Color Run Picture Blow-out

Macy and I did our 2nd 5k together today. It was the Color Run, which has been called the "Happiest 5k on the Planet" and it was SO MUCH FUN. We signed up back in March or so, and it sold out in about 2 days, 13,000 people! They had to open another date on Sunday.

Here's our team, Team Awesome Socks! We met in the Arrowhead parking lot at 6:30. Yowsa.

Me and my friend Kathleen. We've done a few races together, and she's super speedy fast. Not me...slow and steady wins the race. (well, not really. But finishes the race.)

Me and my friends Amy and Mandy. Amy's daughter Kaylee (one of Macy's BFF's) was supposed to do it with us, but she went to her grandma's in Oklahoma, so Mandy filled in last minute. This was their first 5k ever.

Me and sweet Macy...same height. Yowsa again. She was so excited!

In case you don't know, the premise of the Color Run is to get as much paint on you as possible. You are supposed to start with a white t-shirt and see what you end up like. There were 4 paint stations along the race, then a big color festival at the end.

Here we are after the yellow color station.

Here's my dear friend Jenn and I after the orange station. It was her birthday; what a way to celebrate!

For the race, you ran around Arrowhead and Kauffman. Here's Macy and I in front of the K.

Jenn and I after the blue color station

Macy and I after the pink one, almost at the end of the race. She and Anderson (Jenn's son) literally laid down on the ground and rolled in the pink powder.

Here's the three of us after the race. Kaylin came down with a friend, and enjoyed getting paint all over her without walking or running.

Kaylin is, apparently, going to be prone to heat problems. This is the second time (last year at WOF) she's gotten sick in the heat. She didn't throw up, but we had to wait it out under a tree in the shade. She was fine once she got water and in the air conditioning.

Macy and I again, at the end

Love the turquoise!

Macy and I at the finish line! We did it!

Jenn and Anderson at the finish line

Macy and I at the end. She is amazing! Run/walked 3.1 miles with me without a complaint. She loves it!

We had an absolute blast. Yes, it was 90 degrees (not kidding) but there was a nice breeze and we were moving. The color stations helped break it up, and really, it never even felt like 3.1.

Observations:
1. Sunglasses were necessary. That stuff BURNED when it got in your eyes.
2. The color tasted disgusting. It supposedly was safe to eat, but so gross you wouldn't want to
3. The crazier the outfit, the better.
4. The color at the festival at the end was a lot brighter than the color along the way.
5. The turquoise doesn't come out all that well, even after showers and scrubbing.

Can't wait until next year!!

Just checking in

It's been a busy week of swimming during the day and VBS at night. I worked in the nursery this week, taking care of the babies whose mom's (and dad's) were working VBS. We had three babies, who were generally good but fussy at times. All three were pretty cranky starting at 7:45 every night, as that was their bed times. It was a good week, and the girls had a great time.

My Nook came this week, and I love it! A while back, we needed new tires for the black car. My sweet husband found a deal where if you bought a certain dollar amount of tires, you got a free Nook. Win-win! It took forever to get here, but arrived on Wednesday. After much hassle, I finally figured out how to check out books from the library on it, and have already finished one.

I ended up with some much-needed time to myself today, and I'm thankful for that. I love summer, as I've said 8500 times, but being with the girls 24/7 wears on me. They stay up late, so there's not even a hour before I go to bed. Bobby works so much (which I'm thankful for) so there's no break for me.

Tomorrow, Macy and I are running a 5k in this crazy heat. I'll have pictures up tomorrow or Sunday, of the craziness this 5k is sure to be.

Wordless Wednesday

I have the roughest job this week at VBS.

Elephant Rocks and Taum Sauk

Day two of our mini-vacation was to visit two other state parks in the area.

First up was Taum Sauk Mountain, the tallest in the state. We took some pictures at the overview, and really saw why it is recommended to visit in the fall. It would be beautiful with all the leaves changing!

Here's the girls at the exact tallest spot in the state, according to the marker.

We were going to hike to a waterfall, until we read the sign that said it was rough terrain, difficult, and could take up to 3 hours. No thank you. We weren't into that today.

Next up was a picnic lunch at a Civil War battlefield site. We went inside and listened to one of the park rangers discuss the battle, complete with a fiber optics lighting show. The girls were intrigued by the lights, but also digested quite a bit of what he was saying about the battle.

