The Long-Lost Blog Post - Spectacular Sportsfest!!

This was written a long time ago, but I never managed to get the pictures in until now.  Still great memories - why not bring them back, even though it was a few weeks back?!  Enjoy! :)

January 29th was CSC's annual SPORTSFEST, which is basically our version of Track and Field day.  What an exciting day it was!!  The kids all got to sign up for certain events a few weeks ago and they anxiously wrote their name down for their best (or favorite) ones.  From the moment the final teams and schedule were posted a couple weeks ago, the kids were all over the lists, memorizing all the teams and exactly which events they were in. 

When the big day came, they arrived with great enthusiasm in their team color's shirts! 

After a word of prayer, some guidelines, and some gearing up, each team performed a cheer that they had prepared!  The kids were all running for individual ribbons in their events, but also looking to add points to their team's total score, which would earn their team the trophy.  Sportsfest events included everything from 100-meter dashes to hurdles, frisbee tosses to peso tosses, high jumps to long jumps, and multiple things in between!  The preschoolers (the Gray team!) even had their own set of events, which were hilarious to watch!

I'm not sure which moment was my favorite... Maybe it was the exciting team cheers at the beginning, watching the kids' huge smiles as we geared up for the day. Maybe it was watching Kyle and Nino jump more than a meter off the ground for the high jump. Maybe it was seeing Gibbie literally hoist Angillo up on his side and carry him for much of the last part of the 3-legged race. Maybe it was watching Jacob and Ginda beaming as they were pushed in their wheelchairs during the 50-meter dash. Maybe it was watching the preschoolers as they did their own event of attempting to pass the ball over-and-under their heads and legs. Maybe it was the hula-hoop girls spinning those hula-hoops effortlessly for minutes on end, with no sign of stopping until we just decided to declare a tie! Maybe it was the collision of teachers as they rounded the cone on the 100-meter 3-legged race. Maybe it was the tug-of-war, watching each team pull the life out of that rope! Maybe it was just watching the excitement and joy on the kids' faces, with such good attitudes - no one whining or complaining or arguing about the events or who won/lost what.

Uncle Paul, the announcer, and John Ray, our stats man.

The staff/teachers/houseparents dash got a little crazy, but ended with a win for Uncle Patrick!

Slowly carrying the water to dump in the cup.

Paper, Rock, Scissors

Some sort of paper/snowball toss event!

Insanely good hula-hoopers!!!

Over, under, over, under - a little complicated, but super funny to watch!

I love this picture!  You go girl!!

Taking a rest

Brother and sister :)

Nino jumping over a meter - wow!

Kyle doing the same thing - we were all incredibly impressed!

Even the teachers/staff/houseparents got to participate in a couple events!

Peso toss

Getting ready for the egg toss

Housefather Uncle Ondoy got splattered with the egg!

It truly was a memorable and really fun day for everyone. We ended with an awards ceremony, giving every child a participation ribbon, then awarding all the first, second, and third place ribbons for each event. The BLUE TEAM won first place overall!! Way to go to all our kids on a spectacular day!!

Announcing the winners of each event

Blue Team - the overall winners!

Even I managed to come away with two ribbons - 2nd place in the 3-legged race and the 100-meter dash!