Run for your life!

Friday marked the yearly "Walk/Run" (Run/Walk??") at the elementary school. This is the first year Emma could participate (the preK class does not) and they have been preparing in PE class for what seems like ages. Em's class pictured below were so very excited to run this. The parents were invited to run it with the students so I dug out my "home grown 5k sneakers" (remember that phase me and my local pals went thru? - next year for you, Henry's mommy!) and laced them up tight for the 1 mile run.

Excited to run! Can you spot our toe head?

The Kindergarteners are FAST. I figured they would burn out quick and want to walk (and by figured I meant HOPED...) but these kids were the little engine that could. They kept huffing and puffing and I had no choice but to keep on keeping on lest be shown up at the finish line by a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds.

I'm still ahead of you, ma!

Emma and I had tons of cheerleaders hooting and hollering for us along the sidelines. Our pal, LeighAnn caught this awesome pic!

I'm about to leave this kid in my dust...

Daddy was cheering with Ben at the half way point. Ben's pal Sammy's mom was running the race with a double running stroller with an empty seat, so Ben climbed in and she (can you say STUD MAMA) finished out the race pushing an extra Ben-40lbs with her daughter, Emma's best pal Anna.
It was heaps of fun and I could not have been any prouder of Emma and her classmates for running the entire race. I truly did not expect them to run the entire mile. Their teacher was waiting at the finish line with Italian Ice (maybe that was the secret?) where they cooled down before heading back to class for the day. It was the perfect day for running - sunny and 70, not too hot and not too cool. Thank you, Mother Nature, for cooperating.

Yesterday was a busy/fun day. The kids came to the office with us in the morning while we worked, then Em had t-ball from 1-2. Daddy played "lacrosse" with Ben while Em practiced and I chatted the hour away with another mama. E and B were invited to a birthday bouncy party from 5:30 to 7:30. I knew the party would conclude with pizza and cake so I needed to figure out what I could give the kids for their "early bird" dinner at 5pm that they wouldn't upchuck while bouncing the evening away. They had an absolute blast at the party - me, not so much because little tiny Ben (that speck in the middle of the climbing ladder) was obsessed with this 917 foot high (not that high, but may as well have been) bouncy slide structure. My heart was in my throat the entire party and he ended out the night with "just" a twisted ankle and some raw elbows... Many of Em's best pals had their birthday parties here this year and she is obsessed with having her Summer birthday party here, too. I am not too excited about it and am happily accepting alternative location suggestions to spend her special day...

Chill out, ma! I've got this...