Ragtastic!

I heard about a Ragnar Relay Race a year or two ago. I wanted to run in one but last summer I was with child and I don't run many races in that condition. As my belly grew with Everett so did my desire to run in this ridiculous race. At 6 months pregnant I started bringing it up to everyone I knew. By 8 months pregnant I had enough of a team that we could commit ourselves to run. We had to reinvent the team a few times as some members got pregnant, husbands went out to sea or had business meetings...but we ended up with a really rad group of women. The Hot Tamamas was our name (our original team was made up of all moms, but two of our fill-ins aren't there just yet).

In January I gave birth and it wasn't until April that I began to wonder what I had done. When you're 8 months pregnant you do crazy things. When you're 8 months pregnant you think that you can't wait to exercise and that you will want to get out and run every day until you are pregnant again. When you're 8 months pregnant you look in the mirror and think about how that stretched-to-the-max skin is going to look when there's no longer a babe in there. So like I said, you do crazy things. Like sign up for a half-marathon and a Ragnar Relay. I digress...

There were a whole lotta meetings, hours, tears, prayers, research, e-mails, and phone calls put in to organize these twelve ladies and get us on the road. But get on the road we did! And it was all that I had hoped it would be and more. I LoVeD it! What a crazy/incredible experience.

The night before the race we met at my house to have a potluck and decorate the vans (a Ragnar must). It was so fun to settle in and feel like we were on our way and things WERE going to work out. Phew!

The shirts...sweet, no?

My final 'pep talk' to the ladies

Enjoying the grub

Sweet and Spicy

Feet on Fire

Van One left that night for a hotel and Van Two (my ride) left the next morning. You see, I have this little boy who refuses a bottle and I needed to be with him as long as possible. (Poor little man did okay, but was so happy to see me...thank goodness he had cereal and veggies so he didn't completely starve. When I got home he did the smile/laugh/cry - 'So happy to see you, Mom, but why in the world did you do that to me?!' Oh, my heart.)

The way it works is Van One goes first with runners 1-6 running their first leg, then Van Two picks it up with runners 7-12 running their first leg. And you do that all over again two more times...in the middle of the night, in the wee hours of the morning, in the heat of the day. It's hilarious and hard and fun and exhausting and memory-building and an incredibly bonding experience. Some things I want to remember:

• We ran a total of 187 miles!
• I ran 21 of those miles
• My van laid out our sleeping bags on some grass at one of the exchanges before our night run, hoping to get some shut-eye, but at one point I opened my eyes and looked around at all of these adults getting in and out of decorated vans, some of them dressed in crazy costumes, and I couldn't stop laughing. The absurdity of it all hit me and I was thinking about how I have three kids and a husband at home but here I am laying on some grass in the middle of this chaos in the middle of the night...and I paid some good money to do it! Angie joined me and then we chatted instead of slept.
• I only slept an hour and a half in two days on a high school gym floor with a ton of other runners and when I climbed in my sleeping bag I realized just how BAD I smelled (but couldn't have cared less). Nelsa and I woke up with some smelly, scruffy dude's feet in between us, which only added to the experience.
• My night run was so, so perfect. I rocked my time - it was nice and cool - I ran with a headlamp and couldn't see how long the hills were - I turned off my music a few times to just enjoy the run, the experience, and the spirit. My favorite run of all time, for sure.
• Two of my sisters-in-law flew in from Colorado to run. I loved doing this with them...THANK YOU for coming Liz and Angie!
• Watching Tristalene and Sandy cross their second and third finish lines after running through some serious knee pain/injuries - I was so, so proud of them!
• Nelsa. The woman is stinkin' hilarious and one of my favorite people. I was SO happy to be in a van with her and get to know her better.

With Sylvia before my first run (I was runner 7 - the first runner in our van)

Tristalene, me, Nelsa

Waiting in "the chute" for Christine to pass off the slap bracelet

And the run begins!

Bookin' it :)

Van Two-ers after our first run: Nelsa, Sandy, Angie, Liz, me, Tristalene

The Hot Tamamas cross the finish line!

