North Carolina Youth Rowing Championship at High Point, NC

Jordan Lake Crew attended yet another awesome regatta in Highpoint, NC. This time only Robert accompanied Katya to the venue as the boys and I were tied up with something else. It was now warmer, thank goodness, and so very beautiful. 

Katya had to weigh in before the race, as a coxswain. She is supposed to weigh at least 110 pounds and is supposed to weigh in in the morning. Katya was a little bit under that weight so she was given a pair of water bottles to balance her out:) She found it hilarious!

All ready to go with her bottles and her cox box. 

Here is the purple race boat.  

And what rowers' seats look like. And that's where Katya sits--in that corner. 

And here they are getting ready to row "around the duck". 

Although our club didn't do as well as we had hoped for (4th place out of 5) it was still a wonderful experience. This was the last season that these girls were able to race as junior novice. Now they have to step up their game for the next season as they will be racing other experienced rowers (but still middle/high school age). 

Topsail Beach-Spring Break 2017

I don't think we could ever spend a spring break in NC without going to the beach! April is a beautiful month to go to play in the ocean, although it's still quite refreshing. 

This time we went with our friends, the Deans. The kids played a lot together.

Mark ate his taco salad:)

and got buried in the sand.

Still a bit too cold for me to get in, but the kids didn't care!

These two were digging tunnels for hours.

We all enjoyed the beautiful NC sky!

We stayed at the beach till 5 or so. 

And somehow I snapped this magnificent picture of Katya--no filters or anything. 

After the beach, we got some yummy BBQ dinner from the local place. And the Deans showed us where to buy the best hush puppies ever. 

Lyana. 

Cuteness Overload-Alpaca Farm Visit

During one of the very hot and sunny days during spring break (it's in the 80s here in April!), we ventured out to an Alpaca Farm near Hillsborough. The kids had never seen alpacas this close! And there were so many of them! 

Here is alpaca wool. 

Male and female alpacas had to be separated at this farm. So these are the males. 

They need dental exams too. 

Cute!!! 

Look at those funny toes!

The owner of the farm gave us a tour and told us all about the alpacas. I wish I could remember all the facts we learned that day!

Do you see a little pile of "something dark" behind the alpacas on the following two pictures? Yes, they are cute, but they go to the bathroom in funny piles. 

The kids had some food that they could give to the alpacas.

These were the females. 

More food.

Great educational field trip! 

Short and sweet, and lots of pictures.

Lyana. 

James River Sprints

Katya had to go to the regatta in Midlothian, VA one weekend in April, so we decided to make it a family affair once again and go all together for the day. It was about a 3 hour drive but we had to arrive on the night before as Katya always has to be at an early morning meeting of coaches and coxswains. 

The following morning the weather proved to be as cold as we had anticipated. It was 40-50s for the majority of the day but at least we were prepared with gloves, hats and coats. Sitting around for hours by the river and freezing is not fun. But being bundled up and eating while watching the boats go by is exciting and cozy at the same time:) Mark was a trooper for the most part--he read his book and snacked a lot, but it didn't stop him from complaining that he never wants to go to another regatta again. I hate to disappoint him, but oh well. 

Katya claimed she wasn't cold. Right...

And the Grovers came down on a spur of a moment to see Katya race! We were so happy to see them! Jack didn't care it was 50 degrees outside:)

Here is Katya's 8+ boat. She is the plus:))

And it looks like she is the boss. 

Katya and her boat. Actually, this was a borrowed boat from the venue. It looked like it hadn't been used for ages and wasn't very new at all. 

Getting ready to launch. 

And getting last instructions from coach Jim.

Finally, it's their turn to get on the water.

And they are off.

This river is a tricky race course. Towards the opposite side of the bank, the boats encountered undercurrent that made them slow way down and get off course. Katya's job was to keep them away from that bank. In the middle of the race, someone's shoe just broke off and so that girl couldn't row. Katya had to make a fast decision to tell one more rower to stand down so that the boat wouldn't go off balance. So here is how we saw the girls when they rounded the corner, facing their last passage of the race. We are the boat on the right. 

And here they are nearing the finish line. 

Fighting for second place! 

The yellow balls mark the finish line. And they overtook them! 

Such an exciting finish! 

It was very fun to watch and I am glad our girls pushed themselves so hard. 

Kudos to Katya for helping her team get second place. 

We are the Jordan Lake Rowing Club.

Exciting race and so proud of our team! I won't be posting a "fan" video of the finish as there was too much squealing coming out from behind the camera;)) 

Lyana.