walk this way

so friday was kieran's schools walk-a-thon. i just love this event, it's the big fundraiser the school does & the year that kieran was in kindergarten was the first year the school decided to forgo selling a bunch of stuff & try a walk-a-thon. i was a big fan. that door-to-door stuff is for the birds if you ask me. apparently it was incredibly successful (i like to think that most grandparents are paying their grandchildren not to guilt trip them into buying wrapping paper & magazine subscriptions & are willing to pay even more this way).

for the big walk andie & i took madyn to her little school & we went on to kieran's school. have i mentioned how much i love his school? maybe a million times? they had asked if i knew of anyone who might be able to take decent pictures of the walk but to please know that they weren't asking for me to do it. well, of course i had to come take pictures! i was already going to be there & was thinking about bringing my camera anyway (that's not a joke, i'm actually notorious for never bringing my camera to things, don't count on me to be the one to always take pictures at stuff-my camera & lenses are so bulky, & i'm also absentminded & it just never occurs to me most of the time), so i offered to help with this. though the weather was a bit overcast & rainy, the kids had a great time & one of the featured events was one of the high school marching bands actually marched to the school & performed. that was really fun & the kids had a great time.

and though it was supposed to be a walk, many of the kids ran lap after lap. the school did the event in shifts, pairing various grades together. when it was kieran's turn andie decided to go with him at the starting line & as to be expected, on the word "go", all the kids took off at a frantic pace, running & quickly descending a small hill. and of course, in trying to keep up andie ends up tripping at the bottom of the hill, along with several other kids, and nearly ended up being caught in a stampede. poor kid was a little shaken up but mostly okay. i was especially glad since only a few days prior she had been running down the sidewalk to pick kieran up from school & had tripped, skinned both knees & was still covered in bandaids. we are still working on healing. anyway, andie has been a little (what's a nice word for crazy?).....contrary lately & for much of the time that i was working on taking pictures she was either yelling at me or pouting or interrupting every adult conversation i had. it shouldn't be a surprise that the one close-up i took of her she's making a face. kieran's picture shows his utter happiness at his new temporary tattoo that he was given at one of the cool exhibits at the display portion of the event. do you remember how i mentioned andie was wearing bandaids? my kids are in love with bandaids. andie is especially bad & is quick to point out any new battle scars that need bandaid coverage-despite the fact that at times i have to say things like "andie, that's actually a freckle." so if bandaids are their source of constant enjoyment, temporary tattoos are like their own personal crack. they are like little addicts when it comes to these things & are willing to do just about anything-including run 15 school laps-just to receive one. so kieran's close-up includes his new tattoo.

all in all the event was great, the kids had fun, & i got awesome pictures for the school. not a bad friday :)

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