Color Me Rad!

Here's what I did today!  A Color Me Rad 5k Race in Richmond.  Here's my friend Julie & I before....(white shirts required)

A sea of white at the start...

 And then the finish.  It was SOOOO much fun!!!

 If a Color Me Rad race comes to your area...you have to do it!  They give you color bombs (dyed cornstarch in bags) to throw at each other and as you run and there are stations that douse you in color.  They also have people standing along the race squirting you with some form of liquid color in a weed killer backpack mechanism.   The only not so fun part was washing it off.  I had to take a 45 minute shower and used half a bar of soap :0).

Elise's 9th Birthday!

 I can't believe I never posted about Elise's birthday!  Sadly, Elise had to go to school on her bday and take the SOL test, but her mood lifted when she came home to find her long lost friend Boxy Dots hanging out in our garage to wish her a happy birthday.  You see...a few years ago, Elise found a baby turtle in the yard, named it Boxy Dots, and was extremely distraught when we told her she had to let it go.  While she was at school, I found a little turtle in the yard, put it in a box & told her Boxy Dots came back on her special day.  She was so excited, but later said, "Mom...I know it wasn't the real Boxy Dots."  It still made her happy though.

 Here's Elise with her big gift...a real microscope! 

 On the weekend after her bday, we had a little Camp Out sleepover party to celebrate.

 The girls had a great time eating hot dogs in the tent...

 shooting marshmallows at Elise with our homemade marshmallow shooters...

 going on a scavenger hunt around the lake...

making smores, and catching fireflies.  They finished the evening by painting canvas bags, watching the Judy Moody Summer Movie, and sleeping out in the attic (we decided a tent might be too much for girls who weren't used to sleeping out).  It was a fun celebration for a super fun girl.  Elise...we love you so much and we're so glad you're a part of our family.  You are such a determined hard working girl with an adventurous spirit.  I hope you never lose that :0).  Love you XO

What's That?? Why it's a Crusin' Cooler!

So some of you have heard about the Crusin' Cooler that Danny won at a golf tournament.  I thought I'd show you a glimpse of it.  It's definitely the talk of our pool and everyone wants one.  Danny thought about selling it, but the kids would be devastated.  I guess it's now a permanent furniture piece in our office...yay!  Can you sense my sarcasim?  I'm just hoping we don't have any trips to the emergency room because of it. 

Heat Winners!

Here are videos of Anabelle winning in freestyle and Elise winning in backstroke.  Anabelle shaved 12 seconds off her original best!!

In this video Elise placed 1st in the entire county for backstroke out of 375 kids!!!  If she can shave 1 second off her time, she'll beat the county's record for 8 and under backstroke!  In Elise's video you'll hear people yelling for Anabelle...it's actually another Anabelle in the neighborhood, not ours :0).

  Sadie also did well and improved in her stroke times, but preferred hanging out with her buddy the most :0).

Three Hammerheads

The girls had their first Hampton Park Hammerhead swim meet today after two LONG weeks of practice.  Four days each week, we spend 2 1/2 hours at the pool...hence "long".  The girls haven't complained and have actually been sad when it's been delayed because of thunder. So, the fact that they are enjoying it makes it worth it. I am looking forward to summer when we don't have to juggle piano, homework, and church activities on top of swim practice.  The only downside is having to get up at 7:15 to get them to the pool...not fun! 
But...back to today.  Our morning started out at 6:15 and our first event was at 8:00.  Despite our grumpy start, we perked up quickly after arriving to the pool surrounded by our neighbors & friends.  Everyone was so excited and the energy was extremely positive.  I wasn't prepared for the chaos of meet sheets, sharpies, and mites, but figured it all out pretty quickly.  Within minutes of arriving, a friend said Elise was in the first event which was a relay.  So....we got her to her group and waited for her to swim.  Our morning of shuffling our girls here in there for freestyle, backstroke, and even butterfly didn't end for three hours.  We were all pretty exhausted, but had so much fun (well, once Danny started sweating the fun started going downhill :0)).  The girls did such an AWESOME job!!!!!!  Anabelle won 2nd and 3rd place for butterfly and backstroke.  Elise won 1st in backstroke and Sadie won 1st in backstroke! All qualified for silver or bronze, so we might be going to champs in July (I'm still trying to figure out how this whole thing works). We definitely have some serious backstrokers in our family!  Danny and I are so proud of our girls.  All of them handled the pressure well and applied all of the skills their coaches have taught them with each event.  I was simply beaming! 
So...one meet down, five more to go :0)!  Here are some pictures from the day~

 Eat my bubbles was the theme of the day :0).

 Anabelle after her butterfly event & sporting her new swim cap.

 Danny & Elise with her first place ribbon.

 Sadie on the block & ready.

Elise on the block & ready!
Go Hammerheads!

Kindergarten Word Wall Ball

 Sadie had her Word Wall Ball a few weeks ago where all of the kindergarteners celebrate learning their required list of word wall words.  Sadie was SO excited!

 Here she is with her teacher, Mrs Handzel all dressed up for the occasion.

Here she is with her dance partner Chase.  I asked if I could take her picture with him and they instinctively held hands!  How sweet is that?

Here's a little of Sadie's dancing moves. 

Color Me Rad!

So I signed up for a short race...short because I've had knee issues again along with a nice foot injury.  If you're thinking about trying out the whole barefoot running craze, don't do it!  I didn't actually go Kenya style and run barefoot, but I did buy "minimal shoes" to help my body adjust to running barefoot.  After 3 runs in my new flat thin shoes, my foot landed funny on an uneven surface and I pulled my arch.  It's been two months and it still hurts.  Anyway...I signed up for a 5k because I think my ol' body can handle it :0).  The cool thing about this race is they spray you with all kinds of crazy paint colors while you run.  FUN!!!!  I got my friend to run with me, so it should be a good time!  I can't remember the last time I got messy just for the fun of it!  Oh will my girls be jealous!