I'm a Bumble BEE!

Two posts in one day . . . WOW! I had to sit back down and do this or before I know it too much time would have passed. So, as some of you know I started running about 2 and a bit years ago. A HUGE feat for me. I, being not so athletic ever in my life. A goal I always wanted to accomplish for myself. I ran a 5k that summer put on by our stake. I was 4 months pregnant. I ran for a bit longer till the bulge got to be too much and put running on hold till after Grace was born. I ran that same Stake 5k last summer (not pregnant and a better time!). I've continued running the past year plus various other physical activities. (I go to a GREAT weight class twice a week! I even drag Blake along with me!) Anyways, a group of friends from church and I decided to run a 5k together! Last night we ran the 'Starlight Run'!!! It was sooo fun! So, for those of you not familiar with Portland, the Starlight Run is the precursor to the Starlight Parade part of the Rose Festival. Now, this 5k is no ordinary run. There are costumes!!!! We decided to be a swarm of bees! Wings, Antennae, Stripes, the whole bee package!!! We looked GREAT!!! and everyone noticed us!
It was just so much fun to see all the parade goers and all the runners and their costumes! We had a particularly large cheering section. Blake was there with the kids, and 3 more families of my bee friends. It was crazy, crazy, crazy there! But a great time and great memories! Yet again we forgot the camera, so we hope to get copies of pictures from our friends (hint hint!) But we did have Blake's phone, so he took a video of us running by. Now it's not to clear, but you can get the drift of what we looked like until my lovely friends get me their pictures!!!



We had a total of 7 bees, not quite as big as the swarms Dads bees would do! After the run 4 of us bees went back to the parade to sit and enjoy the parade with our families.
The kids had a great time. I guess while I was gone some guy came and threw money in the streets. The scavengers they are, Ryan and Spencer made a bit of change. The run didn't start till 8:00, so by the time we left the parade (it was almost over) and got home it was very late.
Now, this post could not be complete until I share with you our MAX ride from the parade to our car. (the MAX is the light rail system in Portland) Actually I'll have Blake relate the story to you all, he's better at it than me!

So, after squeezing onto the full to bursting Max car with Sarah, 3 kids standing, and 2 in a double stroller, we thought, 'this is gonna be a fun ride!?' At the next stop, a group of teenage kids got on that started making all sorts of ruckus. Not bad ruckus mind you, actually the kind of ruckus I would have made at that age. So, as one was yelling to his other friends across the car how he ate the free toothpaste they handed out at the parade, and kept repeating that fact to everyone he knew in the train, we had to laugh.
Then he and his other friends noticed some acquaintances of theirs clear at both ends of the train car. Of course, in his loudest voice, he had to share his toothpaste eating experience with them as well, this time adding several times that he almost puked. By then, we were about to burst out laughing! As our stop was coming up, I gave him a heads up that we had to somehow get off of the sardine can at the next stop. He said, 'we gotta have a plan!'..so I said, 'here it is guys....we need to get off of the train...'.
So he proceeded to call out a huddle and we all put out fists in to confirm our intentions and yell out our team spirit. His friend indicated that we needed a team name, so immediately he came up with the name "The Golden Gophers"!! So 'fists in, 1..2..3..Golden Gophers' we yelled. Then the train stopped and we all had to laugh because the doors that opened were opposite to where they were standing. I complimented him on the plan and assuaged his disappointment at not being able to be of any help. He replied simply.'I LOVE random MAX people!!'. I returned the sentiment as we departed the train, laughing all the way. As we walked to our car, our family decided that it would go down in history as The Adventures of Aquafresh (the toothpaste eating teen) and his trusty team The Golden Gophers. Cue music..
The end.

Thank you Blake for recounting that memorable max ride! I do love random max people! They make the ride much more fun!
It was a crazy, fun day that we will all remember for along time to come! We've decided that the Starlight Parade (and Run) will be one of our new Family Traditions!