State Track Meet

Jillian ran the 4x100 meter relay on Friday afternoon as the opening leg, and gave the team a strong start on their way to a new PR. Unfortunately, they were unable to qualify for the finals, but it was an enjoyable experience.

Papa Ken and Mom made the trip up to watch and cheer for Sweetie-Pie.

State Send-Off

Jillian and her RA Long Track Team received a send-off on Thursday morning as they prepared to leave for the Washington State 2A Track Championship at Mt. Tacoma. Her 4x100 meter relay team will run their preliminary race on Friday afternoon.

Spring Band Concert

Bridget performed on percussion with the Monticello Advanced Band at the Spring Concert in the RA Long Auditorium.

She was actually visible up front on the far left side for much of the concert:

Middle School Track Pics

This is a doubleheader photo of Bridget's 8th grade track team and Tor's 6th grade track team:

Plus, they recently had their end of season ceremony, receiving participation certificates, and Bridget also won the Coaches Award:

District Track Photo Dump

There were way too many pictures taken by the RAL photographer to include here ... this is a sampling of the best ones:

Memorial Day Service

The kids and Dad went to Castle Rock Whittle-Hubbard Cemetery to see Papa Ken and his American Legion for the Memorial Day Service. Auntie Greta and cousin Adam were also there.

Afterwards, we went to the American Legion Post in Downtown Castle Rock to have hamburgers and hot dogs.

We made a stop at The Vault where the girls bought some new books with money given to them by Papa Ken. Then the kids got a picture with Auntie Greta in honor of her birthday.

Crazy Ribbon Horse Show

Bridget had a successful day at Yamhill County Fairgrounds. She and Handsome won 10 blue ribbons, and 2 red ribbons, which earned her the high point award in both English and Western for the 14-17 age division.

She also received advice from coach Torry Brooks, who she has been seeing for a couple years now.

Yardworkers

 I had some really good yard workers today! I was impressed how hard they worked in the heat. They were in the sun for awhile until it got 80 degrees and then I moved them to a shady area. Jillian manned the sod cutter and Tor dug out the patches of grass.

On To State

Jillian will be going to the Washington State 2A Track Championship next week to compete in the 4x100 relay. Her team placed 4th at the District Meet at Columbia River, after a fast first leg by Jillian. She also ran the 200 meters, and just missed qualifying after finishing 5th with a new PR.

Random Track Pics

An RA Long photographer shot a bunch of pics at the subdistrict track meet, including some of Sweetie-Pie:

Jillian's Track Photo

Here's Jillian's 2025 RA Long Track team and individual pictures:

Second Choice Ice Cream

Since Colleen's was closed, the kids had to settle for the next option: ice cream at Jack's, where they all chose drumsticks.

Puzzle Master

At the library, there was a 300 piece puzzle that hadn't been started yet, so Dad got it going, and Tor joined after a bit and finished it off:

Pick-up Game

While at the basketball courts, the kids on the other court asked Tor to play with them, which he gladly did. So, Bridget and Jillian played some one-on-one:

Jeep Convention

We strolled down to the beach for a short visit - it was pretty windy and a bit chilly.

There was a huge line up of Jeeps on the beach, and they drove up to "Poop River" and congregated there.

We were hoping to go to Coleen's for ice cream, but it was closed due to being short-staffed.

Outdoor Mini-Hoop

Tor got tired of mini-hooping inside the beach cabin, and set it up on the shop. He has lots of room to dunk:

His new challenge is to throw it off the roof for an alley-oop dunk.

Sub-district Track Meet

Jillian ran in the Sub-district track meet at Ridgefield tonight, and qualified for districts next week in 2 events. Her 400 meter relay team took second with a time of 51.73 sec, while she placed fourth in the 200 meter with a PR of 27.11 sec.

A 3 PR Day

Bridget finished her 8th grade track regular season at Mt. Solo with 3 personal records in her 3 events. She ran 7:07 in the 1600 meter, 3:13 in the 800 meter, and threw 73' 3" in the discus for 2nd place overall (she is now ranked 4th in the district for discus).

Wrigley Jean

We finally got to meet little cousin Wrigley Jean on Mother's Day at Grannie and Papa Bob's house. Cousin Tierney and Wrigley flew in from Peoria to visit for the week.

Flag Football

Tor missed several games at the start of the Flag Football season due to his sprained ankle, but he came back last week and (surprisingly) played quite a bit. His team this year is the Monticello Raiders, full of 6th grade classmates from the middle school. Coach Emmanuel knows his stuff, giving the team a 20+ page offensive and defensive playbook, along with armbands for each player containing all of the plays. Tor plays quarterback and slot receiver on offense, and defensive back on defense.

Good pics are hard to come by on such a big field, but this shows Tor hoisting up a long pass.

Hanging Flower Baskets

We initially went to Lexington Hardware to pick out some hanging baskets, but they were completely sold out, so we stopped by M & T Nursery on the way back. It was a tiny business, but they had lots of big, lush hanging flower baskets to choose from. Mom's basket is being held by Jillian:

Breakfast in Bed

The kids squeezed into bed with Mom on this Mother's Day morning to enjoy donuts and muffin while watching the traditional Popeye shows "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" and "Sinbad the Sailor" on Dad's phone (the 15-year-old black tablet finally went belly-up).

First Golf of the Season

Cousin Cale texted about playing some golf, and Tor was up for it. We played at the Mint Valley Par 3 course and found out that Tor had to pay (only 11-under play for free). We weren't too worried about score on this round:

6th Grade Track

It was a short first track season for Tor, after missing most of it with the sprained ankle. He returned for the final track meet at Cascade, and performed well for not having practiced for several weeks. He participated in the 100 meter dash, the 800 meter run, and the high jump.

Spring Dance

Bridget and Tor went to the Monticello Spring Dance on Friday, joining many of their classmates and friends for an evening of fun and music. Mom was there, too, helping organize. Here's Bridget with neighbor Ila and friend Audra:

... and here's Tor with "the boys":

... and one more of Bridget with some more friends:

First in Pool Play

Jillian and her Aspire NW 17-2 Royal volleyball team played in the first day of the CEVA 18-U Division Regional Championship and won every match (in very close sets) to take first in their pool and move on to the top 8 bracket.

Jillian's defense has stepped up another level, with lots of diving saves and very few balls that get past her.