Sunday, July 24, 2011

Warrior Dash!

Let me start by saying the most fun race EVER!!  It was such a blast.  Hard as all get out, but supper supper fun!!  We all woke up early to travel to this race, not really knowing what to expect, but it surely exceed my expectations.  I had never competed in a mud race before, but I will definitely do this one every year.  I’ll probably train a little more next year, as the hills were killers, but the obstacles were so fun, and I didn’t have a problem doing any of them. 

The Before Picture:

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Our lovely shirts were decorated by the kids of the block. They had so much fun!

We started in the 8:30 wave and I have no idea when I finished.  I did walking up many of the hills, since it was at a ski resort and 5 seconds into the run it was straight up the lift hill.  With every uphill, there is a downhill, and those were great.  A couple of people ate it, but not me.  I was pretty proud of myself.  We first ran through a “typhoon” where you couldn’t see, and the water was pretty cold so it took your breath away.  Then, we jumped over cars and through tires.  The hardest obstacle I found was the over under.  We had to jump over a wall that was about 4 1/2 feet tall and then crawl under barbed wire.  There was a board at the bottom, so I wasn’t too nervous about touching it.  Then, we climbed across a cargo crawl, which I found extremely easy.  One girl was being a pretty big baby because she was the bright one that tried to use the nets where it was attached to the wood.  Well, if anyone ever does this race, DON’T DO THAT, your fingers get caught because so many people are climbing across it.  We then crawled through a pitch black tent that I swear had manure in it. We climbed over a straight up cargo net, a 15 foot wall, slid down a slide, jumped over fire and finally army crawled under barbed wire that did not have any boards protecting us.  The official that was standing there kept yelling at us to get out butts down.  I army crawled like no one’s business, scraping my elbows and almost dunking my face.  It was so much fun!  I know this post is probably all over the place, but I was just so excited that I completed it and had a great time doing so.  No one was really allowed on the course, and the boys were a little late getting there, so there aren’t any pictures of us during the race, but there are plenty after pictures!! 

The After Picture:

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Family Picture

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I had to give him one muddy kiss!!

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My mud baby

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A clean kiss and hug from my little man.

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The slide

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One of the fires!

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The mud pit

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The pile of shoes that get donated and refurbished to help those around the world. 

 

Well, I hope everyone is doing well, and maybe next year people can join us!  I know Casey wants to participate next year! It really was a great time, with great music and great company to spend the morning.  Time for a nap!

Until next time…

Friday, July 22, 2011

Aquapalooza – Part 2

Well, it’s been a week since the event, but I am just now getting a chance to post about the great time we had!  It was so nice to be able to spend the day on the river without a care in the world! Taylor enjoyed his naps on the boat, and we were able to sleep on the boat.  It was a little rocky at first and the bed was a little small, but that just meant that I was able to cuddle with my hubby.  We took a fabulous evening cruise, I was able to read my book on the bow of the boat and we listened to another great band play!  I wouldn’t trade Minnesota summers for anything on days like these.  I wish we lived closer, don’t get me wrong, but we have to take advantage of some of the perks of Casey’s job while we can!  Here are some more pictures of part 2!!

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We ended up not taking the sedan bridge, but it is still 46 feet!

A couple pictures of what the inside looked like!

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The deck, or whatever the “proper” name is.

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The state room.

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The kitchen.

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The dinning/living room.

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Taylor taking a nap in the entertainment room.

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Our set up.  Jay has the sedan bridge in the middle. It was nice, but I actually like ours better!

You had to drive from the bridge, which I wasn’t the biggest fan of.

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The stage for the band.

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Just a few other boats, there were over 100 boats all in the area!

If you look close there is a guy on the bottom in a recliner floatie that was motorized! Pretty cool!

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He loves his graham crackers!!

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Playing with mommy and chillin’ with daddy.

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Taking some driving lessons from daddy, but much more interested in his laces.

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Our evening cruise.  Our eyes look hilarious because we were blinded by the flash!

 

Well, that is all for aquapalooza, hope this finds everyone well and enjoying summer. I know we are!  Well, I am off to do some push ups and run for the last time before my Warrior Dash!!  Ahh!! I can’t believe I am actually doing it!  And I was selected to participate in the Twin Cities 10 mile, so I better get to running!! Can’t wait to share the experience of the Warrior Dash with you all.  If you are curious, check out the link here: Warrior Dash – Minnesota.  Casey realized yesterday that this was being held at the same place he did his 50K.  Let me tell you, that was VERY hilly!! We will see how I do, I’m pretty excited though!

Until next time…

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Aquapalooza!!!Part 1

This past weekend, Casey, Taylor and I ventured out to lake Minnetoka and experience Aquapalooza.  Aquapalooza is an event hosted by Sea Ray all across the country. Last weekend, it was at the lake, and this weekend it will be at the river, where we will be staying the evening (for the first time!!!) on a boat.  It won’t hurt that is is a 45 foot Sedan Bridge either, but that will come next weekend.  This one is about the lake… I still haven’t quite understood the idea behind boating in Minnesota, but it was very relaxing this past weekend.  We were able to just tie up to all of the boats, listen to some great music, and jump in whenever it was a little too hot.  Taylor also loved all the activity! We played on the front of the boat, went swimming, and took some naps.  All in all it was a great weekend, and I can’t wait to do it all over again this weekend!! Some much needed R&R.

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Hope this finds everyone well, we are enjoying the weather.  Hopefully we will be able to get to go on a hike sometime, but that is all dependant on the state! They have shut down all of the state parks because they can’t agree to tax people buying cigarettes!  Oh, and 72% are still taking a salary while everyone else is laid off.  I’ve never been huge into politics, but as I get older it is interesting (and easy) to form an opinion on matters like these.  I don’t agree with the extra tax on the wealthy, why should they have to pay $20,000 more just to get the state out of crisis?  Well, that is my rant for the day, but I leave you with an interesting fact…All of Coor’s an Miller products have been taken out of Minnesota because their license to sell the products has expired, and there is no one to renew it! HA! Talk about the state loosing even more money!? 

Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

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Saturday, July 9, 2011

Taylor’s 6 Month Photo Shoot

Well, it’s hard to believe that 6 months have gone by.  (Actually 7 now that I am writing this.) I had decided that I want Gina Zeidler to capture Taylor’s whole year.  I just love the pictures that she takes.  They are so honest and true.  She truly is a talented woman.  If anyone is interested in looking at her photos, her blog offers a great inside to what she stands for and the pictures that she captures will take your breath away, ginazeidler.com/blog.  She just finished capturing a birth of her best friend.  Those pictures are truly amazing!! Back to the day.  Well, we were babysitting my neighbor’s child that day, and it was extremely hot!  I mean Florida weather hot, so we were all sweating by the end of it.  We stripped Taylor down to his diaper, and ended up capturing his true personality with his daddy.  Oh how I will cherish these pictures forever!  Thanks Gina! Looking forward to our 9 month photo shoot!

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Until next time…