Dart Frog Dash

Will & Sophie had been looking forward to this day for months.  They'd been practicing in the yard, running laps from one edge of our back yard to the other, racing each other as well as Craig & me, and mentally gearing up for the run.  :)  It's the Dart Frog Dash at Toledo Zoo and it was a perfect day for it!  The weather was ideal and we all felt fresh and excited.

We arrived early enough to meet up with the Rethman fam in the parking lot and get our t-shirts and race bibs.  The morning was kicked off with a self-initiated, girl-cousins group-hug.  Thankfully we caught the moment on camera in time!  :)

That was followed by a four-person group-hug and sort of huddle.  It's so cute that, even though they see each other every day at the babysitter's, they are always so excited to reunite any other time too.

Mya & Stella put on last year's race shirts at home instead of waiting for this years.  So they weren't all the same color.  But I think it looks super cute this way!  :)  I love Casey's idea of shooting this back view of their race bibs and arms around each other.

Can't. Stand. The Cuteness!!!

LOVE THEM!!!

Heading in.

Pre-race.

They actually ran the age groups in heats this year.  You can see Sophie's yellow sticker that marked her age group in the picture above.  So Will and Craig ran together in his heat and finished before the girls even started.  Casey waited on the sidelines to take pictures and Wes & I ran with the girls.  I've said before that watching kids run and put their whole heart into doing it is almost tear jerking for me.  I'm sure it's the same with any sport, but I'm partial to running.  And it doesn't even have to be my kid!  I was feeling slightly emotional watching all these other kids as I waited for Will and Craig.  Keep in mind, we were still behind the start line waiting for out turn.  The kids just happen to loop around and run back towards us and turn left to the finish line.  So I was actually able to get some pics of Craig and Will.  

Craig said Will did great, though he thinks Will needs to learn to pace himself.  His stamina seems to be that of a sprinter.  ;)  Also, not surprisingly, if you look closely at this picture, Ohio State is in front of Michigan... Naturally.  Makes sense.

Go Will.  And Go Bucks!

Caught a sweet moment of twin love just before our race started.  Hand holding!  It looked like they were wishing each other luck.

Oh my goodness!  I'm so proud of my girl this year!  What a world of difference from last year when I practically had to bribe her with a pony to get her to keep going!  There were no piggy back rides, no long stops (no stops at all, actually!), and much more self-motivation.  I, of course, was cheering her on all the way, but she did so great on her own!

Mya & Stella did awesome too, though they did awesome last year as well.  

Oh, how I hope these girls grow up to love running!!

The finish line is just ahead!  Go girl!  You did it!

Also (Casey), the finishing times this year are less than half because of the heats.  Last year we were at the back of a huge pack and the whole thing was slower moving because of it.  We probably didn't cross the START line until a couple minutes had past.  LOL  This year it was just our little pack of whatever... 3/4 year olds?  So times are probably better, but not just because of one year of improved skill.  ;-)

Way to rehydrate, chicky.  Sophie actually saw these before the race and reeeeally wanted one.  I told her she could definitely have one after she crossed the finish line, because that's what they were for.

More fuel replenishing:  bananas and bagels.

Snacking and people/animal watching.

Big & Little Dub.

Wes - the kid magnet.  

Displaying their finishing ribbons!  Yay!  Good job!!

We walked over to Nature's Neighborhood for a bit afterward.

And then, of course, we went to check out the new polar bear cubs.  Man, oh man, were they putting on a show with their mama!

It was a great morning at the zoo!

Also, p.s... speaking of running... my high school mile record time was officially broken this spring!  I don't know what the new record is, because I think the girl re-broke her own record multiple times in the season.  But my old record was 5:28.00 and stood for 15 years!!  I sooo wish I could have been there to congratulate the girl.  When I beat it my junior year of high school, the previous record holder was there to congratulate me and that felt awesome.  I really am excited for her.  I believe she's state-bound this year and she's young, so hopefully more opportunities lie ahead.

InstaFriday

One pic from last week that I forgot to include in my iPhone photo dump here:

Cora and the rest of her preschool class came to visit the elementary school and tour the Kindergarten class rooms for an end-of-year field trip.  So Molly captured a pic of these two buddies when they saw each other in Will's classroom..

