Sydney Fuller

Bolder Boulder

Distance	10K
Time	1:44:16
Pace	16:46
Rank	42,316 of 49,208
GPS Analysis	Garmin Connect

Round 2!

After a 1.5 mile jog back to the start, I was ready to have some fun. I located wave PA and there on the front line was my mother, Carole (62), and my daughter, Sydney (8), ready to race. We had about 20 minutes to kill as we slowly shuffled forwards to the start line. Sydney was getting anxious. "When do we start?", she would ask me. I would countdown the minutes and they clicked by but that didn't mean much. You can't hold back a kid that's ready to go.

My Mom is a walker and Sydney was there to run so I wasn't sure how this was going to work. But as soon as the gun went off, I found out. I was taking a picture. My Mom was winding up her brisk walking pace and Sydney was gone! She just took off up through the crowd in a total sprint. Uh oh. I went chasing after her. Found here a ways ahead and she was slowing up looking for us. Huge smile on her face. You couldn't have run in a more zigzag manner. She just went from side to side waving, looking and running. I just stayed left and kept an eye on her. We would pop to the curb and wait for Carole to catch back up with us. Then go with her for a bit before shooting off again.

Syd would stop and check out most musical acts. A total stop and watch. Here was one of her favorite acts.

At mile 2, Sydney needed a bathroom break. Carole went ahead and motored on. Figured we could catch her and this would give us some running buffer. We were in line for maybe 5 minutes. That mile was our slowest split of the day of course. But we shot out of there and then started running pretty steadily to make up time and catch Carole.

We started getting nervous after a mile of not finding her. Then another 1/2 mile. So I called her and located her. We caught up to her and that seemed to relieve Sydney. She was distracted by not knowing if her Grandma was in front or behind or lost.

That work to catch up wore Sydney down a bit and she went into walk mode for nearly the rest of the race. Holding hands with Grandma, talking about what they saw, etc. Carole could tell Sydney was fading so she was using all her skills to keep Sydney's mind off the race. "So tell me about that movie you want to watch tonight", she said. Having kids tell you the script of a movie is always painful but it was a good time killer here. They got some candy from the sidelines and later a Popsicle. These perked things back up and life was getting better. We passed Brownie at mile 5 who was cheering us on. I knew we were going to make it.

As we were on the final street, I asked Sydney if she wanted to run it in or walk it in. She had rebounded. RUN! She was gone. Kind of tore at me because I felt like I wanted everyone to cross the line together. But a race is individual and I was there to guide Sydney to the finish and she wanted to run it so we ran it. Leaving Carole behind to finish on her own. Entering the stadium! I didn't tell her that the finish was kind of a big deal. She was expecting a line on the street.

I went to the outside while she ran on the inside. I was yelling at her in my loudest voice. GO SYDNEY! GO! GO SYDNEY GO! She had a huge smile and was running and laughing.

She crossed the line and I picked her up over my head. YOU DID IT! I knew she could all along but I wanted her to have a great finish to help wash away that pain from the middle of the race. I didn't run a 10K until my mid-30s. She just finished on at 8. Hopefully more to come!

About a minute later, we were cheering as Carole crossed the line! This was actually her 2nd Bolder Boulder. She walked it in 2002 as well.

We went through the post-race tents and got our stuff. Then walked slowly back along the course watching the others finish. We found Brownie and hung out with him while waiting for the elites to run by on the same course. Ryan Hall, the fastest American marathoner ever, came right by us.

From there, we had to get back to the start line to get to my truck. Finally, got inside and everyone was relieved to be off their feet after a wonderful morning of racing in Boulder!

I went 6.43 miles with an elevation gain of 218 feet in 01:44:24, which is an average pace of 16:14. Heart rate average was 95. View my GPS data on Garmin Connect.

Final 2nd Grade Field Trip

We've reached the final week of school which was a sad thing for both my girls. They both had a great school year and are sad to see it end. Especially sad to say goodbye to the teachers they so loved. Today was a final field trip / hoorah for Sydney's class. We would spend the entire day out having fun. We spent the first half of the day at the playground. Their teacher had fruit smoothies for them all to snack on. For lunch, I went and picked up pizza for the kids.

After lunch, we packed up and went to the recreation center for some swimming. The kids swam around for about two hours before we had to go back to school. It was a fun day for the kids and gave them lots of fun time together before saying goodbye for the summer.