Hot Tamamas: Tristalene, Sylvia, Maren, Kayla, me, Sandy, Nelsa, Christine

Gabe, Katrina, Liz, Angie

Thanks to all of the Hot Tamamas for a very rad experience that none of us will ever forget. We so rocked the Ragnar!

The Heat Was ON!

Tyler was gone. For 6 days. Even though we don't see him as much as we'd like normally, he's still around every couple of days to hang out with and I always get to go to sleep with him by my side. So he was missed. Lots. This is what he was doing...

Backpacking through the Olympic Mountains with the Young Men

Gorgeous much?

He showed them the easy way to get down a snowy mountain

Oh my!

This picture makes my heart beat a little faster...he's so handsome!

And this was our week without our favorite man...we still managed to have fun because I had to compensate for his absence. And because I'm pretty fun too. :)

This is always cute to walk in on...

We had a some scorchers this week. With no AC, anything over about 85 degrees is hard to handle. We did our best to stay cool...spent a lot of time outside in our kiddie pool, ran through the sprinklers, went to parks near the water, ate a lot of picnic lunches and dinners. The house was NOT the place to be in this kind of weather.

I was in the house and realized I hadn't heard Kelly for a bit...she fell asleep on the deck during one of our picnics

Oh, something funny. When we were running through the sprinklers (yes, we...girl's gotta stay cool in this heat), Max kept saying, "This is so refreshing!" "Isn't this refreshing, Mom?"I don't think I use that word often? It was amusing to hear my 4-year-old little man use it.

On Friday we went to Scenic Beach State Park to escape the heat in our abode. We had a fun picnic lunch under beautiful trees, changed into swimsuits and headed down to the water. It was such a nice, relaxing, perfect kind of afternoon. I really, really love these little people I get to hang with day in and day out.

Scenic Beach State Park - the PERFECT afternoon

I really needed someone behind the camera to get him to look in the right place...ah, well.

Could these little bodies be ANY cuter?! I LOVE Kelly in a swimsuit.

We spent about 4 hours there altogether because I knew that inside my house it was about 92 degrees and I wanted to have no part of that. We were getting ready to leave the water and play on the playground so I decided to change the kids back into their clothes on the beach (and by 'beach' I don't mean sand...we don't have many of those kinds of beaches 'round these parts). I told Max that we'd hold up his towel while he dropped his drawers and we did just that. I was helping to get his shorts on when I heard him giggle. I looked up and he was looking around at the people on the beach with a huge smile on his face and said, "They don't even know!" He was so tickled that we were changing his clothes 'secretly'.

Being so brave on his own...

I caught the end of a conversation between Kelly and Max in the car on the way there. I think Max said something about how we can't speed in the car and Kelly said, "Or the police will take you to jail?" Max said, "No, Kelly, you have to do something really, really bad to go to jail." Kelly said, "Oh (nodding her head)...like say 'butt'?" I'm glad that's the worst thing she can think of doing! We say 'bottom' in our house. Man, that's made me giggle the past few days.

I want to squish her

Ty came home on Saturday! Ahhhh....all is right in our world again. He had an amazing time on his 6-day hike with the Young Men, but I think (know) he was really happy to be home. We really dig this guy.

Heads On The Couch - a Foster tradition from Ty's dad. He traveled with work often and when he got home he would say "Heads on the couch!" All of the kids would run to the couch and put their heads down and their dad would put something he brought for them on their backs. The tradition lives on....

Some cool sticks that resemble a gun and a wand, plus some cool rocks

You'll see below one of the reasons he was missed so much...the man knows how to totally impress his kids. Dress in white temple pants and a white shirt and suddenly you're Silver Surfer to Max's Batman and Kelly's Lady Spiderman (with a backward cape, of course), running through the house and saving every other super hero your 4-year-old can think of.

