Running, Eating, and playing Games

The First Annual Freeze Your Buns Fun Run was a big success.  We all got out and burned a few calories before the day of feasting began.  I learned a few things during my 45 minute trek with Nesradine and Bronwyn.  Next year I need to have my children grouped in twos or threes so that when someone needs to turn around they won't be alone.  Rick and I need to decide before the start who is going to go the distance and who is staying with the short kids.  We also need to have a designated time to send out the "sag wagon" for those who have bitten off more than they can chew.  That person was Nesradine this year.  He started the race thinking he was going to finish the 4.5 mile loop, and he would have done it if we had given him a little more time.  The difficulty was that I had planned to do 3 miles, but it took me 2.5 to catch Nesradine, by then we had to finish the loop.  Bronwyn had stuck with me and I think she would have turned around after the first mile, but she didn't want to walk back alone.  Even with our little hitches it was a lot of fun, and I felt much better starting the day with a little energy booster.

We had decided to do courses throughout the day instead of snacking all day and then sitting down to a one big meal.  We started with the soup course, at midday.  We had a squash soup and a chicken and rice soup.  The next course was salads, followed by vegetables.  The turkey course was served around 5, followed by the dessert bonanza.  It was a lot of work to prep the food, set it out and then clean up between courses, but it was good work.  My dishwasher went the extra distance without a complaint, thank God!

We did learn that it worked better to have everyone sit down and eat at their respective tables.  I don't have one table long enough to seat everyone.  With several seatings I didn't want to set up the dining area downstairs, so we had to make do with the tables that we had up.  It meant that there were two dining areas and we had to divide and conquer.  It took us a few courses to get the wrinkles ironed out, but by the turkey course we had a very pleasant atmosphere.  The kids watched movies in between courses, while the grown ups cooked and cleaned.  We have decided that with the child to adult ratio, we need to keep the conversation shorter and provide extra serving help.

We threw in a few new traditions this year.  We had a thankful tree with leaves of thankfulness.  Here is a sampling from the tree: God, life, food, chocolate, family, pictures, swim team, singing, running, 4 seasons, Jesus, friends, family gatherings, pleasant views, the ocean, mom and dad, November, December, June 24, Selam, Kiki, snow, flowers, classmates, t.v., Aunt siggy's house, brothers and sisters.  We also had a poetry contest.  Our poetry definition was very loose since most of the contestants were under 10 and we were a little fuzzy on our meter anyway.  Here are a couple of our entries:

There was a puppy, by Helen age 6

There was a little puppy,
 and Tigger came along,
Then Piglet came along,
Then Kanga came along,
Then Winnie the Pooh came along,
And Rabbit,
And Owl.
They had a picnic,
And Tigger stayed, so they all stayed.
Then they all bought a Christmas tree.
And Winnie the Pooh got everybody some honey.
And then...they decorated the Christmas tree.
And the little puppy was happy.
And then their mother and her brothers and her sisters and her dad came home.
So they got her presents.
So the two brothers sat down together,
and the mom and the brother sat down together.
So another mom sat down with her two daughters.

The Big Dog, by Nesradine and Ben age 6 and 5

The big dog would dig in the dirt
but every now and then he would sometimes get hurt
By the little gofers popping out of the holes.
And he yelped at the small little bites on his nose.

Turkey Living To See Another Thanksgiving, by Karsten age 11

The was a little turkey in the forest so green.
Along came a hunter who was oh so keen.
He lurked and he jerked at the smallest little sound.
But his feet kept a crack'n on the twig covered ground.

The hunter looked and he saw the turkey.
The turkey was sure that he'd soon be jerky.
The hunter shot, but then was caught,
In his very own trap, which made him miss.

The turkey ran with incredible speed,
But the hunter followed with a feeling of greed.
Then the hunter tripped with a big old smack.
Then the turkey escaped to his leafy shack.

That night the turkeys celebrated,
Because their friend had not been cremated,
In the hot black oven of the hunter and his wife.
Now in the forest there is no strife.

The winning entry was sort of a locational thing.  I think the judges had had some wine and found it much funnier the first time they read it.  The goal of the S boys was to find words that rhyme. 

There Once Was a Dad, by Soren and Simon, age 8

There once was a Dad who was makin' bacon, while rakin.
He was a cool little fellow
He was very mellow.
He flew over the big blue sky,
And saw a butterfly.
Then he saw a pale whale.
He went to the zoo,
And did something new.
He went to the black panther,
And the fur was hers.
She was rad,
Just like the dad.
She was also mad at the dad.
There were trees,
They were pink,
The could think!
And it had a sink.
Then clones took the phones.
Then Avatar went into a bar!!
The big dog ate a hog,
And dog hid in a log.

They drank some beer with a cheer.