We are savages

For the past few months, Mike & I have been training for the Savage Race which my coworker roped me into participating in.  Luckily Mike agreed to join me since I'd have been terrified to run the 7.25 miles with 30 obstacles in between. 


 I'm definitely not considered a runner in any way shape or form.  I get bored easily & have never experienced the "runner's high" I often hear about.  But, it was a great motivator to get to the gym without question & get a few miles in each day as to not die on the day of the race.

The first obstacle was to jump into an icy vat of water which was positively shocking to the system.  To top it off, there's a wall in the middle that forces you to completely submerge.  Brr!!!!





It was a very filthy race that involved wading through mud & going under muddy water.  The picture above was the scariest & most challenging obstacle.  To get to the top of this huge slide, I had to scale a 90 degree wall via rope.  Lucky for me some nice guys at the top hoisted my large bum over the wall.  Going down the 90 degree slide into a vat of dirty water was pretty intimidating too.  You'll see from my face that I was a tad nervous.  It's funny though, because I never considered not doing some of the scarier obstacles since adrenaline kicks in & everyone around you is doing it too.  Not to mention, once at the top, there's no backing down!!

I was being dramatic in the picture above since the log I selected wasn't very heavy at all!

 

Unfortunately, my coworker's fiancee broke his leg during one of our obstacles.  The poor guy has to have surgery next week & can't bear weight on his leg for the next two months.  The medics swooped him away a couple of miles in, but we were left to finish the race... it was so sad to see the poor guy laying in the mud, shaking & in shock.

We plan on participating next year too, since it was both challenging & fun.  Now that we're creeping up in age, the scale is definitely creeping up too.  Gotta have a reason & motivator to stay in shape!

We'd never participated in a race before so it was satisfying to know we could do it & finish (above average time to boot!)

Nothing like jumping over hot coals before passing the finish line!

We may be getting old (and boy, did our bodies feel old the next day!), but we still gotta lot of life left in these old bones!!

Recent happenings

We've been keeping busy around these parts!  Amongst Cameron's birthday & party, both Grammy & Papa flew in to visit from Chicago.  Sadly, Grammy flies home today!  Cam's Minion party ended up being a hit though & everyone had a great time!

This was the easiest theme I've decorated in the seven parties we've hosted for Cam.  

I downloaded random printables I found online & posted them throughout the house.  I love Despicable Me, so it was fun putting everything together.

I labeled all the food with cute names inspired by the movie.  No party would be complete without an adult bevvie, yummy Minion Margaritas!  My mom said, "Oh you made a lemonade for the kids??"  Uh, nope, this "lemonade" would have knocked their socks right off!  If you're looking for a super quick margarita to whip together, this is it.  Just know that it's very strong so you either want to add less tequila or top off each cup with club soda like we did.

We picked up powdered Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts & labeled them "Shrunken Moons."  Super easy & a huge hit with the kids.

 

I was especially proud of my Cookie Robot!!  I just used a toilet paper roll wrapped in white paper that I colored silver with a Sharpie.  I used four small black paperclips for the legs.  Easy peasy!  As always, all of my appetizers & entrees were made the day before & put in throw away pans for a stress free, easy clean-up party.

The hugest hit of all was this alarmingly large water slide we rented.  When the guys delivered it the night before, I was shocked at how tall it was!

 

 

Reese wouldn't go down the slide when she saw it in the morning, but I thought maybe when all of her friends were going down, she'd join them.  She actually ended up going down three times, all of which I missed since I was off doing something else.



 Reese's face in the picture above kills me!  She's such a cautious little thing!

 

Her third time down the slide was not a charm!  She went with Mike & apparently she was not a fan as you can see from the picture above.  She pretty much looks possessed & ready to spit fire!



At the end of the evening, the adults had to get in on the action too.  It was soooo much fun, I could've stayed on for hours, but the lightning forced us off.

 

Since the party was on Sunday, we had to have TVs set up for the random NFL fans!

Other than the party going on, we've been settling in to a new normal since Mike accepted a new job a few weeks ago.  He was with his previous company for a little over ten years, so this was a big decision.  He's still in training now, but once he's ready to work on his own, he'll be traveling up to 70% of the time which immediately makes my stomach knot.  Luckily travel does not include weekends though.

 


My job has always been more flexible & I work earlier hours, so I normally have the evening shift & Mike takes care of the kids & gets them to school in the morning.  When he's traveling, I'll have both shifts so I'm really going to have to be organized & on top of things so I don't lose my mind!  The biggest challenge is that Cam has baseball games or practice multiple evenings & they run pretty late, so those will be especially long days.

I'm just going to take it one day at a time & try not to worry too far ahead!  What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right?!

 

That's what I'm telling myself anyway!

Anyway, I'm just thankful that my SEVEN year old had an amazing time at his party!

 One party down & one to go!  We're already getting ready for Reese's party in November, but this one will be a lot easier. We're doing a combined party with Sammy since they're besties & only one day apart in age.  Chuck E Cheese's will be hosting this one; much less work!!