Pushing outside of one's comfort zone can be tough. Trying new things or visiting new places can produce feelings of insecurity and fear. Yet, as we discovered this past weekend, the feeling of accomplishment after you try new things, is worth the risk, most of the time...
First "new things" of the weekend came in Harry's football game. We traveled to Shakopee for a first time match up between the Purple Chaska Hawks and the Shakopee team. The game had many ups and downs, with more ups for the Shakopee team. The highlight for us? Well, I hate to brag, but Harry was a standout in the game. With 5 sacks and 1 rushing touchdown, Erick and I were very proud!
Next up, Bella. On Saturday afternoon, following closely behind Harry's game, came Bella's first official swim meet. It was a C/Pre-C meet. Bella's events were the 50 Freestyle and the 50 backstroke. The first piece of great news was that she didn't DQ. A lot of swimmers DQ at first, but luckily Bella didn't. She's never been timed on the 50 back so her time was fresh at 1:31.59. On the 50 free she's had unofficial times when attending the practice meets in the past. In May of 2011 she raced the 50 free at the practice meet and her time was 1:58.35. On Saturday her time was 1:30.58. She shaved 28 seconds off of her time!!! Here we are together at the meet.
You might notice I am in an interesting orange/yellow vest. No, it's not a new fashion statement. I also tried something new at the meet. I volunteered to do security at the pool door. For those of you who are unaware, parents are not allowed on the pool deck. I worked with some other women to keep the "helicopter parents" from getting to their children. Parents are supposed to sit up in the bleachers and watch. Yet some couldn't stop themselves from coming down and checking on their kids. It was interesting to say the least.
After the swim meet, Erick and I went out for our own first. We always like to try new places to eat and one place we had always been curious about was the Mystic Lake Casino Buffet. I have had more than one person say how good it was. Well, we went and...it was pretty ordinary. I didn't think the selection was that great. Maybe I've just been to some really great buffets in my life, who knows?
Then on Sunday it was off to another first for the family. We always go to an apple orchard in the fall as a family, but this year we tried a new place, Fall Harvest Orchard. Unfortunately, Erick was traveling and Becca had a lot of homework so we weren't all together as a family. Fall Harvest Orchard was AMAZING. I will say that finding it was a bit of a challenge. My trusty GPS did not know this fabulous place existed, but luckily I printed out directions from the website as well. The orchard was so interactive, compared to most. It was a working farm in addition to the orchard so there was lots to do and see. And the people who owned it were so great! You could tell they were really interested in providing a fun time for families. They let kids get eggs from the chickens, they handed out FREE food to feed the goats. They explained about different crops they were raising, including soybeans, and flax. They handed out examples of the plants to show people what they looked like and so people could eat them. Before the hayride was over, everyone got to get out and pick some popcorn and also a small gourd to bring home. We have to let the popcorn cobs dry out until Thanksgiving. Before the day was done, there was fun had by feeding apples to cows, eating fresh popcorn from the harvest last year, and rolling in a corn pit. Below are the pictures.
Next weekend, another "first" for us. We are going to go look at colorful fall leaves from a chairlift. Stay tuned!
First "new things" of the weekend came in Harry's football game. We traveled to Shakopee for a first time match up between the Purple Chaska Hawks and the Shakopee team. The game had many ups and downs, with more ups for the Shakopee team. The highlight for us? Well, I hate to brag, but Harry was a standout in the game. With 5 sacks and 1 rushing touchdown, Erick and I were very proud!
Next up, Bella. On Saturday afternoon, following closely behind Harry's game, came Bella's first official swim meet. It was a C/Pre-C meet. Bella's events were the 50 Freestyle and the 50 backstroke. The first piece of great news was that she didn't DQ. A lot of swimmers DQ at first, but luckily Bella didn't. She's never been timed on the 50 back so her time was fresh at 1:31.59. On the 50 free she's had unofficial times when attending the practice meets in the past. In May of 2011 she raced the 50 free at the practice meet and her time was 1:58.35. On Saturday her time was 1:30.58. She shaved 28 seconds off of her time!!! Here we are together at the meet.
You might notice I am in an interesting orange/yellow vest. No, it's not a new fashion statement. I also tried something new at the meet. I volunteered to do security at the pool door. For those of you who are unaware, parents are not allowed on the pool deck. I worked with some other women to keep the "helicopter parents" from getting to their children. Parents are supposed to sit up in the bleachers and watch. Yet some couldn't stop themselves from coming down and checking on their kids. It was interesting to say the least.
After the swim meet, Erick and I went out for our own first. We always like to try new places to eat and one place we had always been curious about was the Mystic Lake Casino Buffet. I have had more than one person say how good it was. Well, we went and...it was pretty ordinary. I didn't think the selection was that great. Maybe I've just been to some really great buffets in my life, who knows?
Then on Sunday it was off to another first for the family. We always go to an apple orchard in the fall as a family, but this year we tried a new place, Fall Harvest Orchard. Unfortunately, Erick was traveling and Becca had a lot of homework so we weren't all together as a family. Fall Harvest Orchard was AMAZING. I will say that finding it was a bit of a challenge. My trusty GPS did not know this fabulous place existed, but luckily I printed out directions from the website as well. The orchard was so interactive, compared to most. It was a working farm in addition to the orchard so there was lots to do and see. And the people who owned it were so great! You could tell they were really interested in providing a fun time for families. They let kids get eggs from the chickens, they handed out FREE food to feed the goats. They explained about different crops they were raising, including soybeans, and flax. They handed out examples of the plants to show people what they looked like and so people could eat them. Before the hayride was over, everyone got to get out and pick some popcorn and also a small gourd to bring home. We have to let the popcorn cobs dry out until Thanksgiving. Before the day was done, there was fun had by feeding apples to cows, eating fresh popcorn from the harvest last year, and rolling in a corn pit. Below are the pictures.
Next weekend, another "first" for us. We are going to go look at colorful fall leaves from a chairlift. Stay tuned!
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