Sydney's 8th Birthday Party

Sydney decided that she would like her birthday party at home this year. She wanted a party with all types of games. Treasure hunt, obstacle course, sack race, three legged race, etc... Of course this meant a lot of work for Mom to set things up. But, it sounded so fun to me too that I didn't mind.

We started the party off with the treasure hunt. Not thinking I bought a small treasure for each clue location. It was fun picking out the little prizes. But, after all were purchased I realized that you only put a treasure at the final clue. Oh well, this turned out more interesting. Here are the girls at their first clue trying to figure out where to go next. One thing we learned from this experience that there were too many cooks in the kitchen. Which resulted in a lot of discussion and crazy outcomes. I would definitely make smaller groups next time.

We had the girls venturing all over the open space for their hunt.

We even had them going down to the neighborhood playground. Sydney demanded they all walk single file since some girls didn't want to run. Again always a lot of debate every step of the way.

For one clue I hid rocks with painted letters in the sandbox. The girls had to unscramble the letters to find their next location. They had it figured out to be housedog and were chasing poor Wyatt around the yard trying to find out how the clue was attached to him. I finally spared the poor dog by stopping the chase and asking the girls to rethink their word. Ohhhh, could it be doghouse?

The final clue of the hunt contained a baton sand art treasure. Once the hunt was over we piled the girls onto the deck to fill their batons with colored sand. Sydney always demands a craft for every party and this one was simple yet fun.

After the craft the girls ran through our home made obstacle course. This was hilarious to me. Many of the girls were worn out half way through and were proclaiming it too hot. I think it was maybe 70 degrees out. We had planned on doing a sack race as well. But instead we decided on having some cake and opening presents to give the girls a break.

I've learned that we have reached the "chatty" age for girls. All they wanted to do was sit and gossip about things. Fine by me. It was much more entertaining to hear about the things on their minds. Another fun birthday party. I don't know whats in store for us next year. But I'm already exhausted just thinking about it.

Video of the obstacle course...

Field Day 2011

Today was the much anticipated Field Day at the kids' school. The weather man was predicting rain all day so we were all hoping and praying that the weather would hold out. The gym teacher had a great day of activities planned for this special all day event.

First off the kids all gathered in the school gym for a pep rally. They entered holding their team signs to the tunes of Smash Mouths "All Star" song. Perfect song for the event as the theme this year was the All Stars. Second graders were the orange all stars. The teachers led the kids into the motions for a dance of sorts. Then each class took turns getting up in front of the gym shouting their team chants. It was quite a send off.

Next up, our team headed to their first event the long jump. Sydney's teacher this year is really into sports so she often coached the kids before their turn.

And the action shot....Sydney ended up taking the third place ribbon for the long jump.

Sydney's classmates were great about cheering each other on. We are so lucky to have such a great bunch of kids as classmates.

Next we headed inside to the gym for the jump rope contest. This was Sydney's most anticipated event so I caught all the action on video. She blew the competition away and won this event by a landslide. However, this would be the only solo event of the day without ribbons. I cried NO FAIR! But, Sydney didn't seem to mind. She was just having fun.

Next up, the basket contest. From this event I have learned that my child will never be a basketball pro. She was no where near the basket. She eventually gave up and just ran around goofing with her friends. A sad day for the sport.

I missed the next event due to the fact that I had to get Reagan off to school. It was the 50 meter dash. Dad's most anticipated event of the day. Sydney ended up taking the third place ribbon in this event as well. Apparently two of her classmates were super fast.

The three-legged race was next up. Sydney was teamed up with her fellow Weirdo Club member and great friend Olivia. I think the two were more interested in talking then racing. Yet I will say they were one of the only groups which didn't fall down. So that must be worth something.

Afterwards, we had extra time so they tied the kids together again for the 4-legged race. The Weirdo Club was reunited for this event. They weren't the fastest but I'd say they were the cutest.

Next up was the hula hoop pass. This event would be girls versus boys. The girls are short one member so Mrs. Hoffman joined the team to make the numbers even. Our girls soon got smart and decided that you could pass multiple hoops at a time and move faster. I think the girls ended up winning 3-1.

Again we had extra time so Sydney spent the time doing one of her other favorite pass times. She is getting quite good at this if I do say myself.

Our next challenge would be the sack race. Again it was boys against girls. I couldn't really tell who won. There was a lot of falling and goofing by this time of day.

We finished the day off with whatever this thing was. Again, a lot of silly time at this point.

And once again the kids cheered each other on. I had to post this picture because I am still trying to figure out what Sydney is doing here. Whatever it was she seems to be shocked by something. Great pic. All in all a really fun field day. Once again the school pulled off a great activity for these kiddos. And best of all we had perfect weather.