First lost baby tooth!

Half moon pose:

Field Day!

ADORING this Essie color:  Turquoise & Caicos.  One of my current faves right now.  Especially for summer.

Still can't believe this happened.  I somehow "got" pincha figured out without using a wall and now I'm obsessed!!!  I'm kicking up into a forearm stand every chance I get, and playing with various leg positions.  Stag is the easiest for balance:

And here is the hardest one for me:  scorpion.  Still dismayed that I actually did this.

While I was practicing, Craig walked into the room and asked "Is that hard?"  So I suggested he give it a try... and he didn't exactly get very far.  Haha!  Love him for trying, though!

And with my successes most definitely come plenty of failures.  I've gotten very comfortable in just twisting out of pincha to my left when I start to lose balance.  I've never gotten hurt, but it's still fun to keep pushing my limits with this.

Found these adorable gift wrap tubes in the Target $1 bins this week.  Love them!  I might have to wrap something up for myself just to enjoy them later.

Our babysitter has been closed a couple days this week in preparation of the huge graduation party coming up at their house in about a week.  So Will has been getting on and off the bus at Nana & Papa's house.  Today was a reading camp-out day at school.  The kids all brought their sleeping bags and "camped out" with books on the classroom friends.

Field Day!

Will's first Field Day was today!  He's been pretty excited about it and this morning he pulled on some gym shorts and Buckeyes jersey and put on his tennis shoes and got psyched up for the fun.  There were a bunch of events planned, but he was looking most forward to the sack races.  Craig took the morning off and went to cheer Will on and take pictures for me.  Love that man!

Will's class was behind on most every event and none of it was individual, so every student took turns in long relay-type races and competed as a whole class against the other classes in their grade.  Will was the last in line for his class on nearly all the events and so, on several occasions, by the time it was his turn to go, many of the other classes were all completely finished and he wasn't really racing anyone.  Craig could tell Will was discouraged by this and didn't really give much effort to the events.  Poor guy.

Giving daddy a thumbs up between events/turns.

Mrs. Mullen giving Will some finish line praise/encouragement.

Hurdles!

It was still a very fun day and Will talked happily about it over dinner tonight.  I remember really loving field day when I was in elementary school.

Will's First Lost Tooth!

I knew this was coming soon after we discovered a loose tooth earlier in the week, but I just didn't think it would happen so quickly!  And I had no idea I would feel so emotional about it!  I actually cried a little.  I know... totally sappy.  But I just can't believe we're to the age of losing baby teeth!  That means he's losing part of his babyhood that was keeping him little in my mind.  Like the first haircut, adult teeth totally transform the way a child looks.  It's like they suddenly age a year or two before your eyes.  And in Will's case, the adult tooth had already started to come in behind the baby tooth before it was lost, and it looks considerably larger and jagged compared to the tiny baby tooth.  Oh, and will randomly got another molar (or two?) in the last 6 months.  Craig's been keeping a close eye on those and making sure they're brushed really well.  But they're HUGE!  

Oh my goodness.  He was/is SOOOO excited!!  I had been snuggling with Sophie at bedtime when Craig walked into the room with a silly "I've-got-a-secret" grin on his face and Will walking directly behind him so that I couldn't see him until they were right up to me.  Craig said Will had something to show me and then stepped aside for Will to proudly display the new gap between his bottom baby teeth.  I was so excited and couldn't believe it and that just doubled Will's joy about the whole thing.  It's his bottom left middle tooth that came out.

So I went to get out the cute, little, wooden, tooth fairy box I'd purchased in Suttons Bay, Michigan back when we were there in 2008 shortly after Will turned one.  It was our first little weekend away from our boy and, at the time, lost baby teeth seemed a world away.  Now here we are placing that first precious tooth in the box for the tooth fairy.

The lid just slides over and there's a small heart carved on the back of the box. 

Placing it under his pillow for the tooth fairy to find. 

$1 to add to his spend jar.  He's going to be so excited! 

Sleep tight, baby boy.  I know you're not really a baby anymore, but I'm sure going to cherish the memory of this night.