Playground

While Eric and Jonathan were at track yesterday, Huxley and Megan played on a nearby playground.  We haven't been to this one since the boys were in T-ball....3 years!  It is a fun one, with several climbing walls and slides.  It's the type of playground pediatric PTs love because there is lots of opportunity for vestibular movement, lateraly movement (as in the above structure), climbing, and unstable surfaces.
We are not 'officially' doing a playground challenge this summer, but will still try to explore as many as we can!

Color Splash Fun Dash

On Sunday, the boys and I participated in the Color Splash Fun Dash.  It was a fundraiser for the Strong Kids program through the YMCA.  It's a 5K with 5 color splash stations, where people throw colored corn starch on you as you run through.  The end result is a filthy mess, and a whole lotta fun.

 This is obviously a before picture.  It's the boys' first 5K, so they were pumped.  Eric wanted to go as fast as he could.  Jonathan didn't want to be alone, but also wanted to be faster than me.  Both boys abandoned me at the start line.  I caught up with them around the half mile mark.  Eric took off again once he saw me, but Jonathan stuck with me periodically.  If he needed a walk break, he would walk until I caught up with him, then I would walk with him until he would spontaneously just sprint ahead of me again. 

 Pre-race warm up to loosen muscles and get the heart ready.

 How cools is this?  A rainbow circle completely surrounded the sun.  I've never seen this happen before.

 Each participant was given a packet of color before the race.  There was a countdown, and everyone smashed their packet together.  It was messy.  Very very messy.

 After the color smash just before the gun start of the race.  We all had blue packets.  Eric was less than please to have pink on him.

 Post race pic.  They loved it. The first thing Eric said to me when we connected was "Can we do this again?"

Our shirts don't look nearly as messy as we feel!  The shirts were quite porous, and we had dye everywhere on our body,especially the sweaty parts!  My toes were the dirtiest.  The shirts washed out to nearly white again, believe it or not, and....much to the boys' dismay.  We plan to get some dye and tie die the shirts.

It was a good time!  Next year's is already scheduled for June 1.

The Ice Cream Truck

On of our favorite Summer traditions is the Ice Cream Truck Lady meandering up our street every other Sunday at approximately 5:20 pm...just in time to ruin our supper.  Today was the first day of the season we got to see her.  Her truck plays the tune "Turkey in the Straw".  We can usually hear her before we can see her.

 Waiting for the Long Family to finish buying their treats so she can make her way to our house.  3 houses is a long ways away!

 Note the shirt Jonathan is wearing.  His second time this week. He's cutting back.

 Jonathan and I each ordered a chocolate scooter crunch bar, Megan got a strawberry scooter crunch bar, Huxley got a bomp pop, Eric got a drumstick, and Don got a confetti cake ice cream sandwich.

And....it's our lucky day.  The Ice Cream Lady told us before we placed our order that Mr. Long gave her a $20 bill to pay for both his order, and ours!

We put our treats in the freezer and had them for dessert.  

Last Day of Soccer

The kids had their last day of soccer yesterday.  It was chilly and windy, just like every other soccer game this season.

 Megan's hair reflects a bit of how windy is was.

 Go, Megan, Go!  She has some nice kicks today.

 Warming up on the sidelines

 I sacrificed my ponytail holder so Megan could pull her hair back.

 Jonathan's first goal of the day

 And another one

 Huxley and the birthday boy

 Eric throwing the ball in

 Kicking the ball up the field

Both of our teams won their games today.  We celebrated the season with the long awaited lunch at McDonald's afterwards.

Summer Buzz

Before.....(his smile is slightly exaggerated as he had a bit of, well, um....gas just as I was taking the picture).....

And after.....his summer days will be much cooler now.

He has a wicked cool tan line along his neckline, which nicely highlights his counter clockwise cowlick.

First week of summer vacay

 These are the gifts the kids gave their teachers the last week of school.  It includes a beach towel, sunscreen, flip flops (for Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Miller) and sunglasses (for Mrs. Kautzmann), and a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  Thanks, Pinterest, for the idea.

 This is Megan's favorite shirt.  I decided yesterday that I am going to keep a tally of how many times she wears it in a month.  It's getting too small, but I just don't have the heart to pass it on to the next user yet.  (Actually, I do, but Megan has busted me each time and pulls it out.....)

 These are Megan's favorite shoes.  They are lined with faux sheepskin.  

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 This is one of Jonathan's favorite shirts.  It is one of his Mandan Mavericks shirts.  I also will keep tally of how many times he wears this shirt.  I anticipate he will alternate this shirt with his Dwayne Wade/Miami Heat jersey.

Phlox.  I tried to remove it from one of my flower beds last year, but it still came back.  I guess I'll just leave it.

Eric was at Lego camp yesterday afternoon, so I did not get a pic of him. 

Fargo Marathon

Kathie and I made our annual trek to Fargo for the marathon events a few weeks ago.  This year, we were registered for the Friday Night 5K and the 10K Saturday am.  We were walkers this year.  Most of our usuals were there as well.

This is my view from the starting line of the 10K Saturday am.  It was raining, and in the mid 50s with just a hint of a breeze.  Darn near perfect running weather.  The 10K route meanders through north Fargo.  We walked by Longfellow School, where I did one of my clinicals with Fargo Schools.  Lots of nice fancy houses!  There were not as many people along the 10 K route as there are for the half and full marathons, but there were a few music spots.  We ran the first 2 miles, then walked until we hit the 6 mile mark and ran the rest.   We finished in 1:23.

 Mom and I at the start of the 5K Friday night.  We finished in 53 minutes.  They did not have chip timing for the 5K walkers for some reason, so this is the time per Mom's watch.

 Kathie and I at the beginning of the 5K.  Kathie's game when walking these events is to pick a 'pacer' that is within reach and pass them.  We each took turns picking our target.  The first person Kathie picked was an adolescent/teen aged kid with a bright green shirt and slightly wild hair.  We didn't have too much trouble getting past him.  Admittedly, I did not pay much attention to him.  We passed him just before the first mile marker.  Right around the mile 3 marker, he passed us back!  It was then that we noticed that he had cerebral palsy.  This is why we love the Fargo Marathon.  All different shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities participate in all the events.

 We are getting ready to cross the start line of the 5K!  There were nearly 10,000 participants in the race.

The gal in the blue jacket is Val.  This is her first year participating in the Fargo race.   She came along with Kellie from Dickinson, and  ran the 10K.  The reason I took this picture was not to get a picture of Val, but to have an excuse to snap a photo of the man in the black shirt standing to the right of Val.  His name (as Kathie and Kellie and I refer to him) is Dr. Super Starr.  Kellie (a PA in orthopedics)  gave him that name the eve of Mar 28th, 2012.  He is the doctor I saw at the walk in clinic the night I broke my foot 4 miles in to a 6 mile run with Kathie.  Kathie and I knew my foot was broken.  He did not agree.  He also thinks highly of podiatrists for treatment of foot issues.  Twice since that fateful night, Dr. Super Starr has been behind me picking up a race packet (the other was the Kroll's 5K).  And....now I end up lining up near him at the start of the 10K.

3 more medals for the collection.  This was our 3rd year doing the Go Far Challenge. 

I love the Bible verse from Hebrews on all of the medals.  Such a great verse, and so fitting.