Our schedule for the day was to wake at 7am, hit the road to LaGrange by 8am with a quick drive-thru at McDonald's for breakfast on the way, and arrival at Buckner Elementary before 10am. Hayden would run at 10:05. We would have lunch with Bailey at 11:10 and lunch with Hayden at 11:22. Then we would head to Subway for our lunch. And finish with Bailey's run at 1:15.
What is a Bear Fun Run?
The school mascot is a bear. Hence the title.
The Fun Run has every student asking family and friends to pledge so much money for each lap they do. Then each class runs on one of several fields around the school during their Related Arts class time. Each course is a square or rectangle with an orange cone at each corner. The kids come out to the field their class is to run on with a paper with their name on it pinned to their back. They have warm-up exercises before the run. Then the classes are divided into four groups. Each group positions themselves with a parent volunteer at one of the four corners. That parent volunteer will place a hash mark quickly on the paper on the child's back each time they finish a lap by returning to their cone. Then the kid just runs another lap. Hayden and Bailey's class each ran for 15 minutes. Michael was the parent volunteer to lead the kids in warm-up exercises and keep them running around their track. Andie is an officer in the PTA and was helping with the oversight for the event. After the run the kids put their hands on their heads and walk around to cool down. Then they are shepherded to one of two locations outside the school where they are given popsicles to re-hydrate. This year the theme was the Olympics and they played a game based on things having to do with the Olympics.
When we arrived Andie pointed us to where the field was that Hayden and Bailey would run and where Michael would be the parent volunteer throughout the day for the classes that used that field. We found Michael giving high 5's to all the kids that just finished their run.
He gave Claude a HUGE Buckner Bear Gold Medal for a try-out.
Claude purchased a wonderful lunch for the Mini's and we met them in the cafeteria at their respective lunch times, which happen to overlap, and sat with them as they ate and chattered.
Okay, I have to put this picture in this Blog entry, just because it shows who has whom wrapped around her little finger.
While Bailey has been to both of Hayden's previous Buckner Bear Runs, this was her very first one as a student at Buckner Elementary. She was flying high today and looking forward to her run. We, on the other hand, were about to take bets on whether she would run along with the other kids or set her own course. She does have a flair for doing things as she feels they should be done. I learned as we waited for her to arrive that she has a different dynamic greeting for each of the teachers and some of the parents. As she came to the field with Andie in tow she displayed one of those greetings to one of the teachers.
She was happy to see her Daddy and tell everyone he was her Daddy and do warm-ups with him. Bailey is wearing a pink shirt, turquoise skort and her classic red velvet sneakers.
I was amused as Michael geared himself down to deal with kindergarteners. He came to the kids in Bailey's group by their cone and asked, "Which way are we running?" They all had obviously been paying attention to his instructions and they all pointed the right way. We were happy Bailey also pointed the right way. There was hope for her having a successful run.
Soon Michael blew the whistle and the kindergarteners were off on their 1st Bear Run. They had a surprise in store. The Buckner Bear showed up to run with them.
Bailey became a big fan of the High 5. I took a video of her High 5'n everyone one as she ran the entire lap. Sometimes she had to go off course a bit or wait till they put their hand out but she managed to High 5 every person watching as they made that lap. Claude even made sure he was in line for his High 5. He is in the brown shirt.
Here are a few pictures of Bailey finishing her run and enjoying her popsicle.
It was a successful day. We ended it with dinner at Wendy's before Michael and Hayden headed out to sell popcorn for the Cub Scouts in front of Kroger. I got a new picture of Hayden in his Cub Scout uniform. I particularly love that smile he has developed so he is always smiling in the pictures. So cute.
We parted ways until the next time, which shouldn't be too far away as Andie has Claude involved in helping her create a Pinterest craft for which she needs his saw and paint skills.
I'll close with a comment Claude made as we left Subway after lunch today. "Grandparenting duty is the best kind of duty there is!!" Amen!!
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