My Big Race

These are the pics I pulled off of the Daily Journal website. The article is there too at the bottom.
For the last 3 years, this is how I choose to spend my 4th of July morning. It has only been in existence for 3 years. I sponsor it with my business and the money raised goes to Bronco Track Booster club. Parker has ran the kids race all 3 years also and next year, I hope to get Emmitt out there. I have always done this with my mom and kids. The last 2 years I have walked the race, this year I thought I would push myself to run it.
My goal was to run the 5k under 30 minutes.
This is just after starting the race. We took one lap around the track, which felt like running on air and then down the bike path, Keenan, Stenberg and back to the school and a finish lap around the track to get the last .1 on there. The Journal Sports Editor snapped the pics for me and I am not sure why I am being a smart ass during a race, but it is a Fun Run after all.
The finish line is in my site and I had checked my watch and knew that I had beat my goal time by a bit...not so smiley now am I? And it was so hot by the time the race ended, the heat was coming and I was sweating! Not having so much fun now.
Bib 55 Becky 92 12 F 29 19-29 28 27
Translated into I finished 92 out of 193 participants. 12th in my category. I am 29 years old. My category was 19-29 Year Olds. My time was 28:27.
Superwoman Regan ran pushing all that extra weight in kids and stroller and was just behind me!
Bib 237 Regan 99 12 F 32 30-39 29:21
Bib 218 Deb 159 26 F 35 30-39 45:11
Bib 18 Audrey 158 1 F 61 60+ 45:10
AMEN WE DID IT!So cute how Parker is waving away at me as they come in on the finish line. I cannot believe I am going to say there is a down side to this awesome stroller, but Emmitt is underneath Parker in the bottom seat and you cannot see him from this angle.
From the Journal:
A combination of perfect weather and a weekend holiday made for a record-breaking Bronco 5K on Saturday morning at the Falls High School track.
After 72 participants took to the track in the inaugural year in 2007, 109 participants followed up last year. Saturday, 193 finished.
“This year is perfect for a run,” said Robert Youso, a 2005 FHS graduate who finished second overall. “Don’t know what the temp is, but it’s perfect.”
The temperature at the end of the race, which concluded around 11 a.m., was 70 degrees. There were little or no complaints, and the only hiccup was the finish. Youso actually crossed the finish line first, but Jason Russy was awarded the win. Russy had a large lead entering the final 400 meters — once around the track — but he stopped at the starting line, which was roughly 200 meters short of the finish. Youso tried to flag him down to continue to the finish, but it was the third-place finisher, Frank Frederickson, who finally got Russy’s attention.
“We are giving him the win. He deserves it,” said race coordinator Jen Erickson.
Russy, who was participating for the first time, left soon after the race and was unavailable for comment.
The focus of the morning race was having fun, however, and the overall perception was positive, especially from the out-of-towners.
“It was a great little route,” said Kim Lewis, who hails from Fairbanks, Alaska. Lewis was visiting with her boyfriend, ’95 FHS graduate Marc Dugas. The two finished together ... sort of.
“I passed her, actually,” Dugas was quick to point out.
Jay Alliff, a high school teacher and track coach from Placerville, Calif., was especially impressed by the support for the 5K.
“It was good,” Alliff said about the race. “Nice and fast and flat. Looks like they have a nice track program here. Nice facility and a lot of community support.”
Locally, the option to run or walk brought out a lot of families.
Regan Bilben, fresh off participating June 20 in the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, ran with “70 pounds of children” in a big stroller. Jillian, 3, and Brooks, 1, “wanted to come today,” Bilben said.
Ralph Hall, a ’69 FHS graduate, had eight family members in the race.
“To finish is to win,” Hall said.
Even the paper mill was mentioned by Jim Palm, an Indus graduate visiting from Atlanta.
“The fumes from the mill made me feel right at home,” he said.
The morning ended with three fun runs for children. Seven-year-old Caden Hofstad won the first race and was excited “that I started out and I ended and I won.” Hofstad, originally from International Falls, is the son of Grand Rapids boys track and field coach Darrin Hofstad.
“The more we do this, the more people will show up,” Erickson said.
All the proceeds from the race are handled by the Broncos track booster club with the money raised going to the track teams to help purchase equipment.
“It’s nice to see both the runners and the walkers. It’s a good balance,” Erickson said. “It’s more of a fun run, so you get a lot of families. And that’s perfect for the Fourth.”

