Field Day!

We are winding up the year here at Grace Village.  And apparently, some traditions are worldwide!  I vividly remember having FIELD DAY in elementary school and lo and behold....we had it here at the school as well!  With some differences of course.  :)

We made it a family affair and headed out there on Saturday to enjoy the festivities.  The kids told Marie that they wanted her to run with them so that morning she made sure to put on her tennis shoes and athletic shorts.  She was pretty nervous but when we got there early she warmed up by racing some of the staff members. :)

They divided the kids into three groups, or "houses," each with their respective colors.  They also assigned a missionary family that works with GV to each house.  The Sheriff house was the white house.  Each house had a little bafa they'd made out of palm fronds for the kids to sit under while they were waiting for their events. 

I busted out some of my old cheerleading moves and tried to teach them a couple cheers before the festivities began.  They were not super impressed.  I'm already planning to do some stunting next year and toss a couple kids in the air.  THAT will be sure to impress them!

After the opening ceremonies they lit a tin can on fire and a representative from each house ran around the track.

Our family (me) chose Marie to be the representative to run around the track. Sorry, but there was no way this lady was going to do that.  Sierra Leone is real hot.....and this lady doesn't really run.....

One of the first things I noticed when I arrived at Grace, was that none of the kids were wearing tennis shoes.  They all received new, beautiful tennis shoes from a donor not that long ago so I was really confused as to why they were wearing socks and flip flops.

I asked Peter why all the kids were going to run in flip flops and he scoffed and told me that (duh!) they were going to take their flip flops off and run in their socks.  Everyone knows that you run faster in socks than you do in tennis shoes!  

 

Silly Emily.  All these years you've been running with tennis shoes!!! Now I know why I always got lapped at the track!

One of the funnest things about the experience were the different games we got to see.  They turned our field into a track with hand drawn chalk outlines and had the classics like the 800m. race, the 400m race and a relay.

They made a special event just for missionary kids (and one mom and visiting guest!)

They put Marie in for the relay. Peter told me that they were giving her a hard time for running in tennis shoes.  Softy.

But they also had other fun games like this one:  Find My Shoe

Carry My Baby-Doll 

 

This event was only for the girls, which another missionary and I thought was so wrong! We told Peter that next year we're making it for the boys too! He just giggled.  Silly Americans.  Other events included "Fill My Basket" (with cans of tomato paste) "Tug of Peace" and "Music of Chairs."

One of the things that was the most disturbing to me was the high jump.  When we pulled up and I saw how high they were making it, I wondered how they were going to modify it since they didn't have the cushion to land on.  They.  Didn't.  Peter explained that they put some extra sand at the bottom for them to land on.  This picture shows the extra sand.  Do you see it? Yeah, me neither.

Ben and Haddie enjoyed some sardine sandwiches with their friends while they watched the festivities.

Peter got REALLY into the sports day as coach and encourager.  Also, come to find out he's just a little competitive!!  Doing a little dance when the SHERIFF HOUSE WON!!!!!

Also, please note the man wearing a baby on his back.....who scoffed at us making it an event for the boys.  I'm just sayin'......

It was hot and dusty, but we had so much fun celebrating the end of the year with our kiddos!