A Weekend Well Spent Brings a Week of Content

"A weekend well spent brings a week of content." I can't take credit for that philosophy - I read it somewhere.  The kids should be very content this week, because they have packed a lot of activity in this weekend.  

On Saturday, Cole ran in the Kingdom Challenge in St. Johnsbury.

Warming up.

At the start line.

It was a foggy morning but much better than last year when it was pouring rain.

It was a 5k race and this was about the half way point.

This kid from St. J came in first. He is the same age as Cole and we have seen him at all the XC meets.  He wins everything, even beating the Hazen kid.

Cole came in second place overall with a time of 19:39. He really wanted to break 19 minutes.

 Crossing the finish line.

Accepting his prize and ribbon.

On Saturday Afternoon Heather went to a friend's Halloween party and in the evening Cole went to a friend's Halloween party.

Sunday afternoon, the Glover School 8th grade hosted a corn hole tournament as a fundraiser for their class trip.  Cole and a friend were a team. Wayne and his friend Mitchel were a team. Wes and Heather were a team. I had to work it.  Wayne and Mitchel almost won, but ended up coming in second.

 Then Heather moved on to the Chronicle's annual Jack-o-lantern contest in Barton.

All pumpkins were lit with a candle.

 Heather and her friend Kelby and Kelby's sisters, Rileigh and Dayna.

 The judges.

 Heather's pumpkin is the Vermont maple leaf.  The others were carved by Kelby and her sisters and the pirate ship was by Mia, another classmate.

 Some of the adult entries were very creative.

 Heather and her friends all won either first place or runner up on one category or another (I think they tried to give a prize to each child entry) This is the winners group photo as they posed for the Chronicle.

And then last weekend Heather and I hiked to the top of Mt. Pisgah.  Heather like to climb the boulders along the way and found this inspiration on top of one of them. 

 There's a lean-to at the top.

 Enjoying the view on the way down.

Stay tuned for next weekend: youth hunting weekend.

More Cross Country

Cole had one more cross-country race this weekend. This was the NVAC Championship. I don't know what NVAC stands for, other than Northern Vermont something something. It was held at Montpelier recreation center

Below, you can see Cole lined up with his nemesis from Hazen (see earlier post about Thetford)

 In this picture below, I think Cole is probably telling him, "I am going to win, you can come in second, ok?"

 And in this one, I imagine the other kid is saying, "Hey, you remind me of  my gym teacher, Mr. A"

 It was a fast paced 2 mile race. Cole finishes strong, 

 narrowly passing the runner in front of him...

 ...for another 4th place finish (out of 100) middle school boys. With a time of 11:51.

To view race results, click here: http://802timing.com/results/17results/runresults/10.21.17overallmtnvac.htm

and be sure to look for Middle School Boys.

Animals, Ice Cream, and Hayrides.

Last weekend the Vermont Reindeer Farm had its annual Fall Festival. Heather and her friend Kelby spent a breezy afternoon visiting barnyard animals, including friendly goats, donkeys, and reindeer.

 Apparently, reindeer and turkeys get along well.

 Chocolate mint ice cream from Kingdom Creamery. (Dare I mention the $3 dish of mac and cheese from a box?)

The event was better suited for younger children, but best friends Heather and Kelby always have fun together.

Just One More

Same person. Same place. Different time.

I know this is corny, but I keep finding these shots of Cole that remind me of  older photos of him.  You have to admit, he's changed a lot in a year.