Lady Spiderman, Silver Surfer, Superman

Oh, and while Ty was on the hike this week we found out that he once again got theMilgard Scholarship for the coming year of his MBA program! What a blessing! Between his work covering a good chunk of the cost and then this scholarship we are very well taken care of. Last night I learned how MUCH his MBA actually costs - $44,000.00 - and that we'll only have to pay about $7500.00 of that when all is said and done. I sure am proud of my hard-working, smart, hunk of a man. And SO glad to have him home...

Jotting it down before I forget...

We were eating lunch outside today (it's super HOT and we have been spending the day in swimsuits and water...like most people in our area we don't have AC and Kelly is sick so going somewhere to cool off has been out) and Max said to me, "When I'm 16, and if you just want to relax and not make dinner, then when I'm 16 I can make dinner so you can relax." I told him how much I would love that. A few minutes later he said, "But I think I'll need to take a cooking class."

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Tyler is on a 6-day hike with the Young Men this week - he left in the wee hours of Monday morning and won't be home until Saturday evening. We had to make a countdown chain so that I could refer to it whenever Max asked, "When is Daddy going to be home? Is it one more day or two more days or three more days?" This question was being asked every few hours the first day. The chain has been awesome. This morning he climbed in bed with me when he woke up and said, "Mom, while Dad is on his hike I want to remember everything about him." I said, "Okay, so do you want to talk about what you love about him?" "Yeah." On the list was:

• He's really good at wrestling
• He is a great snuggler
• He's really funny and tells good jokes
• He's very handsome (that was mine)
• He tells really good stories

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Oh, and Kelly called the sprinkler the sprinkles all day..."The sprinkles are getting me!" "Mom, I'm running in the sprinkles!"

The Haps

I know we're a little late to the game, but we just got Max a bike for his birthday and we finally made it to a flat surface (Ridgetop track) to teach the boy how to pedal properly. We live on a pretty steep hill, so the track it is. He's a pro (albeit a little timid and cautious) and we're proud!

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Max and Kelly built a "Mighty Machine" which consisted of almost every toy in their bedroom being piled onto the baby bassinet in some form. Apparently one has to pose with a serious expression when showing off their Mighty Machine.

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We camped! (Again! Because we really like it!) You'd think when you make nonrefundable reservations for the perfect camping spot for the 4th of July weekend that you could count on some sun. You'd think you wouldn't have to pack - and USE -your kids coats and beenies. You'd think you would be packing swimming suits to cool off in the Hood Canal when you get a little hot. Well, you might think that but you'd be totally WRONG! We ended up not even going the first night because there was so much rain in the forecast for the night (which materialized and we were glad to be in our home that night), but had fun the time we did spend. It's oh-so-beautiful at Scenic Beach and we did have some dry times with a little warmth. *When, oh when, is the darn summer going to start around here?!*

Beautiful surroundings almost made up for no sun

Is that cute or what?

Our dear friends, the Lintons, joined us for dinner since our site was just 20 minutes from home. This is Reyes, two months younger than Max and his BEST friend. They love each other so much. Reyes is a total doll.

The self-designated hammock pusher

Ryan, Max, Reyes, Kelly, Tyler and Camila

Besties

My beautiful friend, Marcela

Camila (she's 6 days younger than Everett) and Ty

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I had a Funny Face Photo Session with Max to the Max when we got home (and were smelling better)

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I like this little man-o-mine. Lots.

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Poulsbo, a Norwegian town just north of us has a 3rd of July fireworks show every year, which worked out nicely since the 4th landed on Sunday. So we ventured along with the rest of the Kitsap Peninsula to enjoy the show. And enjoy it we did! It doesn't get dark until about 10:15 so 'twas a late night for our munchkins. But worth it, we decided. I love a good fireworks show!

Kelly and Ty taking advantage of the over-priced fireworks on a nearby Indian reservation

The flash was harsh on their little eyes :)

Again with the harsh flash

My manly men beautifully withstanding their desire to squint when faced with bright lights

Now I'm headed out front to watch my man do our own little pyrotechnics show!

Free Summer Fun!

