Race #2 - Teton Road Runners Zombie Chase 5K

This was my second 5K this year and we, Adele and I, decided to do another one that was really different. I had heard of this one for a while and had always thought it would be fun so we decided to give it a try. It's called the Zombie Chase and its held right around Halloween every year. We were also able to talk a few more friends to do this race with us this time because it was local. It was so fun to do it with our little group. Racing is a lot more fun when you do it with a "team". We also liked the idea of this one because when you sign up you choose wither or not you want to run as a survivor, they get a 1 minute head start, or a zombie. They also "suggested" that you dress up as whatever you decided to run as. How fun is that?! We had a great time and even though I wasn't one of the fastest people, the first person to cross the line did theirs in just over 15 mins - EAK!!, I was happy that I ran the whole thing without walking. That was a big deal for me. It was also nice to do the race in the evening when it wasn't as hot, or as early, as most races. That kind of seemed to set the stage for a good time as well.

Here is a little overview of the fun time we had.

My race tag.

I asked Riann if she wanted to join me for our "face painting" party over at Audra's house. She was really excited to come and participate. This was her before we got started.

And her during and after. She's got a great "living dead" face.

Finally done! She had a lot of fun posing for the camera.

This was my before shot. Pretty zombie already like if you ask me. Haha.

My during shots. I didn't get 100% finished until we were about half way there.

DONE!!!! Am I Zombie enough?!

Adele and Audra just about done with their looks. Audra had t he great idea to paint our shirts which I think added a lot to the look. It also made it more fun and felt like we were more in "character".

Just before we walked out the door. We're all squatting a little because Riann was our photographer at this point.

Frank and Christi and their kiddos met us at the location to do the race with us. Everyone but the two youngest dressed up too. It was fun to have Frank and Paul there to watch the kids so we could hang out with them after. Riann, Leo and Frankie also got to run in the free kids 1K and Colby met me just before the finish line as I warmed up with Riann and he finished with us so everyone got special medals for participating.

Christi and I crossing over the finish line. Audra and Adele were just in front of us.

The race map and my finishing times.
You can also kind of see everyone else's times there too, I just didn't circle them like I did mine.

Before and after the race. You can tell we were much happier to get done than to start. These girls are awesome!!

All of us together after the race. So glad my family is willing to come do all this stuff with me. Love these guys so much!!

Finally home and all cleaned up. I SURVIVED THE ZOMBIE INVASION.... well, sort of.

Halloween 2012

To start this off I'll give a little background on our idea for Halloween this year... I'm crazy when it comes to Halloween and like to be prepared with an idea of what we're going to do as soon as possible. I have a friend that does a family theme each year and after seeing what she did with her family I thought to myself, "I want to do that too! At least for as long as the kids will let me." Since then we've tried to do something together. This was our second year with a theme and although our costumes aren't as elaborate or as beautiful as what my friends put together, it has been fun to challenge myself to make this happen. Last year I knew in February what the kids were going to be and got right on buying a lot of the stuff I needed so that I could get a lot of it on sale.

Unfortunately this year ideas were a little harder to come by and I just didn't know what I wanted to try to do. As I was looking through some photos of a friend I stumbled across the top photo below. It was then that I thought it might be fun to try to do a family theme centered around Pac-Man. At first tons of ideas started floating around in my brain about how I could make this work and slowly things started to come together. I started searching online for more images of Pac-Man themed costumes and found some pretty good ideas. The bottom two photos in the collage below are the other two images that helped me get the full idea going.

 How the idea got sparked. 

Once I knew what I was going to do I asked a friend of mine help me get started putting everything together, once I had all of my supplies. I'm so grateful I had her help because there is NO WAY I could have done what I did without her. I had two people help me with these costumes and with their help everything turned out great!!

Some of the supplies. I had each kiddo "tell" me what color ghost they wanted to me and with the help of my friend we got them measured and started sewing everything together.

Once we had the "bodies" cut out I tested out of few options for the eyes with paper.

This was a really creepy day. As I started putting the eyes together it was weird having them "watch" me as I worked and as I sewed them on. I'm no seamstress, or even handy with a sewing machine so all of the "smaller" things, like the eyes, were done by hand.

Once all of the eyes were sewn together I layed out each costume as a whole and decided how they were going to go on. Paul was a hard sell on the whole dressing up like this idea so he got away with wearing a large t-shirt instead of the big felt moo-moo's we all wore. It still looked pretty good though. He matched great!

Once I decided on the theme I had to figure out how best to incorporate each kid into the idea. Since Roslyn wasn't walking I didn't want her to just be tucked in the back as another ghost and I didn't want the older kids to feel bad about the main costume being different than theirs. I also didn't want to play the role or Pac-Man and I knew there was NO WAY I could talk Paul into doing it so that left Roslyn as the best fit for the role. It took a lot of research and a very general idea of how I wanted her costume to look but I asked for help from another friend and gave her the gist of what I was looking for an she took my idea and rolled with it. She did an AMAZING job!!! She was able to get the shell put together for me and then I added the eyes and mouth by hand, with the help of Paul in terms of creative concept.

