My First 5K

Back in May I began the couch to 5K program.  I had heard that by the end of the program you would actually like running.  I was very, very skeptical.  But I did it because it's something I've been curious about and wanting to do.  I plugged along through the program taking my time as I had no real set goal other than to finish at some point.  So, if I found that a week was particularly difficult for me, I would repeat it the next week until I felt ready to move on.  I ended up finishing the program and running 5k towards the middle of July.  And then I didn't know what to do.  I didn't have much motivation to keep it up and with the end of the summer getting busy, it was really easy to make an excuse not to run. So, I didn't.  It had been about a month since I had ran when one of my friends from the ward mentioned that there was a "Pumpkin Run" on a farm on the south end of town that her family enjoyed doing.  The run was five and half weeks out.  There was also a short run for the kids which I thought would be great for the boys.  I stewed over it for a couple of days before talking to Reid and finally committing to the run. So, I began again at about the middle of the program hoping to be ready for the Pumpkin Run.  Along the way, I definitely had some regrets.  Especially when kids would get sick and not sleep, or cut teeth and not sleep, making it difficult for me to get in my training.  And then of course, I would try to do my training during Bree's nap time, which is also the only time I can mow the lawn.  And then after mowing the lawn, I'm normally stuffed up from allergies for a week afterwards.  So, anyway, the point is that training was tough.  But I had already paid the entry fee so I was committed.

The first time I ran a 5K was July 17th.  The first 5 minutes of this was walking for warm up, so this was a 36 minute 5K.

My last 5K on the treadmill before the run.  This was the Monday before the race.  I wanted to give myself time to recover from this run before the race.  The first 2:30 of this was walking, so this was a 32:36 5K.

  The Pumpkin Run was held on Saturday October 4th at Venetucci Farm on the south side of Colorado Springs.  We arrived with a good amount of time to find most of the people from our ward who signed up and get me in place for the start of the run.  At that point, Reid took the kids over to McDonald's to play (with some of the other kids from the ward) while I ran.  My race began at 9:45am and I anticipated that I would take 35 to 40 minutes.  My goal was to finish around 35 minutes.  During my training, I had done a few runs at the elementary school track on Saturdays when I could, but that was a totally flat and smooth run.  This run was around and through a farm.  They listed it as "relatively flat".  I guess relative is, well, relative in Colorado.  Clearly I have a different definition.  My longest outside run up to this point had been two miles, but I had done 5K several times on the treadmill and was able to maintain a pace that should have had me finish in 32 minutes.  But that was without the hills.

This 5K course started with a decent downhill and then was relatively flat for most of the middle section.  But if you go down, you must always go back up and there were two fairly brutal hills in the third mile of the race.  I did well at the beginning and was able to jog/run the whole way up until mile 2.  At that point the muscles in my shoulders and neck were burning and I couldn't figure out why.  In training I had always put my iPhone down on the treadmill but for the run I was carrying it.  I don't know if that was causing me to change my arm swing or tense up my shoulders or if it was something else entirely, but I knew I couldn't keep going.  Luckily there was a water station not too far after the mile 2 marker and so I stopped to walk through the station and give myself a bit of a rest.  After turning the corner after the water station, I came face to face with one of those brutal hills.  So, I kept walking.  In total, I probably walked for 1-2 minutes at most.  Once I hit the top of the hill I renewed my pace.  The last hill was just minutes away from the finish line and it was at that point that I passed someone from the ward, and I have to admit that I was quite proud of that.  This is a lady who is somewhat "athletic" (she's done a triathlon in the past and plays basketball with the guys in the ward at times) and is significantly taller than me.  She also started the race more in the middle to front of the pack, while I went straight to the back (I stood at the starting line with a lady who had a 4 week old baby in a front carrier!).  Anyway, passing her was a highlight of the race for me.  (Don't worry, I'm not telling her and she doesn't read this blog!)

I finished the race in 33 minutes and 24 seconds, which is pretty gosh darn awesome in my opinion.  I was 99th overall in the race (out of several hundred people) and 11th in my age group.  It was hard....one of the hardest things I have done in a long time.  I was disappointed that I had to walk a bit, but I was also really happy with my time.   

The race results.  See number 99?  That's me.  And yes that says that a 7 year old and a 9 year old beat me.  That isn't even the worst of it.  See the 63 year-old that beat me by two minutes?  There was also a 70 year-old man about a minute behind me.  Nope, I'm definitely not fast!

After my run, there was watermelon and bagels available for the runners as well as a few information booths advertising other things on the farm.  We hung around and visited with friends until the kids' race started at 11am.  Both boys ran the 400M race and did great!  At the end they both received a blue ribbon which entitled them to pick a pumpkin out of the field.  After getting those pumpkins we headed back to the car, very much worn out for the day.  

The boys lining up for their run.  Reid ran with Finn to help him out, because Kai runs faster than him and he gets upset if he is left without anyone with him.

Bree drinking some Gatorade while waiting with me for the boys.

Kai came around the corner before I was ready to grab a picture.  So, I only have one of Reid and Finn running together.  I was proud of Finn for being able to run the whole way.  He had a pretty bad sinus infection at this point and wasn't feeling 100%, but he did it.  

It was a good experience.  I'm glad I did it.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to do it again.  Somebody pinch me, please!

More of Bree

She has begun to insist on sitting on the couch just like her brothers to watch a TV show

She has this absolutely adorable "princess" dress that her Aunt Kara got her and I had her all dolled up and ready for church one day.  There is even a matching bow in her hair, but she wouldn't pose for me at all.  She was being a big grump!

One afternoon I was sitting on the floor with my phone and she crawled into my lap and started to cuddle with me.  I turned on the camera to take a selfie and she said "Cheeese!" too!

One day when we said "Amen" to the prayer I looked up to catch Bree "unfolding" her arms.  So the next time we said I prayer I peeked and saw that she had developed her own arm folding technique.  Any time some says the word "prayer" she puts her hands like this and is ready to go.

17 months old!!

At 17 months old she weighs about 17.5 pounds.  She has a good 15 to 20 words (although that has changed in the last week since she turned 17 months old) and she has finally found some foods that she consistently likes.  She likes chicken nuggets, pancakes, cheese, scrambled eggs, ice cream (sometimes...and sometimes it's too cold for her), Boost Breeze (we call it "juice" here), pizza, mandarin oranges (from a can), most fruits (she'll at least put them in her mouth and chew for a bit.....she still struggles to swallow some things), peanut butter and jelly (sometimes), many cereals, teddy grahams, and I'm sure there is more.  I finally don't feel helpless to feed her anymore, which is fantastic.  It was so hard in the past to know that she was hungry but yet have no idea what to get her to eat.  Now I can generally find something that I know she will eat.  Yippee!  She takes one two to three hour nap a day and sleeps through the night most nights (as long as she isn't cutting a molar...those have been awful!)  She has 9 teeth (two are molars and the other 7 are the front ones....4 on top, three on bottom), and dare I say that I'm about ready to dub her eyes "hazel".  But don't quote me on that one just yet!

Lollipop Park

The kids had a day off of school on Friday September 19th, so we decided to cash in on some Groupons we had purchased for an indoor amusement park in Denver.  The park was called Lollipop Park and was just a small area located inside the Family Sports Center in Centennial.  The Sports Center had an indoor ice rink, indoor climbing wall, and some restaurants/snack bar.  I'm sure there were other things, but I really couldn't look around because the kids were begging me to do other things and I wasn't going to pay for it at the time.  Anyway, it was a big place.

When we pulled up, the parking lot was PACKED.  I could not understand why.  We got inside and got our wristbands for the park and learned the rules.  There are a total of 6 (yes, 6!) rides and two bounce houses and a very short plasma car track.  Only one ride was operated at a time and so whoever was there circled the park in a group getting on one ride and then the next.  When we were first there we were circling with maybe 6 or so other kids and were able to make it through the 6 rides in about 25 minutes or so.  Let's just say, I'm glad that we had Groupons as I would never pay the $14.95 they charge for a ride pass.

On the back half of the first circle I found out why the parking lot was so full.  Training camp for the Avalanche was being held in the building and was open to the public and the media.  Yep, it was pretty crazy!  Anyway, Kai seemed to be having some difficulties waiting his turn in line and being patient with the younger kids, so we went through the rides two times before deciding to head out for lunch.  Kai had a meltdown on me and I knew we needed a break.  The closest place we found that sounded good was Noodles and Co so we stopped there.  It was my first time there, and I think it will be my last time for a good while.  I ordered Mac and Cheese for the boys, spaghetti and meatballs for Bree, and Pad Thai for me.  The boys ended up with plain macaroni, no cheese.  Bree got plain spaghetti noodles, no sauce and no meatballs.  My order came out ok, but geez.  I had to send everything back and even then I wasn't convinced they got the boys right.  She honestly sprinkled a handful of grated cheese on to the macaroni and brought it back.  Yep, not going back.

On the Ferris Wheel

Our selfie on the Ferris Wheel

Spinning super fast on the tea cups

Bree and I spun much slower

The plasma car race track

The Avalanche training camp through the safety glass

Riding the train.  Finn's meltdown at the end of the day came because he did not get to be in the engine of the train.  And he refused to ride anywhere else

Bree on one of the train cars.  She liked the train but I wasn't allowed to ride so she had to be able to see me pretty much at all times.  So, I walked around and around as best as I could.

After lunch we headed back to Lollipop Park (since we had all day passes).  There were a lot more people this time around and it was taking nearly 45 minutes to rotate through all of the rides.  Bree was big enough to ride about half of the rides, as were several other little ones.  But the adults couldn't join in on some.  It was nearly impossible to get them all buckled in and sitting down at the same time.  Some would sit patiently and then patience would run out and they would stand up just the attendant got others to sit down.  It was a joke that sometimes required nearly 10 minutes just to get a ride going.  Towards the end of our second loop around, Finn melted down on me.  By this point it was nearly 3 or so in the afternoon so we decided to head out.  We had to stop for gas on the way home and made a quick stop at Sonic for milkshakes (after the day we had, I deserved one!).  The boys loved Lollipop Park.  I personally have no intention of ever going back.....but don't tell them that!

Funny Bree Videos

Palmer Lake Reservoir

So, while I didn't take any pictures of the rest of us for that first month after school did, thankfully, Reid did!

While our Kansas cousins were here we had talked about taking a hike to the Palmer Lake Reservoir.  Some friends had recommended it, but we had never tried it and after reading some reviews on the internet I started to get nervous that it wasn't as "easy" as our friends had led me to believe.  So, we decided that we would try it first to see if it was kid-friendly.

Posing on a boulder/rock along the way

Reid on the rock

Our view for the hike up

On Saturday August 30th, we set off on our hike.  It was a pretty day for the hike and we found it pretty easily.  Our friends had said that it was a bit of an uphill hike at first.  Hmmmm.....I figure these friends must be pretty frequent hikers because it was uphill ALL the way in my opinion.  And one stretch was fairly steep, especially for my boys.  Kai can't stand weeds and bugs and seriously made me laugh and lose my patience at times.  Finn is a good hiker but can tire out easily and needs to hydrate more often.  It was slow going up the hill  But we made it.....and it was worth it for the view!

Beautiful reservoir!

Now that we've done it, we know what to do to prepare to take a bunch of kids on the hike.  It's definitely a hike that is worth repeating.  In fact, after this hike we decided that we should do family hikes every Saturday until it got cold.  Unfortunately, that hasn't worked out, but that is definitely worth making a goal for our next bout of good weather.

Since School Started

Things have been busy, and yet not busy at the same time, since school started.  I was looking at pictures and realized that I went a whole month taking pictures of nothing other than Bree.  Ha!  Bree and I really enjoy our three hours together every morning.  Although, honestly, most of the time we are getting errands done or cleaning up the house.  I try to make sure to save some time to do things that she would enjoy (such as the park or the library or even just playing in the toy room), but I wish there was more time to do that.  I'm hoping that as we get into winter that there will be more time to just chill at home, but I guess that would rely on me being a bit more organized and willing to get things done during other times of the day.

Normally, Bree goes down for a nap right about the time Finn comes home from school.  So that means that Finn and I have time to play, or do treatments if needed, and eat lunch etc.  I also use that time to do things that I can't do very well with Bree running around (such as mowing the lawn and running on the treadmill).  But it does make it hard to get errands done in the afternoon.  By the time she wakes up from her nap we are normally crunched for time if we want to get anything done and be back in time to get Kai from the bus stop.

So, I guess that explains what I mean by busy, but not busy, too.

Anyway, here are some pictures from when school started up until mid-September.  (In other words, Bree time!)

She LOVES to color!

And yes, she still loves her sweet treats.

It turns out that she likes to play dress up, too.  The pumpkin costume is her favorite.  We tried it on to see if it would work for Halloween and then she didn't want to take it off.

While I was busy upstairs she found her infant car seat (which I was cleaning up to sell) and she decided to get in.  All of a sudden I heard crying and I ran over to find her stuck in the car seat!  Yep, I laughed and took a picture before I got her out!

First time painting.  Look her brothers are there!

I got smart after this and took off her white onesie.

Cousin Fun

Not only was August 20th the first day of school, but it was also the day that my brother, Joseph, and his family arrived for a short visit.  It had be over three years since we had last seen them, so it was fun to have them come out and catch up a bit.

Their plane arrived in the late afternoon on the 20th, so Kai and I drove up to Denver Airport together right after school to pick them up.  By the time we arrived home it was nearly bedtime for our boys, and way past bed time for them.  We grabbed some Chinese food on the way back to the house and enjoyed a yummy dinner before putting every down to bed.

On Thursday the 21st, both of my boys had school.  So, that morning while Bree napped my brother, his oldest son, and I went to the grocery store.  His son likes to push the cart and was a great little assistant for us as we shopped.

That afternoon after Finn got home from school (but not Kai) we went over to Fox Run park where we feed the fish (and chipmunks!) some bread and made a quick stop at the playground before heading home for some much needed naps for the little ones.

feeding the fish

On Friday the 22nd, our school district did something new--Assessment Day.  Kai had a two-hour window of time in which he was at school doing a series of three different assessments and then we were to pick him up.  It worked out well that he just had two hours that day, as it gave him more time with his cousins.  After picking him at noon from school, we squeezed all 8 of us into our van and headed down to Fargo's.  Kai at first threw a fit about the whole thing, but eventually decided he liked the place after we arrived.  You'd think after 7 years I would know how to introduce a new idea to him, but I still forget at times.  He doesn't handle change or surprise well a lot of the times and the thought of getting pizza anywhere but Papa John's was unfathomable to him.  He got over it and enjoyed it.  And so did the rest of us.

The only picture I have from Fargos.  Bree really liked the high chari they had there.

Playing on the deck later that night

Finally on Saturday the 23rd, we headed up to the North Pole.  It has been a few years since we've been and we were looking forward to going back.  My boys were much more interested in the bigger rides this time, despite me and Reid having much weaker stomachs in our old age.  Finn, the adventure lover, enjoyed every single ride he went on.  Kai, on the other hand, was pretty funny.  The Tilt-A-Whirl was not his friend and then on his last ride he was giving himself a pep-talk all the way through.  He definitely made me laugh.

Because my brother's kids are younger, they weren't as adventurous as our boys.  It took some persuasion from the oldest cousin that the rides were fun.  Kai was a great help in that respect and I was proud of him for being so encouraging and concerned about Zachary and if he was having fun.

Bree was ok on just a few of the rides.  She really would have preferred to sit in my lap, but that was a no-no.

Kai helped Zachary to go on the Granny Bugs

Reid and Bree tried the Granny Bugs but she was not having it.  I think she would have been fine if she could have sat on his lap.  Oh well, next time!

Kai got to take a ride on the cars with Uncle Joseph

She's driving!

As soon as we were done at the North Pole, we went straight to the Colorado Springs airport where they were hoping to catch an evening flight on standby.  It was a quick visit but we were glad they came and we were happy to have them.  I'm grateful for any chance that my kids get to spend with family!

All of the cousins on the Hickman side