Last week (or was it the week before... they all sort of fly by now), Charlie participated in his first-ever bike-a-thon to raise money for his school, McKinney Academy - or as Charlie calls it, McKinney McAdemy.
The bike-a-thon was part of McKinney's annual Fall Festival, complete with bounce houses, carnival games, face painting, pony rides, cake walk, food and all around fun. The boys had a great time all evening, but Charlie really enjoyed the bike-a-thon.
The organizers of the event grouped the Jr. K and Kindergarten classes together and they went first. All of the kids lined up their bikes at the start finish line, wearing their McKinney bike-a-thon t-shirts and helmets, and were ready to race.
As soon as they said, "On your mark, get set, go," everyone took off! I expected Charlie - lover of all things that go super fast - to be at the head of the pack, leading the riders into turn one. Well, low and behold, our little Charlie was a little awe-struck. He just sat there for a few minutes, dumbfounded. I had to yell, "Go Charlie, GO," before he actually would start pedaling.
But, after a couple of laps, he really got into it. He leaned over the bike, put on his serious face (with a bit of a smirk in the corner of his mouth and a twinkle in his eye) and set to work.
He especially loved the "pit stops" every five laps. I brought him into the pits, made my best attempt at pit stop/tire changing sounds, circled off the number of laps he had completed and sent him back on his way. He thought that was cool.
Charlie worked so hard! He was sweating, breathing heavy and totally determined. I'm sure his legs were burning! I would love to tell you that he complete all 25 laps. Charlie would have it they'd have let him, but the organizers were under a time crunch and had to move onto the next class. Charlie has no idea that he didn't finish the race though. In fact, he thinks he won! He'll tell you that if you ask him. All that matters is he had an awesome time. It was by far his favorite thing about the Fall Festival. (He completed 21 of 25 laps, in case you're wondering.)
Before I go, I must say THANK YOU to all of the grandparents for donating money and helping the cause. We really appreciate it! (Aren't you glad we weren't selling wrapping paper or chocolate?)
And, thanks to all of your donations, Charlie earned a water bottle AND a bike helmet. He was only one of two kids that raised enough money to get a bike helmet. I just happened to be there (working the carpool line) when Coach Daniel gave away the helmets. Charlie thought it was AWESOME that he won a helmet but not everyone did. He's even more convinced that he was a superstar and won the bike-a-thon.
Let's face it. He'll always be a superstar to us!
Here are a few pictures from the Fall Festival and bike-a-thon. Until next time!
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This is the scarecrow we made for the Fall Festival. It was a homework project
for the Jr. K class. They used all of our scarecrows to decorate at the event.
All they gave us were two yard sticks, glued together to make a "T."
Big thank you to Grammy for her help. Isn't our scarecrow cute?! |
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Here's Charlie with his "game face" on.
He's ready to race! |
And here he is at the start/finish line.
This is serious business, folks!
And here's Charlie... checking his tires.
Big smile! Ready to go!
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| And.... THEY'RE OFF! |
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| Wait a minute... where's Charlie? |
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| Oh, there he is! |
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| Look at that big smile! |
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| He's loving it! |
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| And now we're getting serious! |
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| Bringing it home! Way to go, Charlie! |
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Look at this little guy. He worked SO hard peddling twice as much as anyone else.
Go, Quinn, Go! |
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And here's Charlie just the other day after he'd won his water bottle and helmet.
He's so proud! |
