Kastle Kingdom

Kastle Kingdom was our next stop to let everyone run one last time before heading for home! Everyone had a great time! I didn't realize what the park was all about, even though I had heard about it from other friends that had played there. If I would have thought ahead I would have brought a picnic lunch! It is a very nicely built wooden structure with lots of shade, hidden passage ways, and a chance to be the "guard" of the Kastle! I was the guard, tried to deter the boys from taking over my castle.....I lost....so sad. This is a picture I grabbed of them while they were still having a great time. It took me a while to get everyone situated, so Cory got red in the face and was losing conscienceness by the time I finally snapped the family photo!!

My 2nd Grade Classroom

If you can make sense of these pictures, this is my 2nd grade classroom that I will be teaching in this Fall 2008. The entire clan drove over in our 6 passenger car, with no complaints believe it or not!, and viewed the school I will be teaching at and helped me haul my graduation presents into the room. The blackboard will be covered with showerboard and used as a white board. The room has been freshly painted, but I have a lot of work to do on it when I get in there in August. It was a computer lab so I need to wait for the computer tech to come in and move his things so I can start putting things away. I did measure for bulletin boards and the like and that felt good. We had a tour of the school and then the kids went out back and played on the playground.

Fun New "Perms"

Sunday night was a dull night at the Malakowsky home, so the girls took a shower, I braided their hair, and they went to bed. The next morning we removed the braids and they had lovely perms for a day! Morgan's hair was so soft and it looked so different having all the waves in it! Maren's hair became fuller (if you can imagine that!) and it was just beautiful on her! They had fun and want to do it for my niece's wedding in July.

Tennis Tournament

Cory was a part of the tennis tournament held on Sunday of Railroad Days weekend. He had five games and four different partners. He really enjoys tennis and I really enjoy watching him. His first game he played with 3 state tennis players from St. James and he did really well! I am glad that he is so sports-oriented! Cory really enjoyed the day, they had a team photo, and then it was off to eat as much pizza as possible....which I think was three pieces. He then came home and went for a bike ride for a couple of hours with friends. Needless to say, the next day he slept most of the day away!

More St. James Railroad Days Events

Downtown St. James was hopping on Saturday morning, even though it was cold and looked like more rain. First we enjoyed the games that the Girl Scouts had in the downtown park, with the children winning candy and pop. Then we walked over to the parking lot and all four of the children had fun playing on the Bouncy games....there was one where you played human tug of war and tried to make a basket, there was one where you boxed with long blow up sticks, and then there was the slide (which only Maren enjoyed). There was also a variety of food vendors, but Jeff took us all home and made us a vendor kitchen (onion rings, mini-donuts, cheese curds). It was a "greasy" day!

The Parade is Cancelled!!! What are we to do?!?!? Well, the girls and I made sugar cut-out cookies. Yup...if all else fails, the oven still works. We had a good time making the dough, rolling out the dough, cutting out the cookies, baking them, and then eating them....of course, we shared with everyone even if they didn't put all the work into it! Hunter helped himself to about a dozen cookies when we went out to our friend's house (The Jackie and Mark Nielsen clan) for an after-parade party.

Fireworks!!

We are going away for the 4th of July and the children are pyromaniacs so we bought a large package of fireworks at Sam's Club for them to enjoy last weekend. Jeff was worried about all the small children in our neighborhood, so we called on a "farm family" to enjoy the fireworks with us. Shirley and John Coleman graciously allowed us to use their driveway. Even though it was a very windy, chilly night, we are able to get the fireworks going and a good time was had by most. Jeff and Cory were the firestarters and the rest of us were the ooh-aah'ers.

Rail Run during St. James Railroad Days Celebration

Beginning of the 1/2 mile race....end of race...still going strong! Morgan is really loving running. This was the farthest distance all-at-once that she has run. Way to go, Morgan!

4 Mile Run: A great beginning...front row....a fantastic finish in 29 minutes!!
To the right of Cory, his left, is Kris Kross. She is the coach for cross country and she has encouraged Cory to give it a try. He has been training with her on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights...they run 2-3 miles. He is learning what "pacing yourself" means as he is used to doing short, fast sprints. We are very proud of him...and, all truth be told, his mother was just happy he came across the finish line alive!!


Shirley, my very dear friend, and her daughter, Emily did the 4 mile walk tonight. They are all smiles on the way out and even more smiley at the end...although it does seem that Emily has taken off her very dependable flip flops...guess walking barefoot was way more comfortable..right, Em??!! They did a great job and I am so proud of them! Maybe next year I will join you......??????

Maren, the forever fan. She is always willing to come along and be a cheerleader to her family. I admire her spirit and spunk. I caught her relaxing on the old rail car by the lake and just had to snap a shot of her. She is a great sport and I love that she supports her brother and sister in their running....Morgan begged her to run, but it was a no-go this year. She did make a comment about next year though. We will just have to wait and see....now it is in writing!