Day 1,520 - Field Days and Dunk Tank Dummies

This has been a pretty big week for Ellie. Of course, that's fairly normal when one is a six-year-old and it's the final week of school. There's been plenty of excitement all around. Tuesday was First Grade Fun Day. On Wednesday, Ellie received the opportunity to be the Birthday Kid of the day even though her birthday isn't until the end of June. The biggest excitement of Ellie's week though had to have been on Monday when she took part in Field Day.

I, like many, have a lot of fond memories of Field Day as a kid. However, things have certainly changed somewhat since I was a kid. For one thing, rather than being a pure competition driven by ribbons and the quest to be the best, Field Day is now more about fun. For another, when I was younger, Field Day was basically a track-and-field competition. Now, there's a lot of silly/fun games instead. Don't get me wrong, that is not a bad thing at all. In fact, the reason I know it's not a bad thing because I experienced Field Day first hand. Actually, the entire Holt family got the opportunity to experience Field Day first hand.

Ellie and Bethany were the first members of our family to get to take part in Field Day. Ellie because she was a participant (obviously) and Bethany because she was volunteering at the snow cone station. This was actually her second year serving in this role so she's kind of becoming a professional by this point. As for Ethan and I, we had an appointment to get the car serviced on this morning. However, as soon as we were done, the little man and I headed to Fox Hill Elementary to see Field Day for ourselves.

Upon our arrival, we first wandered to the snow cone station where Bethany presented Ethan with a snow cone of his very own to enjoy. After that, we began wandering the grounds until we finally found Ellie getting ready for the sack race. One of the fun things about being a spectator at Field Day is that Ethan and I are recognized by quite a few members of Ellie's class and her teacher even took a few minutes to speak to Ethan and I while the sack race was ongoing. I was having a ball watching Ellie do her best but Ethan soon tired of watching and was ready to head home so that's exactly what we did.

Part of the reason I was so willing to head home before I was ready was because I knew I would be going back in the afternoon to volunteer. Specifically, I would be hopping into the dunk tank as a human sacrifice for Ellie's class. I assumed that I would be spending the entire afternoon in the dunk tank but I was actually somewhat excited to learn that I would be helping to run the Frisbee Toss event until Ellie's class was ready to do the dunk tank. While the Frisbee Toss was fun, I was a little bummed that I never got to see Ellie until it was time for me to head to the dunk tank.

Upon my arrival at the dunk tank, I was a little surprised to discover that I was one of five(!) adult volunteers for Ellie's class. Therefore, we all only had to do a short shift in the dunk tank. When the time came for me to take my place on the precarious dunk tank chair, Ellie swiftly made her way to the front of the line where she looked at me with a sly grin prior to throwing the ball at the target. While she missed the target, that didn't stop her from running up to the button and just pushing it with her hands which sent me plunging into the water. Following that, I climbed up out of the tank where five or six of her friends sentenced me to the exact same fate. Now, you may not know this, but it is relatively exhausting to be continuously dunked and have to pull one's wet body out of the water and back up onto the seat just for it to happen again.

While all of this was happening, Bethany and Ethan had made their way back to Fox Hill to watch some more Field Day activities after Ethan's nap. Ethan, of course, was feeling slightly sad that it looked like he was going to miss out on dunking me. Fortunately for him, once Ellie's class had moved onto the next station, there was a couple of minutes for me to climb back onto the dunk tank seat so that Ethan could have a chance to see me plunge into the drink. While his throw didn't connect with the target, his foot certainly did after a little help from another adult helping man the dunk tank. So, with that, my final plunge into the water was done for the day.

Overall, I'd have to say that I love helping volunteer for Field Day at Ellie's school. Not only is it fun but it gives me an opportunity to start building relationships with some of Ellie's classmates as well as teachers at the school. It's great too because I don't think Ellie's actually embarrassed by my presence yet either. We'll see when that changes though.

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Day 1,515 - The Butterfly Bonanza II

As the kids get older, it's sometimes really fun to look back at past years of this blog and see how they have experienced the same activity in a different way than they previously did. One of these opportunities presented itself over the past couple of weeks as we decided to raise butterflies again this year.

Last year was the first year we ever had raised butterflies with the kids and they pretty much loved it. If you need a refresher, feel free to check out the blog post. This year though, we didn't really know what to expect. After all, the kids were a year older. Would they still have the same sense of wonderment at the life cycle of a butterfly? In case you're wondering, the answer was Yes.

Early on in the process of raising butterflies this year, we honestly weren't certain that the kids would be as interested as they were previously. For example, last year, the two of them would spend ample amounts of time sitting in front of a small cup containing our caterpillars watching them crawl and explore their surroundings. This year though, that stage was not as exciting for them. In fact, I would bet that Bethany and I spent more time watching the caterpillars than the two kids did. However, once the caterpillars formed their chrysalises, that changed. Both Ellie and Ethan would check multiple times a day to make sure they weren't going to miss the caterpillars emerge. When the day finally came, both kids were right there to see the process unfold. Over the next week, it wasn't uncommon to see the kids (especially Ellie) sitting in front of the habitat watching the butterflies flutter around.

