Yeah, I ran that!

6 pm Saturday was the Crescent City Connection Bridge race.  It is the main bridge into New Orleans from the Westbank and the most well known. The race was a 4 miler and I was really excited about it.  Why 6pm in June?  I do not know.  

I do know that it was 92 degrees.  I do know that the humidity was a brutal 85% and the sun was burning me to a crisp.  In case you haven't already guessed, this was an awful run for me.  I had hydrated well throughout the day, because I'm good like that.  I know I had a solid 80 oz of water in me before I left for the race.  But that run still kicked my bum.

It wasn't a bad start, but a mile in, I knew it was not going to go well for me.  I made it to a mile and a half and walked.  I walked and ran the rest of the race, and it was ugly.  I was so overheated, despite having done everything I could to keep that from happening. I had my salt stick (electrolyte replacement) capsules and took one 2 miles in and the other at the end.  I still ended up with a massive headache.  It was the yuckiest run I think I have ever had.  It was a fail for me.  Okay, not a total fail.  I finished!  It just took me 50:13 to run/walk 4.13 miles.  And I felt horrid.  But I finished it and I finished on my feet. 

Half a mile in, and we're approaching the carpool on-ranp for the bridge.  I liked the flag there.

Me, totally dying and miserably hot, a mile into the race.  Yeah, it was ugly and I really was that red.

The west-bound bridge.  We ran on the carpool lane of the eastbound bridge.

The "I was there" selfie.  I was too hot and miserable to even try to smile.

Nola skyline.  See the Superdome?  Or, as my kids like to call it, the "Mega-Pie"!

Wheee, I'm going downhill, I'm having fun, really, I am.... (I'm totally not, but I'm faking it.)

The finish is in sight  I'm almost done! 

The bridge I just ran across, with celebratory red, white and blue water spraying from the boat.

Hee hee hee, I crack myself up!

Summer is Officially Here!

Summer has arrived and we have now been to the pool 3 times.  That makes it officially summer.  Here are some photos of our fun from Tuesday.  It was overcast and perfect for the pool, since it meant very few people at the pool.  (The photos are low-res since the waterproof camera takes low quality pictures.) We sure had fun!  Rylee took the picture of me looking confused.  

Happy Summer everyone!

End of the Year Awards

The school didn't do a big awards ceremony this year for all the kids.  They just had each classroom do their own.  That was kind of nice, because they were quite short (10 minutes) and informal.  On the other hand, what good is an award ceremony if it is so low key you can't even feel special?  I made it to all but Joshua's shindig.  Callie and Marian's at least had the foresight to include food afterwards.  And I did check them out of school after their things were over. It was the last week, and they were half days and nothing was being accomplished. 

But I digress, here are the documentations of the ceremonious events:

Delaney was the only one to get the medal for being on the Honor Roll and Principal's list all year 

That's my cutie! 

Showing her awards. 

I think Callie got the most awards in her class 

She is a hard worker and really tries to please.  

Mmmmmm, snacks. 

Callie's utterly awesome and fabulous teacher, Mrs. Benoit.  Love her! 

 Hallway shenanigans. 

MArian hates being the center of attention, but was gracious. 

She got the "Skittles" award for being mostly sweet and interesting.  She also got an art award.

The school did have one big assembly for all the kids the last day of school.  All K- 8 grades were crammed into the gym and 2 kids from each grade received the "Eagle Award". One boy and one girl from each grade earned that honor.  Callie was choses as the 3rd grade girl most deserving.  It was a hush hush thing and she had no clue it was happening.  It too was short and sweet.

Callie's class waiting for the rest of the school to come into the gym. 

Joshua is the blond kid there in the center.  The band played and it was pretty cool.  They sounded great and added a bit of pomp to the circumstance.  

Callie getting her award. 

 All the award recipients.

Memorial Day Run to Remember

My running group held a "Run to Remember" event on Memorial Day.  It was really nice.  It was a great way to get the kids out to something fun and to help them remember why we have Memorial Day.  We all met up at the park.  We had our flag to carry and flags along the path.  We had our group photo, and a prayer.  Each of us said who we were running for.  I had chosen Air Force member Dan Wassom, who had died a few weeks earlier in the Arkansas tornado.  He was killed while protecting his daughter. 

After we talked about who we were dedicating our run for, we lined up the kids and then we were off! It was suppose to be a timed run- 20 minutes out and turn around.  That way everyone would be back around the same time.  Marian and Delaney took off on their scooters and I didn't see them again till the homestretch.  They had gone the 4 mile loop.  Rylee started off on her scooter and made it 20 yards before leaving it in the grass.  We walked about a mile.  She was hot and grumpy and done, so we didn't go far. 

When we all got back, there was a picnic and play at the park.  Some wise mom brought buckets and squirt guns and there was a lot of fun had by the kids. I enjoyed myself as well and we stayed later than I had expected.  It was a lovely day.

Most of the group. 

Delaney looks less than enthused! 

The kids are about ready to go. Marian is on the far left, Rylee and Delaney on the far right.

Me and Rylee are the tail-end-charlie. Look at them go! 

One hot, crabby kid who said it was too bright to open her eyes, and me. 

Rylee, homeward bound. 

She did decide it was okay to pose nicely by the flags.

Oooh look what we saw crossing the road! 

We gave him an assist to the canal. Rylee was fascinated, but the turtle was shy.

 Marian, coming 'round the bend and headed for the end!

I could not believe Delaney rode to the end and back without crying or stopping!  Yay Delaney! 

The homestretch for the grown ups. 

Then it was time for water fun! 

 This kid had an evil cackle.  Thank goodness her aim was awful!