Hannah's Triathlon

Hannah did great in her triathlon this past weekend. I am not sure she realizes exactly how great it was for her to even participate in it and then finish it. Because she is such a natural athlete, she doesn't know the rest of us can't always do what she can!
126 girls competed and Hannah finished 55. Her swim time was great, as expected, but she thought she might die on the final 1/2 mile run. All together, it took her 23:11 to finish.

Knox in Aruba

Knox had a great two weeks in Aruba with his mom and her family this year. He called us about five times so we got updates on all the fun stuff he was doing. When he got home, though, he let us know that he had been sick the whole time he was there. As you can tell from the pictures his mom sent us, he was obviously on his deathbed!!

SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!!

Kids are going to school tomorrow!! I, I mean, they are soooo excited! Actually, Macon is a little miffed because I am insisting on going in with him and all he wants is to ride the bus. Everyone got teachers this year that I and they are happy about. Hannah and Knox will be very prepared for middle school after this year with their particular teachers. Katy will be changing class for all four major subjects so she will get a taste of four different teachers. It will be interesting to see how she handles the transition. Fourth grade is pretty tough anyway but throw in four different sets of expectations?? I think she will be fine but it may take some getting use to.

We celebrated Macon's birthday with the family tonight. Just cake and presents, no dinner. He got a lot of neat stuff but no one had a camera so there will be no pictures of him opening gifts. I swear, that last child gets left out a lot!! I apologize now for any trauma I am imparting on my last born. He is certainly loved as much as the others so hopefully he will remember that instead of the fact that I can't seem to keep a camera charged for his events :(

Hannah & David on SeaDoo

Okay, another video. I uploaded one with Hannah & David being very crazy on the Sea Doo while at Joyce & Bill's this summer. The kids loved that thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zgh9OfwJlI

Kids sing at Camp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geT0KXCuNmE

I have uploaded a video of Hannah and Knox singing Camp Willow Run's signature song, the Good Ole Gospel Train. The video is fuzzy but Hannah is in a white baseball cap. Knox is wearing a green t-shirt and black baseball cap. Listen, enjoy and remember your youth when you too got to sleep in converted train boxcars with spiders and small bathrooms!!

Another Rushton Weekend

David, the girls + Macon, and I hung out at the pool Friday night with two other families. Macon's very best friend, Ryan, was there and a good friend of Hannah's, Austin, was there. Katy made a new friend so everyone had someone to play with which meant the parents could sit around and do nothing. Actually, David and Mitch got into the pool and threw the kids around a lot. They got in trouble with the lifeguards for chicken fighting.
Knox is still in Aruba with his mom. We finally got to talk to him Saturday morning after several missed attempts. He was having a great time visiting the landmarks and playing on the beach. He will be home very late next Monday.
We meet our teachers on August 16th and school starts on the 20th. I cannot believe that summer is over!! All of my children will be in school all day this year so I have tons of projects I want to complete. Of course, PTA will take up some of my time and I may work a little. I am in charge of all the fundraising at our school but this year I have some fantastic help. I think it will be a lot easier this go round than in the past. We are trying some new things so if anyone has ideas from their school, PLEASE let me know.
David took the kids to see "Underdog" so I am supposed to be doing laundry and painting trim. The house is so quiet without them here!

David's 20th Reunion

(David NOW)

David and I drove to Fort Lauderdale, Florida last Thursday to attend his 20th high school reunion. It was great!! We went through Gainesville and spent the night with his best friend and his wife. On Friday, we went to dinner in Hollywood at a very Miami-type Thai restaurant called "Tatu" with 4 of his high school buddies and their wives. Friday night was spent at a club seeing old friends and Saturday night was the more formal reunion dinner and dance. The rest of our time was spent lazing at the pool and on the beach. It was neat to watch people's reaction to seeing David for the first time in 20 years. My favorite was overhearing a conversation between classmates during which one exclaimed "That's David Rushton in the corner. He's lost half his hair!"
This was the first time in about three years that David and I have gone away without the kids. It was GREAT! I would highly recommend it for everyone married with children.
(David Then)