My Oldest’s First Race ~2014 Snake Run

After helping his Dad as a pacer last fall, my oldest really wanted to be in a race.

His criteria?

Snacks and a medal.

beforeThis month he did his first race!

The Snake Run at Turkey Mountain.

There is a 3hr race and a 6hr race (you try to get the most miles in that time).

We entered my son in the 3hr one and Nick entered the 6hr.

excitedHe was really excited!

sixhourThis is the 6hr race start.

Nick started later with the 3hr racers so he could run with our son.

startsixhour

run

instruct

cold3hr race start.

start3hr

hisfirstThere are my men!

snacksMy son loves the “junk food”, his words…

trailrunThe big laps were 3.75miles long.

He did one lap and then took a break while his dad did another lap.

snack

secondlapHere he is with his dad starting his second, Nicks third.

finishedFinishing his second lap!

checkin

eatingHe was not even tired.

Just wanted to eat more food.

snack2I kept trying to give him time to rest but he did not need it.

medalGetting his medal!

done7.5 miles done!

medal2

3hrdoneThe end of the 3hr race.

The 6hr race was still going so we waited around for my husband to finish.

I really like this race location.

I am really familiar with the Turkey Mountain trails so I took the boys on several hikes in between seeing Nick.

winnersWinners of the 3hr race getting their trophies.

trophyMy oldest was concerned that they were real at first.

winners2

diggingThe boys kept busy building grass forts while waiting for their dad.

afterNick ended up doing 20.75miles.

So proud of my men!

My sons thoughts about the race:

“It was really really fun!”

“There were very yummy aid stations”

“In the end there was lots of food and I ran 7.5 miles”

“It was very hard, and I got a shirt and actual medal”

“I want to do 100 miles when I get older.”

Here is last years race.

Building Molecules

moleculesI bought the boys a Molecular Model Kit while visiting a local homeschool supply store.

Can you really say no when your kids ask for a Molecular Model Kit?

buildingThey went to town building molecules the next morning.

springsThis kit attaches the pieces with springs.

The only problem we have had is the springs are not all the same size so some of them do not fit.

moleculestogetherBuilding an H2O molecule is so much more fun than just talking about it!

I found this fun post on how to build some using pom poms and wire.

We also watched the Magic School Bus episode on Molecules called “The Magic School Bus Meets Molly Cule”.

I decided to run with this sudden interest they had in Atoms and Molecules and we watched some of Nova’s “Hunting The Elements”.

Do you have a favorite hands on learning tool?