Poultry Predictor Race in Redmond, WA

Last weekend my friend, Nina, and I ran the four mile Poultry Predictor Race in Redmond, WA. The course was a beautiful four mile out and back course that had a 300 foot elevation gain for the first two miles. The goal of the race is to predict your finishing time with accuracy. Watches weren't allowed on the course and the top five winners walked away with frozen turkeys.

The Poultry Predictor is a small local race with less than a hundred participants in a beautiful picturesque pastoral setting. Jeff arrived at the finish with Eva in tow and our little two year old quickly surveyed the scene and declared, "There's no bounce house." This statement confirmed our suspicions that her life is just one bounce house after another. She lives a pretty sweet life.

Eva's reality is also surrounded by all things athletic and we're beginning to see the residual effects of her sporty introduction to life. She runs laps around our kitchen island for her imaginative play and then does push ups, squats, and bicep curls in between. We've got it on film and it's really hilarious. I love seeing her at the finish line of races and look forward to seeing what kind of passion she will find in life that will fuel her in the way that Stroller Strides and running does for me.

Halloween 2011

Halloween exceeded all of my expectations this year, and that says a lot! We went to half a dozen pumpkin patches in our neighborhood and enjoyed all of the harvest rituals surrounding picking out the perfect pumpkin. I got not just one, but two costumes for Eva at the local consignment store costume shop day. Costume number #1 got the first go around at the Stroller Strides Halloween evening workout. We tossed pumpkins together and did a booty kickin' workout in full regalia. You gotta watch out for those crazy suburban moms gone wild. Isn't there already a show about that?

And if that doesn't sound like enough hype, just you wait. We started the day of Halloween out in full costume again for the Stroller Strides workout followed by a parade with my friend, Jenn's program, Barefoot Enrichment. The kids paraded around the Village Green and had a grand ole time. It was pretty awesome. After lunch and nap, we really hit the party hard this time by getting ready for trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood has more children than adults and you could really tell that night by the throngs of people. It was complete madness. And our daughter couldn't get enough of it.

To say that Eva was excited about Halloween is an understatement. Between preschool and Stroller Strides, her older friends had clued her in on the holiday and all of its sugary splendor. Now, every kid has unique qualities and one of Eva's distinct personality traits is her excitability. And boy oh boy was she excited! Once she hit the first house, rang the doorbell, and got the sugary booty, she was hooked! She took off to the next house before you could say "sugar crash;" you could hear her cow bell ring several blocks away. People were so taken by our little cow they asked to take pictures. You know you've got a good costume on your hands when people stuff dollar bills in your pocket as you walk by! I had so much fun watching Eva get taken by the moment. I later decided that it was way better than experiencing the joy first hand, which is saying a lot!

I look forward to many more Halloweens to come!