Archer's first cross country race!

 Archer joined 6th grade cross country at Ames Middle School this year!  They practiced 5 days a week for an hour after school.  It is an intramural program, so they did not compete in any races, but they did has an intra-squad race at the end of the season.  

Archer had so much fun in cross country!  He is a really good runner, but he said his favorite part was hanging out with his friends.  Archer finished in 2nd place and we are so proud of him!  He really pushed himself in practice everyday and made some new friends too!  

Here are two the videos of the race and the finish:

 Another pic from the race:

The race course:

Archer and his friend Caleb whom he ran with most days as they ran about the same pace:

Some pics from the after race celebration: Orange Leaf Ice Cream:

Ninja Competition: Emerge Academy

 Avalon competed in her first ninja competition since before COVID this past weekend on Saturday, September 18th.  She started a ninja class with her friend Elodie at Emerge Academy.  They were required to start in the beginner class, but they were moved up to intermediate after the first class.  Avalon loves the class and had a blast at the competition!  She is so excited to be doing ninja again!

 She did amazing and we are so proud of her!  She took 3rd place in the 13U girls and earned a spot in the North Central Ninja Series (NCNS) finals at Ninja U in November.  

Here is a video of her run as I saw it from the spectator viewing area above:

Here are a few pictures as well:

 And the awards ceremony:

First Day of School: 6th and 8th grade - August 26

 The kids are heading back to school in person for the first time in 1.5 years, since March 2020.  Avalon is really excited and Archer is a bit nervous.  Archer is starting middle school, so it is a lot of new changes this year!  

Archer and I went into the school a couple of days early to get a tour of the school and walk through his class schedule.  On the first day of school, Archer said he is so glad we did the tour because he was feeling a lot less nervous.  It was very helpful to him to know what to expect and have know where all his classes were located.  He even drew a map of the school when he got home noting where each classroom was on the map.  Check it out.  

The first day of school was August 26th, but the kids also got to attend an orientation day on August 25th because it was the first time for both of them at Ames Middle School.  Yep, Avalon's first year at the Ames Middle School is in 8th grade since she was remote all of 7th grade and she attended 6th grade at Summit Middle School in Coquitlam, British Columbia in Canada.  

Kids Description: 5th and 7th grade

 Avalon is in 7th grade and Archer is in 5th grade! Avalon loves theater, singing, dancing, acting, reading (favorite:Space Case Mystery Series by Stuart Gibbs), playing Among Us, watching Disney Channel shows, being outdoors, skiing, snowboarding, science (space and rocks), ninja training, jumping on the trampoline, choir, band (trombone), climbing and playing with her friends! Archer loves chess, playing video games (especially online with his cousin Dorian), playing Among Us jumping on the trampoline, Minecraft legos, hot wheels, board games, jumping, running, climbing and playing outside! The kids are both really hoping to get a pet and have been doing lots of research about about pets that we could have that live primarily in cages including chinchillas, guinea pigs, and rabbits!

Lake Superior Zoo

Avie decided she wanted to help out in updating the blog, so she created a bunch of pages for our trip to the Lake Superior Zoo on July 20, 2021.  I think she did an amazing job!  Check it out! 

Flashback-Step Back Baby

 My daughter Avie was looking though old photo's and video's and found this one. It was so cute I just had to share it. So enjoy Step Back Baby!

Piano Recital

The kids and Jarad participated in another piano recital via zoom this past weekend.  We pre-recorded the videos again, so we can share them with you here.  They all worked really hard and did.a really great job!  Especially considering we made them film it all over again when we realized the camera we used wasn't very good so the video was all grainy.  

Archer was reluctant to re-record his piece, but he did amazing!  We are so proud of him and his hard work!

This time Jarad also performed a piece which he learned in just a few weeks and Avalon sang with him!  It was beautiful!  Avalon started voice lesson this past fall and this was the first song she learned and this recital is the first time she performed it!  Jarad and I love this musical, "Les Miserable," it is was of our all time favorites!  And this has always been a favorite song of mine.  Perfect for Avalon to sing right now!  We are so proud of Avalon and all her hard work on piano and voice!  And last but not least, I am so proud of my husband for all his hard work re-learning the piano!  I love to have all this beautiful music playing throughout my house!  

Archer:  Ocean, Ocean by N. Faber

Avalon:  Our Detective Agency by N. & R. Faber

Jarad and Avalon: Castle on a Cloud from Les Miserable by C-M. Schönberg, A. Boublil, J-M. Natel, & H. Kretzmer: