Fall 2022 is when Covid restrictions lifted for the kid’s school and they were finally allowed to participate in school sports again. Joshua and Jonathan joined the cross country team at their school and they both did amazing with it! We asked Joshua if he wanted to join the local Legion Track and Field team and he said yes. (Jonathan can join once he is in Grade 3.) He trains twice a week with his club and there are track and field meets offered at other track clubs across Ontario. This past weekend was the first meet that Joshua participated in and it was so much fun! We really did not know what to expect when it came to participating in and watching a track and field meet. We were informed ahead of time that parents are not allowed in the race area, but we had never even seen the track and field arena before. So this was going to be our learning experience as much as it was a learning experience for Joshua!
If you have already read my blog about New Year’s Resolutions then you will already be aware that we are not spending money on fast food, take out, or restaurants this year. So, I spent all day on Friday preparing food for our trip. While we were only going to be gone for 24 hours, I wanted to ensure that we had enough food and enough options available to us and we would not tempted to buy any food. (Although Jonathan was not on board for this and definitely wanted the junk food snacks they were selling at the arena!) I am currently editing the vlog I videotaped showing you the meals and snacks I prepared for the trip, and how we prepared for this trip in general. I made: Peanut Butter Granola Bars, Oat Bars, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, and a failure batch of blueberry muffins. These recipes and more are also available in the blog’s recipe section. I am not including the blueberry muffin recipe because we did not enjoy that. Do not substitute sour cream with regular yogurt! Perhaps when I make them properly and if they are delicious, then they will make it to the recipe section.
As much as I wanted to bring Joseph and Jordanna with us on this trip, I knew they would be bored and with it being the middle of winter, there was nothing to entertain them with in regards to walks, parks, etc. So, lucky for us, Josh’s Mom was able to babysit for the weekend and watch them. That gave Josh and I some great quality time together with Joshua and Jonathan! I was also very conflicted about going in general. I do not leave the kids very often and especially in the last few days leading up to the trip, any time I left, Joseph would be crying when I got back because he missed me. I also knew this would be the only track and field event that I could go to before the baby was born, and I really wanted to see Joshua compete, so I went.
We left for Toronto at almost 8:00pm on the Friday evening. Next time our intentions are to see if Josh is able to leave work early on the Friday, and perhaps take the boys out of school early and leave a lot earlier than 8:00 pm! That way we can totally capitalize on using the hotel pool and hot tub as well as getting a good night’s sleep! That was one learning curve for this trip. So, since we did not leave until late, we did not arrive at our hotel until 11:30pm! We stayed at the Monte Carlo Inn in Vaughan and honestly, that hotel had the most amazing pillows I have ever had at any hotel! The room was decently clean although I did notice a few hairs on the bed sheets and in the shower, but that could also be from the housekeeping staff. I personally was pleased with the room and did not see anything wrong with it. Josh noticed some stains on the sofa that was in our room, but that was it. Our room had 2 queen beds and was pretty spacious! It had a little sitting area with a tv and desk beside the bed area. The body soap in the bathroom did not dry out my skin which was amazing because hotel soaps usually irritate my skin. I also just want to emphasize how obsessed I am with the pillows that came with the room! Usually I spend over an hour getting comfortable with hotel pillows and needing at least 3 and then feeling home sick because I am finding it so hard to get comfortable, but not this time! Perhaps it was the time of night, but I only needed one pillow which was perfectly puffy and supported my head beautifully, and the other pillow I used to support my super pregnant belly and my knees.
Okay enough about the pillows! With us not getting there until 11:30pm, we did not get to bed until around midnight or shortly afterwards which is not ideal when Joshua has a day of track and field events the next day! There is a continental breakfast included in the room rates which begins at 7:00 am and that was perfect for us! We were up bright and early and downstairs for breakfast just after 7:00 am. I did grab a quick shower before breakfast and the shower pressure and shower head was amazing! It was such a nice way to wake up after such a short sleep.
The breakfast offered was bread and bagels that you could toast, two options of cereal, yogurt, oranges, apples, croissants, and pastries. They had a nice selection of jams, they had butter, margarine, and cream cheese to choose from along with coffee, hot water for their tea selection, orange juice, and apple juice. Honestly, I’m really pleased with this hotel. We left the hotel just after 8:00 am and that was later than I would have liked. Joshua ended up locking us out of the hotel room when we were in crunch time mode to get going to the track and field arena! I also made a newbie mistake and forgot to pack the 2 packs of bread I intended on packing so we also needed to stop at a store before getting to the arena. Luckily the hotel has a Walmart directly across the street!
We got to the arena about 20 minutes before the first event started. Joshua’s events that he was participating in were long jump, 60m dash, 800m run, and potentially the 4x200m relay if there were enough participants from the club attending the event. The long jump event began at 9:00 am. Parking was a bit of a nightmare, but we also did arrive 20 minutes before the event started. Like I said, there were a lot of learning curves with this experience! Next time, we are arriving at least an hour early to get a good parking spot close to the doors and not a 5 minute walk away and so we can actually get a seat in the spectator area! There were no seats left even though there were 4 stands to sit in. Track and field has a lot more participation than I thought there was! Once I found parking, I made sure I got my butt into the arena before the first event started. I did not know how timely these events would be and did not want to miss anything. I left the food cooler in the van and needless to say, I definitely should have just brought it in with me! Next time!