This turned out AMAZING!!! There is no way I could have pulled this off without the help of so many people!!

Thankfully this year we had a few nights of activities to participate in before Halloween so I HAD to have our costumes finished early. Unfortunately Paul couldn't attend a few of the activities with us because of work but we had a great time when he was able to. The kids were also great sports when it came to getting dressed in the multiple layers they have to dress in the keep warm for Halloween in Idaho. Thankfully I think they enjoy Halloween ALMOST as much as I do.

The kiddos in their warm underclothing. I was too busy getting them all dressed to take pictures of each layer they put on but I promise, they're pretty warm under there. Yes, we did have snow for some of our Halloween events.

Our first big Halloween activity this year was a carnival/trunk-or-treat event at our gym. It was fun to go and see all of the other families the kids go to the daycare with and be out together as a family. The kids also didn't mind getting extra treats before Halloween night too.

All of us dressed up and ready to go participate in the activities at the carnival.

They had a photographer come in and take photos for all of the families that participated in the event. This was the one we got of all of us together. I'm so glad these guys are still willing to do something together.

Our second Halloween event was a party with a few families in our ward and some of their other friends. We were all asked to bring a dessert and there were a few I've been wanting to try so I thought I'd give them a shot for this night. They didn't turn out EXACTLY how I wanted them but they were okay. I think I now know how to do better next time and hopefully we'll get to do more fun stuff like this with the people we live near. It was a great night and the chance to make new friends was wonderful!!

The ingredients for our treats. I tried out a caramel corn and a candy bark recipe.

The caramel corn. It was a little harder than I wanted it but still pretty yummy!!

This was the candy bark. So many great flavors all mixed into one!!

My adorable little helpers. Riann actually wanted to help... Colby wanted to snack.

Our little family playing at the party. It was so fun to have Paul at this event with us because it had to miss out on the gym carnival and the first part of Halloween night because of work. We had a great time with him!!

They had lots of fun activities for the kids to do.

And LOTS of yummy food!!

The decorations were also adorable!!

After our two parties right before Halloween I thought the kids might be tired of their costumes and of Halloween but thankfully they were just as excited for the community trunk-or-treat as I was. The kids were able to go around with some of their best friends and had a great time collecting candy and sharing ours with others.

Our little gang of kiddos.

Walking around getting treats... and sneaking a few every chance they got, even if it meant sitting in the middle of the parking lot to get a candy open.

My happy Pac-Woman. I'm not sure her costume was the most comfortable thing in the world but she was such a wonderful sport and was so happy to just be there.

My cute blue ghost. He is so much fun to watch on Halloween because each treat is THE BEST thing in the world.
I love this guy!!

My beautiful purple ghost. She was so busy helping all of her friends and little siblings get candy and having such a great time that I didn't get many pictures of just her. She is such a great helper!!

Our wonderful neighbor Adele and her kiddos. She helped pass out our candy while I took the kids around with her MIL. We were both without hubbies for the first part of the night so it was great to have someone to team up with.
We love these guys!!

Once Paul got off work he met up with us in town and we did some door to door trick-or-treating. We always head up to a neighborhood in town because we don't get kiddos out in our neighborhood and I like for the kids to get a chance to do some of the traditional trick-or-treating too. They had a great time running between houses and were hard to keep up with. It was also really fun to have Paul with us to share in the kid's excitement.

Getting as many treats as they can before we headed home.

This year I decided to try to do something different for dinner and keep the Halloween fun going. We did some "spooky" items for dinner and the kids really enjoyed them. Next year I'll plan a little better and make sure we have dinner BEFORE our fun night of running around and eating candy. It was fun to see the kids react to the food. I can't wait to do it all again next year.

We had ghost bananas, apple mouths and mummy hotdogs.

And the kids had a great night being together!!!

I just LOVE Halloween!!!

Sawtell Peak, Henry's Lake, Buffalo River Dam and the Dunes

This summer we've been trying to take little family trips just to get out and see the beautiful area that we live in. With the new baby and little kiddos we've had to make sure we're going adventures everyone can participate in. Earlier this year we went on our first summer adventure of 2012 to the sand dunes to let the kids out and they had a blast. We decided we'd make sure we'd take a few more day trips here and there and just enjoy the time we had together. A few weeks ago we broke away again and went to play out in nature again.

We started the day out by meeting up with someone who wanted to purchase something from us online. While we made the trade she told us about a fun place to go check out while we were up in Island Park. We decided to see where we were in our day and maybe make a stop at the location she told us about... if we could find it.

Our first stop was out at Sawtell Peak up in Island Park. Paul had found this road on a field trip he took with his biology class his last semester at school. Once he found it was a public access road he HAD to go check it out. When we first looked at the map it looked like it was going to be a lot harder drive than it was but it ended up being a perfect drive for the kids.

