The 4th, only a few days late

This past Sunday was the 4th of July. Yes, this is obvious and special, because of the birth of our nation. However, it was even more special to us because we ran in our second annual 5K run as a family. We borrowed a jogging stroller from some friends and it was like a dream to push this thing. Seriously, when we were going downhill, I felt like it was pushing me!

We had Galen and Megan with us, so we all ended up spread out, but our little family stuck together. We had to pull over several times to settle disputes between the kids, but we still finished about two minutes faster than we did last year! And, I felt good enough at the end that I got all motivated to sign up for a 10K on some local trails this fall. I'll have to up my workouts to get ready for it, but I think I can do it. I'm very excited!

As well, after the adults ran, there was a half-mile kids' run that Mateo completed. He ran with Mommy the whole way and was very proud of himself (and we were proud of him, too!). After the kid run, there were many bubbles to play with (and many thanks to Galen and Megan for so much bubble blowing with the kids) and most of us actually won some raffle items, including gift certificates for ice cream and coffee. Yum.

Then, later in the day we set off some little fireworks in the alley beside our house, and later than that, our neighborhood boomed with explosions for hours. I tried uploading a few photos of the kids playing (heavily supervised and safely) with sparklers, but for some reason blogger wouldn't let me upload them. Oh well, we still had fun. And, we didn't need to go to the waterfront for a big show, we just needed to look out our window!

Riding in style in the borrowed double stroller

Reconvening after the race, with our popsicles

Best post-race present ever!

Starting the kids' run with Mommy!

Mommy with our very proud finisher

Uncle G blowing one of many bubbles for the kids.

Here's Megan doing the same for Tali

Sitting proud with his Finisher ribbon

The whole family in the alley, post fireworks (thanks to Apa for the shot!)