The Official Kickoff To Summer was today at my girl’s school (as I mentioned in my last post). They’ve always got a couple of bounce houses and a dunk tank that the kids can play on for a while, then we have a nice little picnic catered by Famous Dave’s BBQ (Dear God in Heaven, if you have a chance, check them out – it’s good). Thank goodness I put in that 25 miler this morning, because they stagger the kids – Josie went through first and Isabella an hour later – this meant that one of either me or Mrs. BgddyJim had to eat twice!
Well you know I took one for the team and had a second delicious pulled pork sammich with enough barbecue sauce on it to drown a small animal – or a quarter pound of pulled pork (and a piece of watermelon and a bottle of H2O).
In any event, they added a new inflatable climbing toy this year – that had to be 20′ tall. The kids get into a one size fits all harness that snugs up, and they’re attached to an emergency rope in case they let go, and up they go. Josie dug right in (after a little convincing from papa) and made it about half way:
Not bad for 5 years old…
Then came the dunk tank where she really showed what she could do – this will take two pictures, read the captions:
Right handed toss – she did miss, but not a bad effort…
Now look at this:
Nope – switch to left handed…and it’s a bullseye – that kid in the tank went DOWN! Never seen a kid that could switch so seamlessly between hands.
Then after second lunch it was Bella’s turn. And that kid didn’t disappoint:
Starting out
Right out of the gate she ran out of real estate and quickly changed directions
The kid looks like spider girl for crying out loud.
This is where she ran out of space. She got one row higher but eventually fell off…
Now my girl made it up pretty high – not to the top but pretty stinking close, but that’s not what impressed me… The kid didn’t give up. When she got stuck, she tried every path and every angle that she could until her hands just couldn’t hold her up there any more. I’ve never seen that girl fight so hard to accomplish something. It was inspiring to watch and it really made me proud to be her dad. In the end, what was important was not that she didn’t make it – it’s that she didn’t quit until her body failed her. I couldn’t have asked for a stronger daughter. YES!
Sounds like she’s your kid! (based on your blog posts). Good luck when she hits them teenage years 😉 By the way, that girl needs to be a pitcher. Sign her up!
Thanks, we’re looking into it… As far as her teenage years, we’re well aware that we could be pooched.
Love it! You must be really proud of your strong, coordinated and committed girls who are already interested in fitness! My 8 year old ran (not walked!) a 5K last Sunday, and I know I was as proud as a peacock!
A 5k is awesome for eight years old!
Thanks for the positive feedback. I’ll be sure to tell her. Mama Bear was quite proud of her cub. 😀