RUN!

Although I have tried to exercise vigorously most of my adult life, I have never been a runner. I have always thought of running as a mild form of torture, whether on a treadmill or on the street, and so I have chosen to exercise in other ways! But with thoughts of the sprint triathalon still in my head, I have gotten on the treadmill twice since mid-February, and I have taken a run outside on the walking path near my home. (And I still think it is a mild form of torture, even five steps into my endeavor!) But when a friend told me she was thinking about doing a 5K run in the area, I was motivated to do it, as a form of training for the triathalon. Never mind training for the run---we only decided to do this about a week before the event!! I have never participated in any event like this, but didn't think there was much to lose! And so, I signed on!

And here we go, just starting out---the very first leg was up a pretty steep hill! And the hills did not stop! I was later told that this was a pretty tough 5K because of the hills. (Not sure what I would have done if I had known that before the run!)Notice we're smiling at the camera as we're starting out!

Here we are nearing the finish line, 3.1 miles later. I have to say that I almost gave up between miles 2 and 3, but I watched my friend moving along and nicknamed her "pacecar." She kept me moving! No smiles, but lots of determination(or fatigue!)! The end is near!

None of the hubbies were at the actual finish line to snap a pic, but we made it! I have a vague recall of the timer registering 30 minutes, but I was so tired and out-of-breath, I wasn't sure whether that was accurate.

Here are my little racers who were signed up and ready for the "tot trot."

Jack took off in the two-year old race (center of pic), and we were pretty impressed with him until he got to the end and wanted to keep going, so he shot off to the side and took off at a mad sprint... I had to shoot off after him and drag him back to get a medal (all the kids get medals!)
Nicole and Max both ran the 5-year old race (there were no events for 6-year olds, and I wasn't up for the whining that would surely ensue when I told Nicole that her brothers would race, get medals and free ice cream and she wouldn't!) On your mark, get set....and I was really not able to get a picture of the confusion after their start, but here they are at the starting line. (Nicole in the middle, Max at far left.)

My medal winners!And, the results. I came in #159 out of 333 runners. Official time was 30 minutes, 15 seconds, with my speed being a 9 minute 45 second mile. I was number 18 out of 51 runners in my age group. I am pretty happy with the results of my first run!Someone once told me that competitions were addictive, and I said I couldn't imagine wanting to do it again once I've done it once. And of course? I have already checked whether there were some other 5K runs in the area. I have one in my sights, but I only want to do it if I get some more running time under my belt...

EASTER BUNNY
Easter was a pretty quiet day in the Dungan household! The kids were up at the crack of dawn, and daddy tried to tell them to go back to sleep (yah, that worked really well) before we decided that we wanted to be downstairs with the kids when they saw their easter baskets for the first time. Unfortunately, we missed that opportunity, as it seems that Nicole and Max had already been up rifling through the baskets (even Jack's) for some time before they woke us. We didn't get a chance to see the looks on their faces when they saw candy and a few favorite toys in their baskets. We didn't get a chance to stop them from snacking on a few jelly beans for breakfast (it could have been worse!) and we didn't get a chance to stop them from taking it upon themselves to switch a toy out of Jack's basket (Jack was still asleep) and into Max's basket---although they did dutifully replace the coveted toy with something from Max's basket!

Unfortunately, my pictures from the morning were a little blurred out; my camera had spent the night in the car, and the temperature was freezing overight! While the camera was warming itself up, plenty of photo ops passed me by! I did get a chance to click the pretty moon that was in the sky at the crack of dawn when the kids woke us up! (Yes, still a little dark out!!)

We headed out to church, where the kids were surprisingly well-behaved. Jack was so happy to be dressed like Max, he wouldn't put anything else on the rest of the day! (We didn't tell him that he is wearing Max's old outfit---he has many years of hand-me-downs coming at him, so the less he realizes he gets no new clothes of his own, the better for us all!)

We had a huge dinner at Buca with grandparents and big brother Joe!And on top of all the Easter candy the kids munched on all day, they managed to find room for their favorite: ice cream cones!

EASTER PARTY!
The kids really look forward to the Easter party at Grandma Dungan's former place of employment! The festivities kicked off with an easter egg hunt, and then food, dessert and a visit from the Easter Bunny! Due to the very high winds this year, the kids scrambled to get their eggs and get inside! (Pun intended!)
Go Jack! He was with the 0-3 year olds, and was a true champ with a bucket full of eggs by the end of his race!Nicole and Max were collecting eggs so fast that most pictures contain only a single body part as they rush out of the frame and onto a new find! (Max in the background.) The cutest and cuddliest Easter Bunny showed up to bring gift bags to all the kids!

Jack probably didn't remember the Easter Bunny from last year. When he showed up this time, Jack went running up to him to try to give him hugs. I couldn't see Jack's face when he was hugging the bunny, but when he turned to me afterward, he had the sweetest and happiest smile on his face! What a perfect age! Nicole and Max like to see the bunny, but they're all about what's in their gift bags!

This year Nicole also won a raffle for a huge kids' gift basket of toys. She could barely carry the basket, (unfortunately, no pics) it was so big and stuffed full of fun things! Max was happy for her until he realized that he didn't win any of the raffles. He had his eye on a remote control car and walked out in tears when another little boy carried the car out of the party. Max recovered quickly when he realized what a cool Hot Wheels playset his grandma gave him; and when he heard his sister being unusually nice to him when she offered to share some of her toys! Come to think of it, that took us all by surprise...