These past two weeks have been a flurry of athletic endeavors in Boweryville.

Between the ball games, the lawn cutting and Track & Field, we have been at our maximum physical output. (Those of you doubting the lawn cutting have yet to see our far from manicured yard.)

This is a big deal in our house, especially for Second Born Son. He anticipated his inaugural season of Track & Field last year, but was thwarted by a little event we refer to in these parts as The Royal Wedding – Part II. Little Sister’s wedding landed on a Friday which was the same day as the boys’ school meet. After all the shoe scuffing and head lolling was over, we vowed to come back bigger and better than ever for the 2011 Season.

SBS signed up for all the events he could and eagerly anticipated the day. Would I come to watch him? Does a Polar Bear have frost bite??

Packing the trusty Nikon, I headed to the field and waited for him with eager anticipation.

To be brutally frank, I hadn’t expected too much from the lad, since he has proven to be more of a morale booster than a tightly wound competitor. But something was happening…

and then….

That, my friends, is called a photo finish. Which led to this…

In the end, he got it by the hair of his chinny chin chin. Two firsts, a second and….

one of these for Standing Long Jump. Boyfriend would have done better in Ball Throw with his wicked arm, but there’s a little thing called “accuracy” that trips him up every time.

First Born Son participated too. But I was forbidden to be anywhere near him during his events. I get it. I’m cool like that….I know what it’s like to be a young teen and not want to be saddled with the presence of a parent, especially when other equally cool punks teens are in the area.

So I did what any other mother would do. I broke out the long lens.

This is from one side of the track to the other. He never knew I was there, until that night when he bemoaned the fact that I had photos of his brother, but none of him. Tee hee.

While FBS didn’t perform as well this year as in the past, mostly due to the fact that when you are pre-pubescent, your buddies are as tall as your Dad and can whup your arse in most sports. I told him to buck up and try again next year. SBS, however, qualified to advance to the County Meet which, ironically, takes place at his school this year.

In typical SBS style, he had a classic quote last night for his impending athletic endeavor.

“I’m really nervous about tomorrow,” he said.

“Why? You did really well at the last meet, just do your best,” I reply.

“But we are going to be running against the Mennonite kids,” he stated.

*crickets*

“They can RUN!” he said. “I don’t know how they do it – and they are in their bare feet – you’ve got to watch out for them!”

I didn’t tell him that the Mennonite religion and culture forbids the use of Wiis, iPods, or even Nike shoes. I was compelled to use religious conviction, but that seemed a little far fetch – although some theme music did pop into my head.