Last night marked a big moment in our time of raising butterflies as we released them into the wild. This is always a difficult venture. It's not because of any emotional connection that was formed though. Instead it has to do with the fact that it's nearly impossible to get the butterflies to fly out of the habitat they have become accustomed to. Eventually, I resorted to holding a paper towel  near each butterfly and removing it from the habitat once they crawled onto it. In fact, it was during one of those towel removal processes that Ellie and Ethan had the most fun with the butterflies.

Ellie bravely worked up the courage to ask if she could hold a butterfly. As there was really no reason to say no, Bethany and I then began coaching her through the process of gently placing her hand next to the butterfly and allowing it to crawl onto her. Of course, once Ethan saw his sister holding a butterfly, he wanted a chance to participate as well. By the time all of the butterflies had left the porch, each of us had gotten the opportunity to hold one.

Well, I need to correct myself. Almost all of the butterflies moved on. There were two that were very, very engaged in the process of making more butterflies that really weren't interested in moving to a new location. I'm sure you can guess how much fun that conversation was to have with our very curious six-year-old.

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Day 1,508 - The One All About NASCAR

It's well known that Ethan is a big Chiefs fan. However, there's something else that both Ethan and Ellie love just as much, if not more. That thing is NASCAR. Surprising, right? Since the first time the two sat down and actually paid attention to a race, they were hooked. Sure, it had something to do with Ross Chastain spiking a watermelon into the ground after a victory but I'm not going to complain about the kids and me having a shared interest. Bethany, for her part, alternates between begrudging acceptance and actual enjoyment based on the particular Sunday.

The thing about being a fan of NASCAR is that there's not exactly a strong and active fanbase around the Kansas City metro. If we lived somewhere like Charlotte or Daytona, I'm sure that would be different but it's not the case here. However, twice a year, the NASCAR Cup Series makes its way to the Kansas Speedway which provides us with a weekend of fun NASCAR-related activities to pursue.

The start to our fun was on Friday while Ellie was at school. I had spent the past few days fervently searching for show car appearances so that Ethan could see an actual race car in person. While nothing was super close, I did find that there was a show car appearance at a McDonald's near Bethany's work. Therefore, the little man and I loaded up and headed towards Kansas to see a race car. When we first pulled into the McDonald's, I was a little perplexed to see the lack of people around. Then, after making a lap around the building, I was doubly perplexed to see the lack of show car there. As it turned out, the web site that I had read about the appearance on was mistaken and it wasn't until the following day.

While Ethan and I were definitely disappointed, we decided to make the best of a bad situation and decided to head over to the Speedway to see if there was any excitement happening around the grounds. While it was too early for any action, we did happen to find all of the NASCAR haulers parked along an access road into the track. While we certainly lacked the proper credentials to gain entry, that didn't stop me from asking an security guard for permission to enter. Much to my surprise, he told us to go on and check out the haulers and to just flip a u-turn and come back out that entrance when we were done. As we drove down the street, Ethan was definitely stoked to see the haulers of some of his favorite racers such as Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, and Chase Briscoe. He just couldn't get enough! Eventually though, we had to turn around and exit the track.

Fast forward to Saturday. As far as I knew, I definitely had nothing NASCAR-related on the agenda and that was ok. With Bethany and the kids having a playdate at the park, I figured it was a fantastic time for me to get a much-needed haircut. Keeping that in mind, I headed to my local Sport Clips as soon as it opened to get just that. Upon my arrival, I took my seat in the lobby and waited for my stylist to call me back. As I waited, I took note of the guy who came in just before me as he situated himself in the big chair. As he took off his cap, I began to think he looked vaguely familiar. I then started searching through my memory banks until I thought I knew who it was. With that, I finally spoke up and asked, "This may be a weird thing to ask, but are you Chase Briscoe?"

For those not in the know, Chase Briscoe is the driver of the #14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. In other words, not a normal person to see in the local Sport Clips just a mile from my home. Sure enough though, the man turned his head to look at me and said, "Yes, I sure am." That was definitely the beginning of one of the more random experiences of my life which resulted in me getting to have a legitimate back and forth conversation with one of my favorite NASCAR Cup drivers while getting haircuts at the same time. Before he left to head to the track, Chase even took the time to take a quick photo with me just so I could prove to Bethany and the kids that the encounter really did happen. I honestly can't brag on the guy enough as a person. While it would have been totally understandable for him to want to just keep to himself, he actually asked a lot of questions about me and wanted to know about my family and stuff. Just a super cool and humble guy overall.

On Sunday, obviously, the biggest NASCAR-related thing of the day was the actual race. While we certainly made plans to watch the race, I also had something else in store for the kids. That was a trip to Andy's Frozen Custard in Liberty to see an actual show car. Unlike Friday, this was actually a successful trip in multiple fashions. For one thing, both Ellie and Bethany were along for the ride in this instance. For another, the two of them got to share a $2 sundae during our time there. The really exciting thing though was the kids getting a chance to see a NASCAR race car up close. While Ethan was oddly sad about the experience, it was awesome to see Ellie having fun.

Overall, I'd say that weekend was certainly full of NASCAR-themed experiences and a rousing success overall. Ok, if I'm being honest, I could have done nothing else the entire weekend and just been excited about meeting Chase Briscoe. I'm a fan, what can I say?

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