Dave and Cathy's Family Blog

Here are the April highlights:

• Cat ran a 5K and also participated in another mud run
• We were invaded by lice which led to weeks of combing through endless strands of hair looking for critters
• Luke and Lilah searched for Easter eggs in the backyard
• Lilah started YMCA basketball
• Luke took part in the Adventure Guide’s sponsored Pinebox Derby race and got first place in his circle (lot more on this below)
• Lilah and Tory performed at the talent show for a second year in a row

Cathy Runs Another 5K & Couples that with a Mud Run a Few Weeks Later

Cathy has definitely made fitness a part of her daily life — she spins, lifts weights, runs, does PiYo, and adds in a 5K or special fun race now and then just to keep things interesting. The latest 5K was very convenient because it took place at our local park which is about a five minute walk from our house. It also started a little later than usual (9:00 AM) which gave me and the kids plenty of time to eat breakfast and get ready before striking out to go watch mom. Since the run took place within the confines of the park and the adjacent hiking trail, we were able to see Cathy from numerous spots and the kids also took turns running the last two laps with her to the finish line.

As if that weren’t enough, Cathy took up the challenge of doing a 5.5 mile mud run with her friend Alicea later in the month. The race is challenging because it is full of obstacles — such as crawling in the mud under cargo nets, scaling walls, etc. —  you have to negotiate in addition to the running. Cat said she finds these races a lot more fun though because it doesn’t have that serious competitive feeling (like my triathlon do). It’s more like a big party where everybody screams, laughs, and gets down and dirty together.

Spring Break Lice Removal

Just as we were looking forward to a somewhat more relaxed pace of life during spring break, we were hit with a case of head lice. Apparently, there had been an outbreak at the kids’ school and our kids were not spared — neither was mom. I escaped the infestation but not the inconvenience. During this episode I learned a lot about these little creatures and how there is simply nothing on the market to kill the nits (eggs) they lay in your hair. The only way to get rid of lice or the nits is by inspecting one section of hair at a time using a fine tooth comb and then picking out the nits one at time. It’s not an easy feat by any means as the lice have this nice “glue” they use to attach the nits to the hair. Just to give you a sense of the work involved — every time I had to inspect Cathy’s hair (about 4 times), it would be a 1.5 hour ordeal. Then, of course, you have to inspect the kids. And the process goes on for weeks and you’re always living in fear that you missed a nit, that could easily hatch and make the lice come back again. In addition to that you have to wash and replace the linens daily — or stick them in the dryer on hot for a period of time — which is another major time drain.

Just to help us out and to feel reassured we were doing the right things, we also hired a lice removal service, basically a hired hand that will come to your house and comb through your hair to look for and pick out nits. This “nit picking” expert will also provide you with a checklist of what to do to prevent reinfestation.  Just goes to show you there is a business out there for everything! The lice removal service we used was good and even had a cutesy name Pick Your Nits.

Lilah Plays YMCA Basketball for the First Time

Lilah took a break from swimming to give basketball a try for eight weeks. She is doing okay. Since she is one of the tallest people on the team, she typically gets the assignment of guarding the opposing team’s biggest player, which tires her out a bit. One of the things she has to work on is going after the ball, which will come with learning the game a little bit better. For example, she doesn’t always realize that she can leave the person she is guarding to help out a teammate or go after the ball on a rebound. Many times I have found myself yelling out to her to get the rebound or take the ball away when she has somebody cornered, but Lilah’s not the type to take coaching advice from her daddy too kindly so I do the best to hold that vocal-and-in-public-advice inside and show her what she can do when we practice alone together ;-).

Lilah has managed to do some cool things on the basketball court. She has scored two baskets (but who is counting),  and has also stolen the ball and run the full length of the court (dribbling the ball the entire way) on a breakaway. In any case, it’s a good experience for her and I constantly remind myself that developing her prowess at basketball isn’t the most important thing here. Sure, that’s part of the game, but the more important part is for her to learn something new, enjoy the experience, and be part of team.

Pinebox Derby II – Luke Makes it to the Finals

We had quite a different experience at this year’s Pinebox Derby. Last year, Luke won best design (thanks to a lot of work and painting by me), but we were not there for the actual races since Luke opted to go to a friend’s birthday party instead. Well, this year we went through the entire process and for the most part it was a blast. I began by asking Luke what kind of car he wanted. He said he wanted a truck so I cut the block of wood into the best version of a truck I could muster and then I let Luke paint the entire thing. Not the best paint job as his sister pointed out, but after he put the stickers on it, the truck ended up looking pretty decent — like a rugged monster truck that had been in the trenches of battle.

What made this year’s race even more special, however, was the fact that, unlike last year, our car ended up being a “competitor.” Well, let me back up here. This Pine Box Derby event takes basically all Sunday to complete. The reason it takes so long to complete can be gleaned from the process:

• Groups of about 8-10 kids come in every hour to race against the kids in their group (there are about 7-8 groups total for a total of about 80 kids)
• Each kid in the group has to race 6 times (two times in every lane)
• The top two finishers in each group go on to the Heat One and Heat Two elimination rounds in the afternoon
• The top four finishers from Heat One and Heat Two battle it out in the Final round and the top four finishers receive the “big” trophy

So if you keep advancing in the tournament the suspense just builds and the anticipations for possibly getting one of the big green trophies grows and grows. Well, as luck would have it, Luke went undefeated in his group and was invited to come back for Heat One in the afternoon. For winning his group, he got a small first place trophy, but nothing like the big green trophies for the final four (this picture isn’t the greatest, but you can get a sense for the difference in size between the small trophies in front and the big ones in the back).

In Heat One, Luke and a girl with a carrot-shaped car ended up tied so they had a face off, which Luke won to send him to the final round as the third place finisher from his group (the little girl moved on too as the fourth place finisher). Shortly after that however, I realized that the derby uses your placing to determine your “seed” for the final round. What this meant for Luke is that he would have to face the second place finisher from Heat Two. What seeding does, of course, is pretty much ensure that faster cars will advance. Sure enough, Luke’s car went head to head and was edged out by what seemed like a finger nail in five out of the six races against the number two car from the other group — which meant Luke lost his chance at getting the big trophy ;-(.

Throughout the tournament, I had seen a few kids tear up or start crying outright when given the news they would not be advancing to the next round. After shaking hands with the winner of his heat, Luke walked toward me, car in hand, and said we could leave now (his lip slightly quivering). His mood was a complete 180 of when he was winning in scenes like the one in this 5 second video clip. Sensing he was on the verge of breaking down, I changed the subject and told him to hold on a little bit because I wanted to see one or two more races before going home. I didn’t make a big deal of it. I could tell he was upset but he did not break. But later on in the evening we talked about how well our truck had done and how it had only been beaten by fractions of an inch. We even strategized on what we could do next year to make our car faster before I hugged him and said good night.

Lilah and Tory Perform at Talent Show

We capped off this busy month with another choreographed dance performance by Lilah and Tory. The girls danced to Raver’s Fantasy, an up-tempo, techno-dance tune that had the girls jumping, twirling and waving their arms on stage — a routine they looked like they practiced pretty well. They brought a lot of energy to the performance and wore their same matching “Best Friends” shirts they donned last year. Not too long ago, this performance was in jeopardy of not happening as Tory’s family was in the process of moving and possibly putting her in a new school. Well, Tory did end up moving but luckily for the audience her parents decided to keep her in the same school, ensuring that we would at least see one more performance of this dynamic duo. Can’t wait to see what they come up with next year.

More next month…