A video montage of the day...

A Visit from Papa Coburn and RMCA Day

Papa Coburn was here for a visit over the last weekend. And boy were the girls counting down the days until he got here.

The big event for this visit would be Grandparents Day at the kids school. Our school always goes all out for this school wide event. It has become a day of fun events for all kids, parents, grandparents, friends, etc. First stop in the morning was an open house for Sydney's classroom. Sydney and Papa played a challenging game of MATHO together. You can see the concentration required.

Next, we headed to the auditorium where all grades did presentations. Our school teaches with a classical education format. This means the kids use a lot of memorization and "chants" or songs to learn. Its amazing how well it works. I can't imagine using any other approach. Here is Sydney's class demonstrating their knowledge of the seven continents.

After the show we headed outside to enjoy a catered lunch from the generous Pasta Jays. There were also lots of jump houses and other activities for the kids to enjoy. I think Papa spent most of the afternoon chasing Kayla around from place to place. Which was nice for me since I got a break from chasing Kayla from place to place. I don't think we saw too much of Sydney and Reagan during this time as they were off playing with their friends.

For the last event of the day we were invited to an Open House in Reagan's classroom. Reagan was so excited to show her classroom off to her family. And we posed for a group photo of papa with his RMCA girls.

After the last open house we went home to pick up Dad and head up to the cabin. The girls were anxious to show Papa their cabin that they loved so much. Papa often commented on how relaxing the cabin was. So I think the girls showed him a good time.

They spent a lot of time sitting outside with their makeshift log chairs. Eventually someone figured out you could play the drums with these logs and a show was soon in motion.

We spent two nights at the cabin and then made our way back home for one more night before taking Papa back to the airport. Thanks for the visit Papa! I know the girls enjoyed sharing their school and cabin with you.

Sydney Turns Eight

This year Sydney is turning eight on May 8th. According to her second grade class this means that this year was her golden birthday. While this is exciting news, Sydney was a bit disappointed that her golden birthday has come so quickly in her life. Her other friends all have theirs in their twenties. Apparently this is much better. Why, I don't dare ask these questions people.

We always let the kids pick out all three meals on their birthdays. These can be anywhere in the area. Usually for Sydney this involves an expensive Fondue night at La Fondue. This year she requested...

Breakfast: Home. She wanted Mom's pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fruit. (Have to say this made me feel good.)

Lunch: Country Buffet. The entire family revolted against this one. Teasing Syd about how bad the food was here. Unfortunately this caused the birthday girl some sadness, oops. She couldn't handle anyone saying anything bad about her choice. So after some apologizing we all gave in and ate some good(??) ole country buffet.

Dinner: Salmon at Texas Roadhouse.

The big gift this year was a razor go cart. Her driving and spinning skills have made her Daddy proud. Dad always wanted his own as a child yet he was denied. Too bad he is too big to give this one a ride.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY! We love you and hope you had a great day.

AHG Year End

Today was our year end badge ceremony for our American Heritage Girls Troop. This is always a more formal event for a our troop. We have a full flag procession with honor guard. The girls all give the oath and are then called up onto stage to receive the badges they have earned.

Sydney was a badge beast this year. Earning a total of 16 official AHG badges plus some others. To give you a little background. The girls can earn badges in a total of six different frontiers. Here is the list of what Syd earned this year.

Heritage Frontier
Ancestor Detector
Caring for my Environment
Our Flag
Our Heritage

Family Living Frontier
Home Care & Repair
Kid Care
Memory Maker

Arts Frontier
Artastic
Textile Arts

Outdoor Skills Frontier
Cycling
Snow Skiing
Swimming

Personal Well Being Frontier
Daughter of the King

Science & Technology Frontier
Aviation
Insect-a Inspect-a
Kitchen Scientist

Along with these AHG frontier badges the girls may also earn special patches. This year Sydney earned the Joining Badge for learning all about AHG. She participated in the Pen Pal program and received a patch for her work. She earned a top seller Fundraiser Patch. She attended a Sweet Pea Party and learned about her inner beauty to receive her Sweet Pea Patch. And lastly, she performed three community service projects to receive her HUGS Service patch.

I think its safe to say this girl made the most of her first year in AHG. And she should be proud of her work.

Reagan has now graduated into the Tenderheart Unit with Sydney so the girls can now help each other with badgework. That means twice the work for Mom. Should be fun!