Highlights included:
- Andrew driving
- Accidentally running into a snow bank
- Driving down a small, inter-parking lot road with another car behind him.
Andrew’s First Driving Lesson
Andrew’s Orchestra Concert
Andrew had his 2nd orchestra concert of the year tonight. We didn’t have a great view of him, but we got this picture afterward and recorded Bohemian Rhapsody.
Andrew’s Orchestra Concert
This evening Andrew had his second orchestra concert of the year. They played four songs written by Tchaikovsky.
Living History Farms Race
Andrew ran the Living History Farms race this morning, the unofficial end to the cross country season. It was about 26 degrees out, with a sharp wind out of the north. There are several creek crossings in the race and he was fairly wet.
Andrew’s Orchestra Concert
Now that the kids are back in school they are all back to their instruments: Andrew is playing the Cello, Mari the Tuba, and Elliot the Saxophone. It is fun to hear them practicing again and they are all doing well.
Tonight we had our first concert of the school year, for Andrew’s orchestra.
Andrew’s 15th Birthday!
This evening we celebrated Andrew’s 15th birthday with the Reagens and the Thompsons. Rather than the traditional skyline, we had sandwich bar and Susan made an awesome cake.
Andrew at 15 continues to be Andrew – enthusiastic about life, with a positive attitude. For the first time since first grade, he is going to school again! On school days he gets up and 7 and is on the bus by 7:45. We pick him up after school at around 5:45, from cross country. He usually stays up until around 11 at nights. On the weekends he stays up later and sleeps in later.
This fall he started running cross country, which he is really enjoying. He also still plays soccer and the Cello.
Favorite song: Pet Cheetah
Favorite color: Orange
Favorite food: Skyline
Favorite band: Twentyone Pilots
Favorite book: Scythe
Favorite sport: XC
Favorite movie: Jurassic Park
Favorite Subject – New!: English
Andrew’s First Cross Country Meet
In a week full of school supply shopping, open houses, and first practices, we kicked things off with Andrew’s first cross country meet. He has been training since July with the cross country team and really enjoying it. He looked good in his race and was happy to meet his goal of finishing in under 20 minutes.
Andrew’s Sunset Picture
Andrew makes an effort to head to the lake when it is a beautiful sunset. This set of pictures really turned out beautiful.
Andrew’s 14th Birthday
Today we celebrated Andrew’s 14th birthday. This morning he opened our present, a new camera. He has been excited about taking pictures on our trip and we found a nice point & shoot camera for him to use.
In the afternoon we went to Trees a Mystery, a big-tree park about 30 minutes south of where we are staying. Andrew was really torn between that and bowling. I think he made the right choice.
For dinner we had Skyline. That was followed by a carmel-explosion cake that he and Susan concocted. It was really good.
Andrew at 14 continues to be a pleasant, positive presence in our lives. He is enthusiastic about life and embraces new opportunities openly. His hobbies and interests remain largely the same: music, sports, games, reading. On the trip he has been maintaining his own blog, which is interesting and I think has him thinking about things a little differently.
Favorite song: heavydirtysoul by Twenty-One Pilots
Favorite color: Orange
Favorite food: Skyline
Favorite band:Twenty-One Pilots
Favorite book: Harry Potter 7
Favorite sport: Soccer
Favorite movie: Jurassic Park
Playing at the Beach
Today we went back into town to get our car sticker and to play at the beach. Andrew and I had the chance to reenact some honeymoon photos. One of the best things about being in Seaside is that I have such fond memories of being here on our honeymoon, even though we were only here for a short time.
At the beach, the older kids watched Rose while Susan and I went for a run. Then we all worked on a sand castle until we went hunting for sand dollars.
