Visit with the Randells part 1 and Eliza turns 5!

In late August, my parents came to visit for a week. It was the kids first week of school, so we just started settling into our new routines and it was good for them to see what day-to-day life is like for us. One thing my dad had been wanting to show the kids is how to fish, so we went to Cabela’s and got a rod and some fishing supplies. The kids had one rod and had been using bread and hot dogs as bait, but they had not caught anything yet.

Casting 101 class…

This is the pond behind our house that the kids fish in. This is the view from the fishing dock.

Great success…Eliza was the first to catch a bass.

Then Benjamin….

And he caught a little bluegill.

Even Nathan caught a bass. From here on out, the kids fished for weeks and caught several fish every time they went out. We are lucky to have the pond and dock right behind our home.

Another evening, Nathan, my dad, and Benjamin went to a high school football game.

One evening our neighborhood held a fall festival. They had rides and activities for the kids, food trucks, and music. It was a crowded but fun evening and all the kids saw lots of friends from school.

Caleb working on his backflips

Grandma Sue walked around to rides with Eliza most the evening.

Benjamin tried bull riding…he fell off in about 2 seconds, but still had fun.

It was a big crowd!

That week, Benjamin received good news that he was selected to do school announcements for Alvey in the morning. To apply, kids had to fill out an application and have an audition. Close to a hundred kids tried out and only 24 were selected. Each semester there are 3 kids reporting the news and 3 behind the camera. He was selected as a reporter, and is very excited about this upcoming opportunity from April - June.

During that time we celebrated Eliza Rose turning 5 years old! Eliza has grown so much this year, both physically and mentally. She is sharp witted, loves everything pink and unicorns, adores her big brothers, has a big heart, and she is responsible and a hard worker.

We celebrated in the morning with birthday muffins for breakfast then celebrated after school.

Eliza had a big birthday surprise awaiting her that morning. Aaron flew in the night before and came up from the basement during breakfast. The kids were certainly surprised to see Uncle Aaron.

Off to school for this 5 year old!

She was excited to have her grandparents and Uncle Aaron here to celebrate.

After school celebrations with a unicorn cake and opening gifts. It was a special day for this 5 year old.

On my parent’s last day they said goodbye to the kids in the morning, then we went to Harper’s Ferry for the day before heading to the airport. 

We are thankful they were able to spend the week with us as we settled into our home, and Aaron stayed with us for several more days.

 

VSA Fall Soccer - Team Goats

Benjamin loves playing soccer and was excited to join the VSA fall soccer league. For his age group, the practices and games are at Long Park, which is down the street from our house. This was Benjamin’s first time playing on a team and he learned and grew a lot over the season. We all enjoyed attending the practices and cheering him on at the games, and he is excited for winter training and to play in the spring league. Here are some videos of Benjamin in action. He was #62.

Their games were typically Saturday afternoons, but the last game was Friday night under the lights. It was a fun way to end the season. Mark and Betty were in town for his last 2 games too. 

Coaches Steve and Clayton were great coaches and Benjamin enjoyed playing with the kids on the team. Unfortunately team Goats did not win any games, but they had a couple of ties, and Benjamin scored goals in a few of the games. After the last game, the coach gave out medals and shared nice insights about each player and their contributions.

We are so proud of Benjamin for his hard work, and look forward to cheering him on next season!

Gymnastics

Eliza and Caleb love gymnastics and we found a place nearby that they can take classes. Eliza is in a traditional gymnastics class where they do tumbling, balance beam, and exposure to parallel bars. Caleb is taking a tumbling and trampoline three-class series. The facility where they take classes is large and impressive and they are both learning a lot and having fun. Here are some pictures from the last couple months since they started. There are multiple simultaneous class on-going at various levels, and they both have about 5-8 kids in their class typically. Eliza can move to the next class when she is 7, and Caleb’s class is skills based, and they said on average kids spend one year in a class. In the next class Caleb will learn how to do front and back hand springs, and he is excited to reach those goals. 

Caleb is very strong and flexible and strong and he loves flipping. We are glad he can take classes to learn proper technique and are excited to watch him continue to progress.

Caleb has impressive vertical height when he jumps…

Caleb’s new nickname is Tiger because he bounces all over the place.

Eliza is also very strong and flexible. She makes cartwheels look like a piece of cake, is mastering her back bends, and can drop into a split in a second. I don’t have any videos from gymnastics, but at sky zone I caught her practicing one-handed and aerial cartwheels.

Benjamin also loves to flip on the trampoline. No gymnastics classes for him, but he has also come a long way and has lots of fun every chance he has to go to sky zone.

We have a house full of tumblers!

First day of school in America!

 The kids had a great first day of school in America! This year Caleb is in 6th grade at Reagan Middle School, Benjamin in 5th grade and Eliza in Kindergarten at J.W. Alvey Elementary School. Before the first day, we visited their schools for open house and got to meet their teachers. 

Caleb switches classes this year and has a locker. At his school they are issued laptops and everything is online. It’s a big transition from the small classes (400 kids K-12) that he was used to in his previous schools and very little done online, but he was excited for the first day as a Mustang and to meet new friends.

He was also very excited to ride a traditional yellow school bus…and that school is only 1.5 miles away from home.

Benjamin is in Mrs. George’s class and Eliza in Miss Pac’s class. It’s a sweet little elementary school with about 850 students and about 25 kids/class. Both kids were very excited for the first day as an Alvey Sunray and to make new friends.

All kids came home happy and gave their first day 2 thumbs up. We are excited for what this year has in store for them!