When we first started out I kind of thought to myself, "that's really where we're going?" and Paul just smiled the whole way up. We were a little bummed it wasn't a clearer day but it was pretty amazing to be up in the clouds like we were when we got to the top. It was FREEZING when we got up there because of the clouds but watching how excited Riann was because she got to "touch" them was priceless.

As we started up the mountain. There's quite a bit more mountain under those clouds.

Once we got up to the top and we were inside the clouds. It was crazy cold and there was still a ton of snow on the ground but we still got some pretty amazing views when the clouds would break.

The view from the top was amazing!!! The peaks and valley's on the other side of the peak were spectacular and the colors of the trees, grasses and flowers were beautiful. I wish the camera would have caught how vibrant everything was.

Just some of the view from the top.

When we caught a glimpse of the top of the peak from the bottom you could see a radio tower. When we first turned on the road going up the mountain Paul pointed to it and told Riann that's where we were going. When we got there we didn't realize it was going to be so big. We didn't know what to tell Riann it was so we called it a giant soccer ball and the whole trip around the peak she pointed it out every time she saw it. Later we found out that the FAA operates a flight traffic control radar station from the summit and that's what the giant ball was. They've got some pretty intense up signage up there. There's no trespassing into the actual building and up on the tower and next to all of the no trespassing signs there are pretty specific signs telling you how the building is patrolled and it lists the various ways you'll be shot or contained if you happen to be found trespassing. That being said the whole area around the building is open to the public and there is a lot of really cool stuff to check out.

The "Giant Soccer Ball"

On the way back down we finally got some breaks from the clouds and the views throughout the whole drive were amazing. There was still a lot of snow at the top because it was so cold and what you could see of the valley was awesome. Island Park is a part of the Targhee National Forest and out here you don't get many trees like we're used to back in Washington but the area out there reminds me a lot of "home" and it was wonderful to spend the day out in the green forest.

Some of the surroundings as we started going back down. This was all right at the very top once we rounded the corner from the tower.

Lots of the green forest and views of the valley.

There were tons of wild flowers still in bloom up the whole mountain side. Every time we stopped Riann asked me to pick her some. I love being out in the flowers like this. They're amazing!!

The photo on the left is the Google map Paul found of the road before we went up. The photos on the right are from the actual road on the way down. We couldn't get any good shots of the switchbacks from further down because the trees were so much thicker but you can see it was a pretty great road from the few photos we got from the top.

While we were at the top of the peak we saw Henry's Lake off to the North of where we were. I didn't realize there was a lake out in Island Park, I just thought it was all river. When we got to the bottom of the mountain we realized we had more than half the day left over so we decided to head on over to the lake and see what we had been missing out on. It was a beautiful lake and maybe we'll be able to hit it up next year, when the weather is a lot warmer. There wasn't much of a public access beach but once the kids are older that probably wouldn't be a huge deal.

Henry's Lake. They let us have a "drive through" pass so we could just check out the area without paying to actually use it. It was fun to drive through and see what the area looked like. We also circled around a few times to drive through a flock of seagulls. Riann and Colby loved that part the most.

After checking out the lake we decided we had enough time to go check out the dam that the lady we had met up with earlier in the day had told us about. It was a beautiful spot and there was a lot for the kids to check out. As a kid we would go visit my grandparents in The Dallas, Oregon and there's The Dallas Dam out there. I remember always having a fun time checking out the dam and playing around. It was fun to share a moment like that with my kids even if this dam was on a MUCH smaller scale than some of the other dams I've visited.

The Buffalo River Dam. This is what everything looked like when we first walked up.

Past the dam you can see down to the Snake River. It was gorgeous! We even got to see a few fishermen out "working".

Paul took the kids around while I hung out with Roslyn. She was having a grumpy moment from being stuck in the car all day. They really enjoyed checking out the water and walking up and down the fish ladder (that's the grate underneath them in the main shot). I just wish there were actual fish for them to see.

After playing at the dam we decided to make one more stop on our way back and let the kids get out and really play around in a place where we didn't have to worry so much about them falling off a cliff or falling into the water. We stopped at the Sand Dunes to let them play and stretch and just be themselves. I think they were grateful for the change to get out of the car and to have the freedom to plan on their own without Paul and I nagging them to "be safe".

Our kids LOVE the sand!!

It was a beautiful day while we were out playing. For how cold it was when we started off it ended pretty warm.

I decided after our first adventure this year I was going to try to get a photo of the car on every trip we made. I'm bummed that we didn't get a picture of the car at the top of Sawtell but as I was picking some flowers for Riann I was able to get a shot coming down the mountain. The rest of the photos are from the rest of the stops we made on our day out.

The top photo is from the down down at Sawtell, the bottle left is from the Buffalo River Dam and the bottom right photo is from the Sand Dunes. We had a couple come and chat with us while we were on the dunes because they couldn't believe we drove our car out on them. They had had some trouble with their 4-wheeler on the dunes and couldn't believe we were able to get a car out there. I love this thing!!!