

Here's a little "what time is it Mr. Fox"?

Emmit was not shy....

I think next time Emmit goes we'll have to remember his OWN basketball!

A little defense - still working on this one!

Emmit enjoys when Gerrit goes to camp because he can go too!

Here's hoping to Gerrit warming up to camp from the start and Emmit staying out of the way!

Same Ol', Same Ol'

I know I haven't written in a while but frankly, there is not much to write. So I'll give a quick update w/o pictures but know there are some events coming up this week that will be picture worthy.

Gerrit is no longer crying at preschool and actually admits to liking it. He has had hot lunch a few times now and enjoys certain menu items. I learned today that the lighter colored pants have to be worn in the winter when the snow pants cover them up! He was so dirty today.  

Emmit is still a man of few words and lots of screams. 

We visited friends in the cities on Sat., my former head coach Chris and family. Gerrit loved playing with the big boys. I think he wore Joe (6th grade) out playing football in the yard. Emmit entertained us all and almost fell over every time he looked up at Chris when he was standing (Chris is 6'7"). It was pretty funny to watch little Emmit try and look up at him. It had been a long time and great to see them again. Gerrit asked if we could come back before we even left the driveway.

I'm adjusting to high school students and getting a feel for the 'new' school and how it works. It seems 'easier' or less hectic than middle school which is a nice change. And anything is better than elementary!

That pretty much sums up how things are going as of late. We look forward to grandpa Bob and Geri's visit next weekend and then Oma and Opa's visit a few weeks after that. 

Fat Tire Festival

If I knew how to spell the name of the national park where the bike race was held, I'd write it, but seeing the race is also known as the fat tire festival because it is a mountain bike race, I'll leave the title as is.

We spent the weekend in northern Wisconsin with Dahlen's, Dave Langley, and Dave D's sister. We rented a cabin and had a beautiful weekend. Seeing we didn't have daycare on Friday, we left at lunch time so we could enjoy some of the day at the cabin. Adam took a ride, Dave went to get his race packet and I ran off some energy with the boys. We played football, looked for fish from the dock and found the playground. Emmit doesn't like the steps and prefers to walk up the slide which he mastered easily. He did seem to find the climbing rope steps fun too. Gerrit loves the monkey bars and does a great job going across them - he has more upper body strength than his dad! We had dinner the lodge with Dahlen's before calling it a night.

Saturday was the big race. Anne dropped Dave off at his start (he did the long race) and I dropped Paul off at his start (he did the short - he's not old enough to do the long). We have it down to a science and everyone knows where to go and where to meet up and when. Adam took advantage of the trails and did a ride by himself and I picked him up in time to catch the finish. We met up with the rest of the group on the hill of a ski resort where the finish line is located. Paul did great and took 6th in his age group while Dave made his goal of under 3 hours. Emmit enjoyed his ride in the back pack as well as playing with Paul's bike to pass the time. Emmit had so much excitement that he actually fell asleep in Adam's arms. Gerrit did a great job riding his bike up and down the big hill. Last year he just went and didn't break whereas this year he did a much better job of keeping under control. Emmit and Anne took a tour of the medicopter just before he was called to leave. It was quite the site to watch it leave seeing we were so close to it. No one in our group was injured which was a relief as we saw one guy crash and turned his ankle a way no one would want to turn it (it was grose!).

We made it back to the cabin to catch a little football and bloody mary's. We had pizza in Cable for dinner and enjoyed the crisp fall air. It was a busy day and we were all in bed by 9:30! Sunday was rainy so we had breakfast and headed for home.  Even though its a bit of a drive, it is a beautiful area and a great escape from the hustle and bustle of home. We always say we'd like to come back and stay longer...maybe this year???

Set....Hut!

This little cutie patootie has figured it out.

When you say 'seeettttt', Emmit does this:

And will stay in that position until he hears: "hut"! Then you find him doing this:

And he knows he will be tackled by his brother shortly so he ends the play (whether Gerrit is around or not) like this:

Gerritisms at Age 4

Gerrit still says he doesn't like preschool and maybe never admit that he actually DOES like it which is fine by me. I know he is enjoying it because Nikki checked on him when she picked Ollie up today. Gerrit was too busy playing to stop and say hi to Nikki! So even though he still has his mopey moments, he is having fun. Matt, Ollie's dad dropped her off today for her first day of preschool and when Ollie started to get weepy, Gerrit came over to her and invited her to play with him. How sweet, the team beat kids looking out for each other at preschool!

Gerrit was singing some songs from preschool today (this is HIS version):

"So rise and shine and give God the girly, girly...."

While I had a short coughing attack during our Dairy Queen treat Gerrit says to me:

"do you have a frog in your mouth?"

(I guess Little Bear had one in his mouth this am - a kid show Gerrit watches before school)

Oh, and to top it off - Gerrit had homework tonight! He had to fill the letter lunch box with things that start with the letter C. How exciting to share with his class tomorrow all the things we found in the house that start with a C. I wanted to put pictures of my sisters in there b/c their names start with a C but I didn't think preschool kids would get it. I know I'll be laying in bed tonight thinking of more things we could put in it too!