Storybook Land/Aberdeen

We split our drive home from Cherokee over 2 days, stopping in Aberdeen for the night. After we checked in to our hotel, we went to Shenanigan's for supper.  The boys were hungry.

We had a fun time swimming in the pool after supper.
The next morning, we spent some time at Storybook Land/Wylie Park.  The kids love that place.

 Skipping under the rainbow

Rapunzel's Castle.  Megan isn't quite tall enough to be visible, but I think you can see her hands. 

 Our traditional Megan/Pooh picture

 Megan, still flabergasted that she was not cast as Jill in the K spring musical.

 More skipping along the yellow brick road

 Finally tall enough!

Cherokee

We made the trip to Cherokee over the weekend to see Don's parents, 2 of his brothers, and a variety of aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We made the trip in 8 hours, 45 minutes, which is a post-children record.  We beat the nasty hail/tornado weather that stormed through (no pun inteneded) Watertown, SD, and had a relatively easy trip.

Megan declared Brad her favorite Uncle, but got very nervous and defensive when Don and I said we were going to tell Jason and Whitey.  She accommodated by forming a "Favorite Uncle Club".  Right now, Brad is President.

Megan pestering Brad.  Danielle (Tim's wife) is next to Brad

We hoped to golf Saturday morning, but it was raining.  We hoped to go to the cool waterpark in Cherokee, that only costs $5 admission, but it was also raining.  Once it finally quit raining, we took Grandma's '66 Ford Mustang out for a spin around the block, and played a competitive game of croquet in the backyard.

 Pyper is taking a picture of me, while I take a picture of her

 Megan's favorite Uncle.....for now

 The Cherokee home

 Kids in the backseat of Grandma's Mustang.  Uncle Tim is driving.  Of the 3 drivers, they claim Uncle Tim was the best, since he 'gunned it' the longest distance

 My turn.  It was cool.

 Eric rode shot gun while Don took his turn driving.

 All business playing croquet.  I was in last place.  I was so far behind everyone else that they started letting me cheat.

 Jonathan beat out Uncle Tim for first place.  It is not cofirmed, but I do believe Uncle Tim let Jonathan beat him.

Megan fake played, which means she walked around with the pink mallet and ball.  The only thing she really hit was Pyper's nose.

We also got to see Aunt Rosie, Andy, Jodi, and Ty on the Flanigan side of the family.  Uncle Bob, Aunt Linda, some guy named Al, and Aunt Delores from the LaFleur side all stopped by as well.  It was a fun time.

Tennis

Megan is in Tennis through Parks and Rec.  She is very excited.  It runs twice a week for 45 minutes.  Most of the coaches are on the MHS tennis team.

 In this drill, a teammate tosses the tennis ball, and the kid has to catch it with both racquets.

 This was a bounce volley drill

If you notice the shirt....this is the 3rd time wearing it so far.  Not as many as I anticipated!  Jonathan has worn his Mavericks jersey 6 times so far.

Track and Field

Eric and Jonathan signed up for Track and Field through the Mandan Parks and Rec this summer.  It runs through the month of June, with practice being on Mon and Wed, and meets on Tue and Thurs.  it is for ages 6 and up, and is co-ed.  That's right..... co-ed.  Boys and Girls.  Together.  I am not used to seeing the boys interact so much with girls their age.
The kids get to compete in their choice of sprint and mid-distance running, jumping events, and throwing events.

Jonathan has competed in a variety of events, including the long jump, high jump, shot put, 4 x 100 relay, 4 x 400 relay, and the 100 m dash.
Here are some pics of his 100 m dash:

Click here for a video.

Both he and Eric did the high jump on Tuesday.  Jonathan placed 3rd in the 9-10 year old division.  Both boys use the Fosbury Flop method of jumping.

Eric and Jonathan were teammates on the 4 x 100 relay.  I'm not sure who there other teammates were.  Jon was actually not signed up for this event, but Eric was on  a team of only 3, so he was going to run the last 2 legs of the relay by himself, so we recruited Jonathan.  J ran the 3rd leg, and Eric was the anchor.  In the spirit of great Olympian Carl Lewis, Eric was a strong anchor.

Eric also did the high jump, and took 2nd.

He is conscious

Next up is what we refer to as The Great Hurdle Controversy of 2013.  Both boys wanted to compete in the hurdles.  The first day of track, they learned that hurdles are for athletes ages 11 and up.  There was no written disclaimer for athletes 3 weeks away from their 11th birthday who are taller than most of the 11 and even some of the 12 year olds in the hurdles.  "No Worries" said the young man coaching hurdles.  Close enough.  Boys can hurdles.  Relief.  Fast forward to the next week, when it's time to sign up for events for the first meet.  The young gal leading Eric's group did not, repeat did not, let him sign up for hurdles, since he wasn't 11 yet.  Eric was crushed. When he went to get his T-shirt, I asked the gal in charge to clarify the rules, since last week they were told they could do them.  She immediately said YES he COULD do the hurdles, then looked at Eric and told him to just tell people he is 11 :-). 

He loved it!  He said he had little heart attacks before each jump.  He didn't fall, and only clipped one hurdle.  Good Job!