Drew ran his first Spartan race on February 9th. We decided to tag along to be cheerleaders, but it required some careful juggling of my duties. My nice friend Carlee Lane ended up watching kids for me on Thursday so I got to sleep all day. It was most welcome help.
On Friday morning I got off work, switched Drew the Jeep for the van full of dogs and kids and went to drop off the dogs at the boarding place. But, I forgot that I hadn't gotten Bo his bordetella vaccine last time we were at the vet. It's not one that's usually included with puppy vaccinations so you have to ask for it specifically. So, I dropped off Pip and then drove out to a vaccination clinic to sort it out. It was a little too much excitement for Bo.
Once the dogs were settled I went back to pack before Drew arrived home with the big kids. O, to have no dogs at the house! I had not felt so free in many months. We got on the road around 2. Our iPad case has seen better days and requires careful balancing to prop up so all can see and hear.
This time we stayed at Aunt Tina's house. The kids ask me fairly regularly now if we can please, please, please go play there again. I would happily oblige; I love talking to my Aunt Tina. She was impressed that all my kids could agree on a show to watch. What can I say? We are raising 4 super-nerds.
The race was at Fort McDowell Saturday morning. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and the weather was a perfect, cool, overcast day for a run. Maybe not for a run through cold water, but you can't have everything. Here is the map of the race:
Here is Drew anxiously awaiting his running mates.
Here are the babies playing in the dirt.
Here is Drew with his running mates, now anxiously awaiting the start. Alex's girlfriend Ari was supposed to be racing as well, but she had hurt her shoulder playing volleyball that week and had a cold coming on, so she hung out with me.
We left the racers in their starting pen and climbed to a good vantage point to watch the first obstacle.
Drew cleared the wall with ease and was pleased to see his cheer section.
The kids wanted to take a stab at the obstacles after the mob had passed.
I let them try out the kid race's walls on our way back to the arena and they were disdainful. "We can do the adult ones! These kid ones are way too easy!"
Drew was only not able to complete one obstacle. He's in good company. This obstacle has the highest fail rate of any in the course. From right to left:
He did his 30 burpees of penance...
...then went right on to the "Rakuten multi-rig." Forgive my shrill cheering.
He had to flip an enormous tire twice.
The second time was much harder.
Then he went up, up, up the stair...
...to the 30 ft rope climb on top of the mountain.
We wandered out onto the course again, but we were too slow to see him.
He had already done his bucket brigade. Does it look fun?
Maybe not so much.
Then he lost his headband in the muck.
And spent some time looking for it because that's how they ID you for your professional pictures.
He's got a pretty distinctive hairline though, so he wasn't too tricky to pick out.
He opted out of the elite, flip-over-the-top move for the third-to-last obstacle, saving his strength for the final sprint.
The end was in sight!
Excellent form for the fire jump.
"Yay dad."
"Go Dady"
The race came with a free drink!
"He's so rugged and chiseled and great."
Especially with crusty eyelashes.
We said our congratulations...
...then I took tired kids back to the car for some lunch.
After the race we visited Grandma Brunsdale for a bit, then the Grandparents Woods, then we went and had curry and rice with some friends from Japan that live in Mesa now. I had actually only met Whitney once at stake girls camp, but we had such a good time together it felt like an instant-old friendship. It was fun to have our families together. I took not a picture. We went to bed again at Aunt Tina's then got up early, early the next morning to drop daddy off at the airport. On Friday right before we left for AZ I decided last minute to tack on a trip to Utah afterwards because Haley had just found out she was going to be induced on Monday, and who can say no to the excitement of a new boy cousin?
We drove like the wind to beat a storm that was supposed to be rolling in to Utah.
We arrived with plenty of time to take a tour of Sarah's beautiful new place in Santaquin.
AND, we were lucky enough to arrive in time for Second Sunday dinner at Tia Kate's house.
All the nummiest pastas you can imagine!
Mom made some key lime pie like the kind she'd just had in Florida on her get-away with Dadio. Rafe called it "broccoli pie."
On Monday we spent the morning with Tia Kate et al. Haley had gone in to be induced and was in labor, so we sent her pictures to make her laugh.
It was funny, until Haley looked like this for real:
Little tyke was coming in posterior; it was definitely epidural time. We had a quick soak in the hot tub...
This beautiful baby! Merrick is going to be such a lucky teenager--if he's ever without a date we'll just bring Jade in! It will be like that scene in She's the Man.
...then Kaitlyn graciously agreed to watch my babies while I went to the hospital to be moral/picture support.
They had a good time together playing games...
...coloring...
...and snuggling.
Back at the hospital, Dad came by for a bit (at the same time as Haley's lunch finally arrived--doesn't it look like an Ensure ad?). He was impressed with the craggy peaks of the contractions on Haley's toco monitor.
Their father-daughter picture turned out so well, we wanted to try to get one with Haley and Jacob, but we couldn't ever quite get it right...
Jacob went down to get some food when I arrived, but there was some weird thing going on with the two grills in the hospital (only one had fries, but it was not the same one that had burgers, or something inane like that), so he got a salad.
But he didn't get to finish it, because it was pushing time and Haley liked it best when Jacob would count for her, because he counted faster than the nurse (who had coincidentally been in Haley's MTC district on her mission). Haley was such a strong, determined pusher that after about an hour and a half of hard work the nurse had to call a half-time break for baby to get his heart rate back up.
He recovered beautifully, and after another 20 minutes of labor it was time for Dr. Ollerton to suit up.
I think I'm going to have to try out L&D nursing at some point. There's just no other time as a nurse that you get to be a part of so much expectation that is followed by, not just relief and gratitude, but pure joy!
Just look at this New Daddy face!
We had dinner that night with Grandma Paula and Papa Mark, followed by tea time.
Nana and Papi let us sleep at their house even though they were in the midst of a remodel.
This countertop-less kitchen really cracks me up for some reason. Look at all that stuff just sitting there in drawers where it always is, you just never see it! It's so funny...
The finished product:
The next morning I had to do laundry because I had done a terrible last-minute packing job, then we ate lunch with Papa Mark and met cousins at Kangaroo Zoo for some more fun.
Merrick also wanted to climb up this ladder, but he kept getting to the top and then slipping all the way down (hitting his face on each rung like a cartoon character).
I distinctly remember sitting in arcades as a child watching the demos and feeling sure I was actually playing.
Jade and Merrick weren't excited about sharing a gun.
We had dinner at the Forbes again that night. Papa Mark is always good to help get shoes on when it's time to go, but there is usually some tickling involved.
The weather told us to go home the next day, so we did. One last picture with Papi...
...a special goodbye from Uncle Rex...
...and a quick stop by the hospital to meet the new cousin. Annie had a gross cough, so we left her out in the waiting room with Jacob to learn about shadows.
Rafe is super excited to have another boy in the family. He even brought his finger gun in anticipation.
Welcome to the family sweet baby! A boy and his mommy
Trips to Utah are always worth it, even when they're short. This time, one of the nights I put the kids to bed, Rafe was kind of talking in his sleep and I heard him say dreamily, "Mom? Thanks for letting us come to Utah."