The long jump event definitely took a lot longer than I thought it would. Each kid in Joshua’s age group jumped at least 10 times or at least that is what it felt like. Joshua’s second event, the 60m dash, didn’t start until around 12:30 pm. So events were already over an hour behind track, but there were so many races and events going on that you definitely could not get bored! His third event that he participated in was the 800m run which started at around 2:50 pm so by that time they were making up time in their schedule since the event was supposed to begin at 2:15 pm. The reason I am being specific with times is so that if you decide to participate in events like this, you know what to expect. The relay did not happen for Joshua’s track club because there were not enough runners within his age group to participate.
So, get there early so you can secure a seat and then make sure at least one person is sitting in your area so you do not lose your seats. I was quite lucky because lots of people took pity on the super pregnant lady and moved over to offer me a seat, and one person even gave me their seat. I am super grateful for this because my back has been bothering me lately and those cement floors are unforgiving. I was not prepared to stand all day!
Joshua did a great job at his events! He placed 6th in his long jump event. He was actually in 2nd place for a while, but scratched a few of his jumps. Below is a compilation of the videos I filmed of his jumps. He is wearing a neon yellow shirt that is close to the colours of the vests that the volunteers are wearing. His official distance that he jumped was 2.98m for this event!
For the 60m race, he placed 10th overall. Below is what I could film from that race which was the heat that Joshua was in. Joshua is in the far left lane, lane 8. His official time was 10.44 seconds for this event! He was only 0.15 seconds away from being in the top 8 and making it to the finals!
Joshua’s last event was the 800m run. I was really looking forward to this event because it was going to be like his cross country races and he seems to be used to the longer distances. Below is a compilation of the videos. I filmed a portion of the first lap and a portion of the second or third lap and then I filmed the final lap of the race. He is wearing his neon yellow shirt so you cannot miss him! His official time was 2:59.99 for this event!
Pictures from the event
Joshua placed 2nd in the 800m race! He was so excited for this and rightfully so because he ran an awesome race. I think he really enjoys running the longer distances and he enjoyed long jump. He thinks the 60m was fun as well and I know he just likes running in general. I think everyone enjoyed our 24 hours in Toronto. The boys definitely enjoyed staying in a hotel for the night and they also loved the fact that I made a deal with them to let them watch the tablet in the van during the trip up and back. Jonathan enjoyed watching the events and I am hoping that we will be able to let him register for races next time whether it is with the local club or independently. I know Jonathan will have a blast at these events as well.
Tips for next time and for anyone attending events like this:
1) Arrive early to ensure you get a good parking spot and good spectator seats. I’m talking at least an hour early.
2) Bring your food in a cooler or lunch bags and bring those in with you in the morning. This way your seats do not potentially get stolen throughout the day.
3) Be prepared to be there all day if your child(ren)are in multiple events. The events run overtime and are spread throughout the day. There is usually an event schedule available ahead of time and participants are able to participate in events even if they start at the same time. The event judges will ensure the participant gets their turn in the event, but they may not be able to warm up as much as other participants. Always check the event rules though just to be sure.
4) Pack food and snacks because there was only junk food available at the event arena and there were no stores within walking distance of the arena. This will also allow you to save money and have a variety of food you know you will enjoy.
5) Have fun!
We chose not to stay in Toronto for another night and we drove home after the event was over. We knew we were not going to get home too late, especially in comparison to the time we arrived in Toronto on the Friday night. We also did not want to spend the money for another night at the hotel. Our hotel was about $120/night and the gas in the van cost about $200 since I needed to fill up before we left and then we filled up in Deseronto on the way home on the Reserve. We wanted to keep our expenses as low as possible on these trips so that way during the summer, if there is a track and field meet, we could couple that with a family vacation to Toronto. The way home definitely felt like it was quicker than the way there. We unpacked the van and pretty much headed to bed shortly after we got home. It was a great day learning about track and field events and watching all of the events. Joshua now knows how he needs to train in the future if he wants to excel in the events he wants to participate in. Since the speeds and scores are recorded in the event results, Joshua knows what speeds he needs to aim for in the runs and the distances he needs to aim for in the jumps.
It was a great 24 hours in Toronto! I had fun preparing the food for the event and packing for the event, but I definitely did miss Joseph and Jordanna! They had tons of fun with Grandma though! Joshua really enjoyed himself at the event and we are going to continue to ensure this is something he enjoys doing and not something he does because he thinks we enjoy watching him. Thanks to the book, Thrivers, I am learning about things like this. Our children tend to be parent pleasers in the aspects that they do activities, join clubs, and do school subjects based on what we as parents push on them because we want them to succeed in our goals we have for them. Parents also push their children to do things that they think will help succeed academically and in their future. These activities, clubs, and/or sports however may not fill them internally with joy or happiness because they may not be doing what they actually want to do. They are their own people and we must respect that and encourage that so they can thrive. I highly recommend this book to any parent. Definitely a game changer!
I look forward to the next meet and hopefully being able to watch Jonathan and Joshua both compete in events, but that may not be until the summer since the next meet is in March and the new baby will only be 1 month old at that point.
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