The Fans

At every cross country meet there are fans. But the cross country fans pictured below are some of the loudest, craziest fans out there. You guessed it: They're the Leones.

Kathleen (right) and her friend wait for the runners to pass. And when they do, you can count on these two to be jumping up and down and screaming their lungs out.

Some of the youngest fans were also some of the cutest.

Lucia was never run from point to point so fast as she was at those meets when we wanted to get to the best vantage points quickly.

Okay, this fan just looks exhausted.  

And then there are the Leone fans who decided to enter the "open race" after the official meet had wrapped up. Check out Andrew booking it down the finish line.

And Joe makes his move on this woman in the closing stretch. 

And did you ever see such a face on a runner? That's my man, Joe, competing in the open race—in hiking boots, no less—and making it interesting for everyone.

Anna Marie Runs Cross Country

This year marked Anna Marie's second year running cross country for the Holy Family Warriors.

Anna set personal records consistently throughout the season and was very pleased with her strength and improvement over the season. After the groin injury last season, Anna Marie was happy that she remained healthy this year. Her shin splints started catching up with her at the end, but not enough to take her out of any meets.

We are so proud of you, Anna Marie!

Anna Marie (center) and friend, post-race.

Four of My Favorite Guys

Okay, love these guys. Yes, all four of them. 

I've known Bucky longer than I've known Joe, after all. ;)

After Joe's law firm softball game.
Surprise guest: Bucky Badger

Run-Bike-Swim!

So proud of our triathletes.

Talk about working hard and kicking it in.

Anna Marie and Kathleen did great, and enjoyed a challenging day of athletics with friends.

Kathleen and Anna Marie arrive, ready to race.

Anna Marie and her great pal, ready for the swim. 

Ready, set, go!
Anna Marie has become a much faster swimmer this year,
with all the cross training for cross country in the pool. 

Kathleen hits the water.

Out of the water, Kathleen runs to the transition area.

Go Anna Marie! The finish line is within sight!
All that cross-country training is paying off!

Kathleen finishes a very hard race with grace and determination.

Just a little tired.

Moving Up In the World

On my summer bucket list was to take the big kids rock climbing at a local place called Boulder's. Lucia had her very first babysitter that day.

Here we are, in all our lofty glory. I made it to the top, but let's just say that I definitely know I won't be parachuting out of airplanes in this lifetime.

That's Anna Marie up there, with Yours Truly belaying.
Anna Marie definitely won the award for most accomplished climber among us.

Kathleen was a little hesitant at first, but became extremely proficient by the  end of the day. Impressive!

William conquered a mild fear of heights today. Go, Will!

Hey, that's me!

Kathleen at the top; Elizabeth belaying.

Go, Anna, go! It was no easy feat getting over that angled portion.

Run, Anna, Run!

Anna Marie is enjoying her first season of cross country. Her season began early, as the team began training together in mid-June. Her training regimen was intense, with daily trainings during June and July, followed by twice-a-day training sessions during much of August.

All that training resulted in a seriously well-conditioned team, and Anna Marie felt great and was eager for her first meet at the end of August. However, all that training took a toll on our first-year runner, and Anna Marie ended up with a pretty serious groin pull just a few days before the first meet. Sadly, she missed participating in her first four meets and had to miss almost a month of practices.

Just last Saturday, she ran in the fifth meet of the season—her first. It was the hilliest and most challenging course in these year's line-up, so it was a brutal way to start her season. Even so, Anna Marie showed grit and determination and finished strong. We were all so proud of her. As I type, she is preparing for her second meet, and the groin injury seems to be behind her.

Run, Anna, run!

Anna Marie (front, fourth from the right) with her cross-country teammates.

Andrew the Gymnast - Part III

Andrew and his flying leaps...

Candy at the end of gymnastics is always fun.

Awwwww, do we have to go home already?

Andrew the Gymnast - Part II

More photos of Gymnastics Boy. He's learning the back hand-spring.

Andrew the Gymnast - Part I

Joe brought his new camera to gymnastics class last week and got some great shots of our amazing rubber-man, Andrew. This little guy is a natural in the gym.

Bean, the Volleyball Machine

Kathleen (aka: Bean), our 7th grader, played volleyball this fall with the Tigers—our local middle school team for homeschoolers. The Tigers played other private schools, both near and far, and ended up with a very impressive winning season.

We celebrated the end of the season recently at the volleyball banquet, complete with taco bar, volleyball cake, and many awards.  Kathleen is especially proud of her "Toughest Player" award.  She took some hard hits (and so did her glasses) many times during the season.

As the smallest player on the team, she was pretty much destined to win the Toughest Player award considering the many hard hits for which she elicited nary a complaint.

You're a machine, Bean!

The coach is talking about Kathleen's "toughness" as I snapped this photo.
Look at Kathleen's smile and the agreement of her teammates.

Kathleen with her "Toughness" award. Way to go, Bean!

A gift from the coaches—pink volleyballs for all the girls.

Says it all.

Our Mighty Triathletes

Anna Marie and Kathleen participated in the Oregon Kids Triathlon this year. It was Anna Marie's second year, while it was Kathleen's debut. 

Both girls had great fun. Kathleen is the first to admit that racing is not her favorite thing in the world: She did it for the goodie bag. Anna Marie, on the other hand, is very competitive, but probably enjoyed hanging out with her friends even more than racing.

Racers at 6:30 am, before their start-times.

Back row: Ben, Madison, Anna Marie, Heather

Front row: Sam, Elijah, & Kathleen

Heather, Anna Marie, Ben & Elijah enjoy the post-race spray.

Just a handful of the triathletes representing Holy Family Homeschoolers and Frassati Runners.

Back row: Ben, Thomas

Middle row: Anna Marie, Madison, Heather, Sam, Kurtis

Front row: Justin, Elijah, Kathleen

Best of friends:
Back: Ben
Middle: Anna Marie, Madison, Heather
Front: Kathleen