After lunch we went to Elephant Rocks State Park. I'd heard about the cool rocks, and it did not disappoint my little (and big) hikers and climbers.

Can you see the trees in this picture? They are forming around the rock and growing flat in that area. Pretty cool.

Pretending to hold up the rock.

Again, pushing the rock up with one finger.

First attempt at a family picture using the self-timer on the camera. Not bad! It was a  beautiful view from up near the top. Again, you can see how cool it would be with the leaves changing.

The girls in front of Dumbo, the largest rock in Elephant Rocks. He weighs 680 tons. Look how small the girls look next to him.

We did a lot of jumping and climbing. My kids love to do this, and I love how outdoorsy they are.

After this, I have no pictures of my family, because they left me at the top and went to the entrance without me. I waited for a while, and then it was evident they'd left me, so I headed for the entrance myself.

We met Bobby's dad and his wife for dinner at the usual place, Pizza Inn, and made the usual visit to Walmart.  It was good to see them!

 And here's a shot I took of the girls in the car on the ride home--entertaining themselves with technology. What did we do before iPods?

Johnson's Shut-in State Park

This week we took a little vacation to Southeast Missouri to visit a couple state parks. First up: Johnson's Shut-in State Park. I kind of knew a little about this, but was amazed AMAZED once we were actually there. How have I never been here before? So cool.

Here's the view from the observation deck. It doesn't quite do it justice, but you can kind of see what it's like. Lots of rocks, lots of water, lot of fun.

I am, ahem, not the most sure-footed person (remember posts about me tripping up and down the stairs? Have you seen me walk?) but I needed pictures of this fun day. So Bobby carried my camera around his neck, allowing me to scramble over the rocks/try not to fall/try to keep up with girls. I did quite well, for me anyway. Then once we got to a spot and the girls started jumping, he'd hand the camera back to me. It worked quite well, and I'm so thankful he did that for me.

Here's the first little waterfall we came to.

When we came to the first jumping spot, Bobby went first. The girls were a little shocked; I don't think they'd put two and two together just yet to figure out what was going on. Both girls needed a little reassurance/assistance to jump that first time, but after that, it was on like donkey kong.

Then they discovered they could slide as well as jump. Whee!

We moved down the shut-ins to this gigantic water hole with a couple good jumping rocks. Bobby had to go first to show them how it's done. The water was probably 25-30 feet deep here. Crazy!

Sliding...the water felt soooo good.

Love this one of Kaylin..arms and legs everywhere!

I think they were all 3 supposed to jump at the same time...oops.

Here's proof I did get in the water...I didn't want to do crazy jumps off boulders, but I enjoyed watching them, and I enjoyed swimming, climbing on the rocks, and doing little slides.

This was Kaylin's infamous fall...this rock was getting a little slippery at the top, and Kaylin's foot slipped. THANK GOD she fell forward and not backward! She did a little chest flop. She was done with that rock at that point, and never did it again.  That was the only scary moment, which wasn't all that scary because I didn't see her slip. :)

This was Macy's favorite place to jump. I sat and watched her forever, jumping again and again and again.

Definitely a place where you, as a parent or a child, can't have fear. As a parent, you just have to let them go--help them understand the safety rules, where to put their feet, etc., then let them be kids. You can't have fear that they will hurt themselves, otherwise you'll put that fear in their head. I banged my arm pretty good when I slipped in a hole, but other that that, we walked away thankfully with no bruises/broken bones. 

It was an amazing trip... the shut-ins were very neat, and I'm so glad we went and the girls were able to experience it. It's a trip I know they will remember forever. We spent the entire day there, stopping for a picnic lunch, then we were so tired we didn't cook over the fire that night--had to visit the local Lazy River Cafe for dinner and ice cream.

Wordless Wednesday

Things I have said in the car today

After 6 hours together:

Stop wiping your armpit sweat on each other.

No, you can't bite your sister's butt. There are people in the car next to us.

Find something to do besides licking your sister.

Look out the window and count the trees.

I don't know how much further. We must be lost.


And I have learned that our kids don't get car sick on winding, curvy, hilly roads in southern Missouri. Thank goodness.

Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day!