Homecoming Parade & 5K

Devastated. I can't think of a better word to describe Craig's feelings when he found out they were cancelling the carnival/homecoming last summer. LOL So imagine his excitement when he found out they were bringing it back this year! :) It was kind of a mini-carnival in the parking lot of the town hall with fewer rides and no beer tent (for the trash of the town to come hang out in), but it was a nice social event nonetheless. Despite the absence of the carnival last year, they did still hold the homecoming parade. And this year it kicked off the weekend on Friday night.

Sophie ate a picnic dinner when we arrived. I just packed some toasted, plain waffles, cheese sticks, apple slices, carrots and green pepper. Will's munching his carrots above.

Will's favorite part.

We met up with some friends for the parade. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but we have two friends named Angie that each have a daughter named Addison/Addyson (spelled differently). Surprisingly, this is not confusing to Will. And the husband's/dad's names are different. But I guess Will is used to it, because our other close friends are two Mikes and their wives Julie and Jill. :) I remember when Will was younger, he always used to say "two Mikes!" Anyway, both of the Angie's were there for the parade. This is the younger Addyson with her mom. She is two and she also goes by "Addy". Up until some genius parade member passed out small, plastic bags (great idea!), Addy was filling her mommy's purse with candy. :)

Sophie sat so nicely (most of the time) beside Addyson. I was really impressed and thought they all looked so cute together.

You can see the other Addison on Will's right in the blue dress. I can't believe she is going to be five this July!

Will and Sophie watch the high school marching band.

Our stealth little man went through three suckers in about five minutes. I hadn't noticed until after it was too late that he was double-fisted with suckers at one point. :) At that point, we took responsibility of the candy bag where he could only make deposits, and not withdrawals until further notice. ;)

LOL

This is the other Angie. She was very helpful in keeping Will in check with me. He tried to run out to grab candy a few times when it wasn't safe and Angie helped keep an eye on him. It was cute that Will really enjoyed sitting beside her and kept inching closer to her. :)

These are our friends Tim & Angie (holding Sophie). Craig & Tim graduated high school together and they are such a nice, little family. P.S. - I have no idea what Craig is saying here. :)

After the parade, we walked up to the town hall and paused to talk to a million people on the way there. It's nice seeing friends from high school with their growing families and how everyone changes so quickly! Here, Will and Addyson were playing near the fountain in front of the town hall.

After the noise of the parade died down, baby Cecilia came up to the festivities with Kelly and Steve. Isn't she getting cuter by the minute?

Will and Craig being silly. The kids were getting very tired by now. It was 8:30 and well past bedtime, so we said goodbyes and headed home for baths and sleep. I was SO exhausted that night for some reason. I had been staying up too late through the week and could barely keep my eyes open. So I went to bed fairly early and got a decent night's sleep before the race.

The next morning, we headed back to town for the 2nd annual (I never knew there was a first!) Genoa Homecoming 5K. Sophie napped at my parents' house while Will and Craig came to cheer me on. I thought we would run the course through the park like we used to for our home Cross Country meets, but this course took us through the streets in town. It was a small group of runners and the weather was very nice.

On your mark, get set, go! (I'm behind the shirtless guy on the right.)

That's me on the left. Oh, and the person in the center with the long, flowing, Pantene hair? Ya, that's a dude.

There was no easy way for Will and Craig to see other parts of the course, so they just played on the playground in the park while I ran.

Boo. This was definitely not a proud performance for me - even now. I got a side-stitch just after the first mile and the sun was beating down and I wanted to stop. So I'm just glad I finished... even if my time was almost 30 seconds slower than the last race: 25:02. (Blah!) On the bright side, my knees weren't quite as sore this time and it was good exercise on a beautiful morning. Craig's advice: if I'm going to keep doing these races, it might be helpful to actually train a little bit. Haha!

After a later-than-usual night at the parade, Will looked like he was ready for a nap by 9 a.m. on Saturday. ;) But I enjoyed having him there. He was shouting "kick it!" as I was nearing the finish, as encouraged by Craig.

It's been an inspiring topic of conversation in an online mom's forum I participate in to let children see parents pursuing their own hobbies and interests outside of just being a parent. I think that is great advice. It's pretty common and easy for parents to be so swept up in their children's extracurriculars (play groups, sports, activities, etc.), that they lose sight of their own interests outside of parenthood. Of course, being a parent is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. But there are other things that make me happy, and I think it's important for my children to see that. Just like whenever Craig and I go out on a date or meet up with friends and Will doesn't want us to leave, I make sure to tell him that mommy and daddy like to spend some special time together because we love each other. So with running, I'm getting some "me" time while hopefully setting an example of the importance of physical activity and making your own happiness. There are several more races this summer that I'm hoping to participate in, including one or two more that Will can do too.