Kyle and Natalie had a fun Halloween.  Natalie was an Arabian princess and Kyle…well, I think you can guess.  Natalie’s costume was a gift from Jenny (John’s cousin) who owns a dress up company.  Thanks Jenny!!   Here are a few pictures from the evening…since it was on and off rain, we had a difficult time keeping the luminaries lit.

We had a great Fall family day yesterday.  Kyle and Natalie enjoyed sorting through the myriad of different pumpkins to pick the perfect shapes and sizes for us to carve for Halloween.   After our pumpkins were picked, we joined some family friends for dinner and then a evening visit to Cagels Dairy which has a corn maze.  The kids had a blast making their way through the corn maze in the dark.  Here a few pictures from our afternoon and evening fun.

Natalie has  taken a real liking to running.  Last year Natalie and Kyle participated in the Walton youth track club.  This fall, Natalie begged us to let her join the Walton youth cross country team.  It has been a great experience for Natalie and she enjoys the practice at our local Chattahoochee trails.  Today was the first Saturday cross country meet in Peachtree City.  Natalie ran the 2K race (1.25 miles) for the 8 and under Boy/Girls division.  She took fifth overall for girls and even outran several of the boys!  Here are some snapshots from the meet

We spent part of the labor day weekend visiting Chattanooga.  Chattanooga is a great city located on the border of Tennessee and Georgia.  The city is full of great activities for families and adventures for kids.  We boarded the Tennessee Valley Railroad, one of the few steam locomotive trains available to ride in the South.  Kyle and Natalie experienced what is what like to travel back in the early 1900’s.

Saturday evening we were able to walk across the street from our hotel and watch a minor league baseball game.  Our visit concluded today with a visit to the Chattanooga aquarium….which we thought was even better than the famous and popular Atlanta aquarium. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Kyle and Natalie started back to school today as second graders.  Both were very excited this morning to attend their new class and reunite with friends from last year (easiest time all year to get them out of bed).  They met their new teachers at Friday’s meet and greet and were very excited (we were happy too with with the teachers both of them received!)  We took the “1st day back at school” pictures, including a few snapshots of Amy’s annual back to school cupcakes (every year tradition since kindergarten).  Here are pics of the happy students.

Amy and I spent the weekend at Callaway gardens.  We planned to enter a triathlon on Sat, although Amy recovering from a back injury opted out of this one.   I finished my second international distance triathlon this year (1500 meter swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run)  in 2:27 (5 mins slower than my 2:22 PR last month) .  The morning was crisp and cool, although the water temp was warm (81 degrees).  Since the temp was above 78 degrees, wet suits were not allowed (ugg….).  Wet suits add tremendously to buoyancy and help your overall speed, which is why most people hope for cooler water for that added support.  Adding to the swim challenge was a very choppy lake with plenty of unintentional swags of lake water (yuck).  The bike was relatively fat and fast with some occasional rolling hills…I averaged about 21.5 mph over the 25 mile course (you cannot draft in triathlons, so it is a solo effort).  The 10K run was an out and back with beautiful scenery of the lake…the temperature started to rise, so the return portion was hot.  Overall…. happy with the day and very glad to spend time with Amy for the weekend….here are some pics that Amy took of the event.

Kyle and Natalie participated in a youth track club this past Spring.  The youth club was sponsored by the high school and introduced kids to various parts of running from the 100 meter distance up through the mile.  The kids were also able to compete in the long jump and participate in some relay races.  Both Kyle and Natalie developed some good friends and enjoyed the Saturday track meets.  We really liked Natalie’s two coaches and the fun way they introduced her to running…..Natalie is hooked and really wants to continue with the club in the fall (for youth cross country).  We actually might have another runner in the Kelsch family!  Watch out!

Here are some pictures from the season.

Last night was Natalie’s  first violin recital.  She began taking Suzuki Violin last year and amazes us with her talent and confidence.  It has been fun to see her progress throughout the year.  We have been very impressed with the school and her teacher.  She is currently learning the Twinkle songs with the fingering.  Natalie was inspired by the more advanced students which provided some additional motivation.  Here are a few pictures from the event, including one with her teacher.

For Spring break, we spent our family vacation at the Outerbanks (OBX).  For those on the West coast, OBX is off the coast of North Carolina and a popular destination for beach lovers in the East.  We had a fabulous time sharing a house right off the Corolla beach with the Moyers (our long time friends from BYU), who are back in the U.S. in between overseas assignments.  Our kids loved spending time at the beach (albeit a bit cold at times) and playing with their friends.  In addition to the Beach, we visited the Wright Brothers National Museum in Kitty Hawk and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, NC.   The wind was perfect for kite flying, so Kyle was able to get his first unaided experience with flying kites…he is hooked!  Here are a few pics from our trip

Today was the annual elementary school fun run for Kyle and Natalie.  The event started with some warm-up exercises in the gym (can you say stretch, lean, stretch) followed by various  distances depending on grade level.  For Kyle and Natalie (first grade), they ran 4 laps around the elementary school track.  Both did extremely well and finish in good form…..Kyle placed fourth for first grade boys and Natalie placed third for first grade girls.  Here are a few pictures from the event.