When it was warm out for a week...

When it was warm out for a week this summer we had a blast! The kids played outside every.single.day. After work, I would put them in their swimsuits and fill the little pool with water, stick a slide in it and we would just lounge around on the new deck. It was fantastic.

I could make dinner while they played and hangout after supper with them. We frequently eat outside on the patio furniture and there is next to no clean up!


(no idea what that paragraph is underlined and I can't get it off and am too lazy to re-type it)

Take cover Emmitt!Cone Head! I am not sure who started the whole bucket on the head thing, but I think it was this one and then Emmitt just followed along.

See what I mean?

The slide in the pool is about the coolest thing there is. They go up, they come down, they splash. What's better? Parker learned real fast to dump some water on the slide so it's not so hot! Emmitt and I took a break to eat some cherries. I wish there was a better way to feed him cherries...I mean, other than me half eating them to get the pit out and then feeding a regurgitated cherry to my baby?!




Emmitt absolutely loves to be splashed. Whether it's in the pool, the tub, or running through the yard while his brother sprays him with the hose...he loves it! He doesn't mind when you dump water on his head in the tub or if his brother throws water on him from the pool (and it's freezing cold).
More buckets on the heads...

Having fun in the sun, floating on his belly in the little pool.
Showing off his bear tattoo from the sanctuary.

Oh, summer, summer? Please come back to us...I hope this weekend is at least nice for the Fourth. We have our 6th Annual BBQ and 5 years ago it was 45 degrees out and I handed out every sweatshirt in the house to our family as we all sat around and froze our butts off!

Just tonight, we decorated the kids' bikes for the parade. They will be riding in the kiddie parade. I would hate to see my kid half to wear snow pants at the parade! People have said they've seen it snow on the Fourth of July, I for one, do not want to see that. Ever.

Father's Day

Father's Day was very simple this year. Bear lounged around for the better part of the day, I took the boys to church, we all took naps in the afternoon. When the boys got up from their naps we headed out to Tilson to meet Milo and Peg for a Father's Day boat ride to Sha-Sha.
Parker absolutely loved the boat ride. Emmitt wasn't so sure about it. He definitely did not like being in his life jacket and worse yet, being held the whole time...he really wanted to walk around in the boat. While it was moving. I am not sure just where he thought he was going to go. Grandma Peggy was there to lend a helping hand. Shelby came along for the ride too. The boys would walk from person to person and look around. Emmitt spotted every bird on the lake. He frantically signs bird and says caw caw no matter if it's a sea gull or a crow.Emmitt seemed to do the best when daddy was holding him...not sure if he did that just because it was Father's Day or if he felt extra safe in those big arms.
Shelbs hung out towards the back of the boat and enjoyed the sun and the ride. She had been at a cabin all weekend but was ready to come along for more sun, lake, and fun.
Oh...I was there too! I rarely end up on the other side of the camera. Even though we both look like we aren't enjoying ourselves, we were. It felt great to get out on the water with a wonderful destination up ahead.We arrived at Sha-Sha just in time. Emmitt was ready to get out of the boat and we were all ready to eat some great food. I hadn't seen the Sha-Sha makeover until that day and was very pleased to see it. I do really like that place...lots of great memories.What's Sha-Sha without a picture of some chippies. Emmitt especially like the big carved chippie. I am not sure if he really saw any of the real ones. There were not many live chippies to feed and the ones we did see seemed too full to want to our peanuts.
Shelbs stopped for a goofy picture with the Adirondack mermaid chair. Yee-haw EmmittShelbs took a turn on the big chipmunk

Shelby showed Parker how to be nice and quiet so that the chipmunks wouldn't be scared to take a peanut from him. Then she found a little hole under the decks walkway where the chipmunks come out of. He just crept up there next to her and waited so quietly for a chippie to appear and then he would drop a peanut for it. He would not let it take one from his hand. Which I am just fine with...

This Father's Day was just perfect. Simple. They way we like things these days. We spent it together with some of our family. It is nearly impossible to spend it with all of our dads but they did not go unforgotten. We wished them all a Happy Father's Day and got them some great cards. We were really into the singing cards...mine for Bear was actually a New Kids on the Block card that sang "oh, oh, ohhhho, oh, oh ohhhhho, oh, oh, ohhhho" then on the inside it said "you've got the right stuff"! Classic.