Rookie Run

2009-05-17
Does <i>this</i> mailbox look offensive to you? Apparently the HOA thinks it needs to be replaced. Part of us wanted to raise a stink because this mailbox is perfectly fine, but we decided to be quiet about it and try our best to lay low after the "garden fence incident" with Crazy McGee a few weeks ago
Happy Mother's Day to me! There was a raffle at Kinder Care, and Emily won this hanging basket. Now if only she remembers to water it
They're finally putting in a stoplight at a nearby intersection; the traffic backup was a little annoying, but it was so worth it when we saw the man in the CRANE TRUCK! putting the light up
David enjoys a lettuce wrap at Thai Smile 2, one of our favorite Thai restaurants. He then enjoyed pineapple chicken, pad Thai noodles, and some fried ice cream
Thursday afternoon there was a break in the rain long enough for them to run some qualifying laps out at the Speedway, so Chris took David out to watch time trials.
They were a lot louder than they appear in this photo
Pit stop
Sigh. Always thinking of Mommy...here's Helio Castroneves. Emily only knows the name of about four drivers, but it doesn't hurt that Helio is one of them
Getting a little tow
Safety first. He kept playing with his earplugs, but realized when he took them out that it was better to keep them in
Sadly, they were not giving rides. Since you can climb in the model racecar at the Children's Museum, David assumed you could cimb in <i>all</i> the racecars
Chris liked the Ferrari. David liked the golf cart
Practicing for someday when (if) he, too will climb the fence after winning
Toddler + Sriracha hot sauce = either funny photo or or a world of pain
While most three-year-olds are busy dipping their chicken nuggets in ketchup (not that there's anything wrong with nuggets for dinner), David instead demonstrates his shrimp hoisin spring rolls. Because he eats normal kid food
Next time Emily attempts to go around the block on borrowed Rollerblades, she'll wait until after dark when no neighbors can see her. She'll also learn how to use the brakes before she goes out again, too
I was thrilled when he picked out this shirt (because he almost always wants to wear the same shirt every day, and this is not it), but then I let him pick out his shorts. And then he chose his own shoes. So I just wanted photographic documentation of the day he chose his own outfit, lest anyone think <i>I</i> picked out his clothes for him
Chris is happy and smiling because he has 0.05 miles left to go in the Geist Mini Marathon on Saturday morning. Emily and David went to a pancake restaurant and the Farmer's Market while Chris was running... yeah, we were really tired afterwards, too
I told David to "Give SpongeBob a hug!" and this is what happened
Enjoying s'mores at Ritchey Woods before we started The Amazing Race program on Saturday night
David found the wood pile
You cannot possibly imagine how muddy it was along the trail. Well, imagine five straight days of rain. Then imagine a woodland trail. Then imagine David. Get the picture?
Chris accidentally knocked a tree cookie (a slice of tree trunk) into the stream during one of our challenges and had to go fish it out. That cost us <i>dozens</i> of precious seconds of time
This challenge involved a) math and b) jumping, so of course we put our star player in for this one, nevermind that he ran 13.1 miles earlier in the day and we'd been running through the woods for the past hour. We still made him hop like a frog for 98 feet
Back for Round 2 of s'mores after we finished the Race
He'd be the epitome of classy if it weren't for the campfire smoke blowing in his face and making him tear up
What? Me? Muddy? Where's mud?
<i>There's</i> mud
We totally made him take off his shoes and pants before he got in the car. Fortunately, the preserve was only two miles from home, and we'd brought a towel for him to use as a blanket
At the Rookie Run on Sunday, the boys did a pit stop challenge and tried out what's it like to change a tire
Such skill, such dexterity
I think Chris enjoyed this as much as David did
Where's Waldo? Yeah, that look of extreme displeasure and uncertainty that you see on David's face as we near the start of the Rookie Run? It only got worse
So, with flip-flops and a diaper bag on, I dragged him for the first hundred feet or so, and then the screams reached a level and his feet dug into the pavement such that I had no choice but to pick him up and carry him
That wide open mouth? He's not cheering here
I put him down at the end, thinking he might want to experience the glory of crossing the finish line and having a pretty girl put the medal around his neck, but he tried to trip me and screamed bloody murder at the nice lady with the finish medals. Sorry sport
Dude, time's ticking away here
Ahhh, now he's back in his element: climbing around on a fire truck
I <i>hate</i> it when he acts like such a twerp and then five minutes later, he's all cute and sweet
Dude, Lego fans are so nerdy...
That being said, the Speedway made out of Legos was pretty cool
Oh, no! A crash at Turn 2, right in front of all the RVs!
There was even a little Yard of Bricks
Who can resist a little bag of post-race kettle corn?
Rita invted us over for dinner on Sunday night, and David wanted to give a concert after we ate
Rita and Joyce rocked out to his soulful sounds and ivory tickling
I promise to not force him to take piano lessons for seven years unless he really wants to. And then when we retire someday, I also promise not to make him feel guilty if he does not have room in his house to take the piano. I'm just saying...