A few years ago my sister-in-law Jenn told me about this...FREE summer movies for kids. We've only done it once, but are planning to go a few times this summer. Thought I'd pass the link along so that you can check for showtimes near you:

http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx

Have fun! And take your own treats. :)

A Half = A Whole Lotta Effort!

I finished! And only 4 minutes slower than my secret hopeful time of 2 hrs 10 min (I reject my official chip time because it said that I started the race at :24, but the official race clock at the start line said :26 when I crossed the line and began running...the trigger must have been before I was actually through the start line?...so I'm taking two minutes off. I know, like it matters :) ) My hopeful time I spoke out loud was 2 hrs 25 min. I haven't trained much. My longest run in preparation was 8 miles...and that was on Memorial Day weekend...a month ago. I knew that I wasn't in the best shape going in (ummm, you may recall that sweet little lover I gave birth to nearly five months ago?). However, I knew that I could finish the darn thing.

Here comes the momma, mile 3.7, excited to see her babes

I wasn't counting on my legs cramping in the final two miles. I wasn't counting on running out of juice with just 1 mile left (ugh!). I wasn't counting on getting to see my peeps 3 times during the race (well, I guess I only heard them at the finish line since I wasn't expecting them to be there and it took everything in me to pick up my pace and get to the end...would you be able to turn and smile when you're trying not to die?!). I wasn't counting on running with Elvis. I wasn't counting on losing a toenail (though I'm not surprised). I also wasn't counting on briskly walking 2 miles before the race even began just to get the the start line (there were 30,000 people in this race).

I apologize for the unsightly thigh in this shot...please pay attention instead to my very excited face. Think I like my kids much?

Kissing snotty faces and loving every second...then it was back to business

I WAS counting on the elation that followed, but was surprised that I couldn't let myself feel totally good about it. I wanted to finish faster; I've never been a very fast runner, but wanted to be closer to my normal 10 min/mile pace for that long of a distance. I also kind of fell apart during the last mile and so I was annoyed with myself. I probably would have finished at my hopeful time if it hadn't been for that last mile; it seemed to stretch on forever and my body had had ENOUGH. My mind wasn't in it enough to carry me through. Today I'm rejecting those feelings and basking in the accomplishment (or trying to)!

Hi! Can't kiss your cute faces this time. I think I might collapse if I do. Must keep running!

I WAS counting on the joy that I would feel seeing my sweet family afterward and that did NOT disappoint. I love, love, love those people in my life. We put the kids in the car at 5 a.m., drove over an hour to Tukwila, nursed Ev and got kids dressed in the car while stuck in race traffic, quickly kissed my husby when we decided I would get out and walk to the start line so that they could just get back on the freeway instead of sitting in even MORE race traffic. Then Ty parked at the light rail, took it to the 3.7 mile area to cheer me on, hopped back on and met me at about 11 1/2 miles to cheer some more, then hauled them all to the finish line to scream my name. He kept Ev cool despite losing the oatmeal he was going to feed him to hold him off while I ran (we found out later that it had fallen out of the food bag in the car) AND losing his bink (I forgot to pack the bink attacher thingy). He's such an awesome dad! He keeps his cool and takes this 3-kid business in beautiful stride. I would have been a little worried about doing all of that with all three of them, but not Ty (and that's why we're having a Father's Day celebration today - last Sunday we were in the car all day and he didn't get the attention he so deserves).

My kids weren't so impressed until they saw the bling around my neck. Sweet, so you ran a race. A medal? Now THAT'S cool.

Max didn't want in on this shot...just a shot of me and my little lady. I love her guts. On a side note, these pictures make me grateful for makeup. Speaking of which, there were some heavily made-up women running the race. I can't imagine running with makeup on. But I digress...

It's over. I'm glad. I survived. I still need to lose the last 5 pounds. Now it's on to the Ragnar at the end of July! What was my 9-month-pregnant self thinking signing up for these things?!

We'll talk about my receding hair line in another post...maybe. It's what happens to me post-babe. Every time. Maybe I should run with a hat.