But for my lack of athletic ability, I would totally run full marathons

Question: How long do you think it took us to walk that 1/2 marathon yesterday?

a) 4 hours
b) 2.5 hours
c) 3 hours & 18 minutes

Answer: It took us 3 hours + 18 minutes!!! That's an average of 4 mph. Yes, you could drive through the Disneyland parking lot faster than that. (But just barely.) When we signed up, Lismarie said she did it in 2.5 hours last year. Then she called me and said that she had accidentally but totally lied. It was 3.5 hours. So we changed our starting corral to the underachievers and had SO MUCH FUN. We actually went further than 13.1 miles. We had to walk about a mile to get to the starting line, and then to the ferry terminal downtown after that. But we finished faster than we were expecting, and we still looked cute at the end. In fact, while I was on the phone with Colby after the race, Lismarie got picked up on by some random dude.

Random Dude who may be slightly drunk at noon on a Saturday: How far did you run today?
Lismarie: Ummm, 13.1 miles. (We didn't run, but she didn't want to tell him that).
Random Dude: Whoa, you didn't do the whole thing?
Lismarie: (avoiding eye contact) Nope.
Random Dude: (Eyes her up and down) Yeah, you don't need to run the whole thing. You look gooooooooooood.
Lismarie: (throws up in her mouth)

Good times.

So this was my first race. I never understood why people did these things. But it was SO FUN!!! How can you not have fun when people keep telling you how great you're doing. There were about 10 sets of local cheerleaders along the course cheering on from the sidelines. (My favorite were the 80's rocker cheerleaders and the zombie cheerleaders). Maybe that's what I need, to have people standing next to me all day telling me how awesome I am. Even if I'm just walking and not running (preferably people wearing theme costumes). Plus, according to Gretchen, I got a "winning thing". (Where is your Winning Thing, mom? Can I see your Winning Thing? Why did you get a Winning Thing?) Why indeed? It's a participation medal that will look lovely on Gretchen when she steals it to wear with her princess outfits.

So go us. The girls who spent way too much time in High School being ansty, artsy, misunderstood, and hating everything to do with organized sports just PAID to walk all morning. Who'd have guessed we'd love it so much?

Grass Smells Like Trash

I had the balcony door open the other morning & was enjoying the smell of freshly cut grass. Until the girls came in and said, "What is that gross smell?" "Yeah, it smells like garbage." Oh my sad, sad little apartment bound children. How can you not love the smell of a freshly mown lawn? Come on!

We've now had the first sunburns of the summer. Gretchen's got a nice little tan, but poor Ella and I are just too white. The guilt mounts every time I see her little shoulders peeling. Yes, I know early sunburns can lead to skin cancer. Yes, we put waterproof sunscreen on. Twice! But it wasn't enough. Oh the guilt! I'm sorry baby. When you grow up, you can blame everything on me. Or your Dad (it is Fathers Day, after all...).

On Saturday Lismarie & I are doing a 1/2 marathon. Are you impressed? Wait till you hear the rest and then you can reassess. We are walking it. And it may take me 4 hours. I've been training. And by "training", I mean walking a few times a week. Yesterday I walked up Rattlesnake Mountain. (You may remember, we attempted a family hike last year. Hilarity ensued. In hindsight. Almost.) On the way home I cut through the Huffaker Hills.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT RENO:
You can go 10 minutes in any direction and be in open space. Here's a picture I stole from ExploringNevada.com. I WALKED to this lovely empty trail from my apartment. Sure, it was a 2 hour walk, but still!



No, I did not see any rattlesnakes. But then I did start to think about the conversation we had about spiders at Girls Night Out last week and started freaking myself out. Apparently I'm not as outdoorsy as I thought. (And really, I didn't think I was that outdoorsy to begin with. This post is all about reassessments.) Why do we talk about this stuff at Girls Night Out? You know when you start to think about spiders, and then you start to feel them crawling on you? Yeah. Now it's starting to happen to me again. Shoot. Time to change the topic.

OTHER THINGS I LOVE ABOUT RENO:
Awful Awfuls at the Golden Nugget Cafe
Nice People (seriously, people are so nice here)
There's no traffic!!!!!
and the WINCO bulk section.

But despite all that we love about Reno, we will still enjoy out vacay to see Lismarie & Janeece this next week, and their prospective sidekicks. Hooray for vacations!!!

So what have you been up to so far this summer?

Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer!

The thing that I simultaneously dreaded and longed for has arrived.

Ella is done with first grade.

And summer has begun.

And now, like this blog post, our days have lost all their structure.



Goodbye wonderful first grade teacher! You had a challenging class full of dramatic 6 year olds and strong personalities, but you persevered beautifully. Thank you for being such a great teacher! We've been so lucky to be in your class.



Goodbye Daisy Scouts! Ella had her Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony, and that finally motivated me to hunt down all the patches that I'd been holding on to for her Daisy Scouts Apron. Except that apparently I didn't "save" as many as I thought. She's missing about 1/2 her petals. But I KNOW that she earned them all. (Surely we should know by now that I am not to be trusted with small things that must be ironed or sewn or kept in a safe place.) Nevertheless, the bridging ceremony was a riotous success (most of the riot coming from the girls who shouted "WELCOME TO BROWNIES!!!" every time one of their scout sisters walked over the bridge...)

Hello Summer Olympics Summer Games! If someone ever suggest you volunteer at Special Olympics, DO IT. In fact, look up now when the next event is & email their volunteer coordinator. It will be the best Saturday you have all month. My friend Marianne & I took the kids from church and IT WAS AMAZING. So fun. The atheletes were great, the races were inspiring, the whole thing was fantastic. Here's a blurry picture of one of my favorite teenagers helping hand out medals to the swimming champions (of which there were, perhaps, 200) (I KNOW!!! SO GREAT!):


Goodbye Friends! We've lost TWO good families this week. We're so sad our friends are moving. :( But we're happy when we get to have all-day playdates while their parents load the truck. This works not only because you're "being of service" while "watching their kids" (when really, playdates are an essential way to keep the peace in our house. Too much free time = crazy screaming = Mom loosing it), but then you don't have to help load the moving truck! (I'm just kidding friend, I'll help you load your truck. But are you sure you don't want me to just keep the kids out of the way??? And watch movies with them all day? Ya sure?)

When we're alone, the boredom is overpowering, but magically the girls find plenty of things to do when friends are over. Like makeovers...



Yes, she really did her own makeup.



Then dress up and Glamor Shots.



Which, of course, degrades in to this...



..and the inevitable GLOW wrestling/hugging match (which, just like the real GLOW matches, must be stopped before they lead to tears.)



And so we continue our summer, our days random and adventurous, and none of them alike. Except for swimming at the apartment pool and eating pickles. Both of which, according to Ella, no summer day is complete without.

So what are you up to this summer?