Run or Dye

Several months ago Sam and I bought Groupons to Run or Dye, one of the many 5k color runs coming through DC this summer. I kept forgetting about it, and when I would remember, we would say "oh, we better start running, huh?" (Yes, I did run a half marathon in November.) When it finally came down to it, neither of us had gone running, and I never made a plan for what to do with Bria that morning. So we decided to just make it a family affair! I'm so glad it was such a low-key family event, because we had a blast! We brought the stroller, but Bria walked/ran well over half of it, just taking quick breaks here and there. We were absolutely covered by the end, and I can attest that not all of the color washes out of your clothes. To prove how much fun we had, Bria keeps asking if we can do a color run every day.

Before

. . . and after

Mothers Day in Luray

For Mothers Day weekend, we took a tiny family trip out to the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia. We left Saturday after soccer and drove west to Harrisonburg where we explored the town before grabbing dinner and heading to our hotel.

In the morning, we enjoyed the hotel buffet and the hotel pool before heading out. We drove by a pretty awesome looking playground, so we let Bria run around like crazy for about an hour.

 Then we navigated some of the most beautiful country roads (crossing the Shenandoah River-- you can bet we were all belting John Denver) to arrive in Luray. We went on the tour of the Luray caverns. I was a total sucker for all our guides jokes and just soaked up all the information about the amazing stalactites and stalagmites. Virginia had very heavy rains for about three days before we visited, so the caves were very wet, dripping all over us, with puddles everywhere. We just tried not to think about how deep we were underground.

Party Girl

When Bria and I started planning her birthday party and the guest list started heading towards 30 kids, I came up with a brilliant idea. Instead of a classic birthday party where I would somehow attempt to entertain that many children, we held her party at a local park, and I brought cake-- that's it! The invite suggested a time to arrive, the time we'd eat cake, and then told guests to stay and play as long as they wanted. It was genius! By a stroke of incredible luck, the previously-reserved park pavilion was vacated by a large group right as we arrived. It couldn't have gone better. Bria had such a fun time running around with all her different friends. I loved watching her introduce friends from different social circles and see her surrounded by so many people she adores. A perfect way to celebrate our sweet girl's big day.