Dance like a lion

Molly has been taking dance classes for three years now. We're not doing competition, and she's not a mini Ginger Rodgers or anything, but she has a good time. Plus, this year, I scheduled her to be in the same class as Melese, my friend Terah's daughter. It worked out quite perfectly because Terah and I could hang out for an hour each week while the girls danced. Sometimes we would bring our younger daughters (Sydney and Charlotte) to play, and sometimes we'd just sit in the car and talk for an hour.

But, as most dance classes do, this one ended in a recital in June. We drove up to Lawrence a couple weeks ago for the big event. The theme was a showbiz theme, and Molly's class danced to music from The Lion King. So, of course, they had to dress up like lions. These costumes dropped feathers like there was no tomorrow. I had piles of them around my house, so I made a rule that the costume could only be put on at the recital and rehearsal.

Backstage at the recital is always crazy, but once the girls got dressed with their makeup, I made Molly and Melese pose for a picture.

Molly as the Lion King.

Two adorable lions.

They had dress rehearsal first, then a break, then the recital. We are allowed to get up close to get pictures during the dress rehearsal. Unfortunately, I still don't really know how to use all the functions on my camera, so the pictures aren't the greatest.

Fitting it all in on the 4th

I love the 4th of July. Like, really love it. I'm not sure why. It might be because it's warm, unlike the other big holidays (aka Thanksgiving and Christmas). Or, it might be because it's been the one holiday where Cory and I have had the same tradition for practically our entire dating and married life. Or, it's just that it is fun. It is a fun, fun holiday.

This year, we had plans to do the same traditions that we do every year (Freedom Run and parade), then we found out the exciting news that Aunt Amber and her boyfriend Tom were going to be in town. Wanting to spend as much time as possible with them over the holiday weekend, we decided to tack on a 4th of July BBQ party at our house that same evening.

On July 3rd, we were talking with Papa, who had signed up for the Freedom Run, but then was told by his doctor that he shouldn't run anymore. So, we were trying to convince Molly that she should "run" the race with Papa. She wasn't having it. In fact, when asked why she didn't want to run it, she simply stated that she had already run a 5K. Apparently, she's a one-and-done girl. With 5Ks. Hmmmm ... we may have to work on that one later.

Anyway, out of the blue, Charlotte says, "I want to run, Papa!" Now, Charlotte's 3. And, I didn't believe for a second that she would really actually do it. I mean, she's 3.

The morning of the 4th, we all wake up bright and early, and Charlotte puts on her running clothes. I'm still not convinced. With as many races as Cory and I do, this one is special because it's the first one that either of us ever ran. I usually run the 10K while Cory runs the 5K. I always try to race it pretty hard. Well, not the year I was pregnant. That one I took kinda easy. This year, I really wanted to do well. I've been training even harder and gotten even faster. I was almost a little nervous.

We get down to the race and pick up our packets. Charlotte is still convinced that she is going to run, so we go ahead and sign her up. I'm a little mad at myself because I didn't take pictures of the packet sign up or anything like I did with Molly. Again, I didn't actually think this was happening. We pinned her number on and then met up with Amber who was going to run the 5K.

Now, the parade is also in the morning of the 4th. It's usually quite hectic for us to finish the race, get home, shower and get back before the parade starts. And, we have a corner that is ours. I mean, really, they should just put a sign on it saying "Laffety and Friends Parade Viewing." I'm not sure why they don't. But, since they don't, we have to place our chairs there early enough to save our spots. So, in the midst of picking up our packets, getting a number for Charlotte and meeting up with Amber, we also had to carry a bunch of chairs from the back of the car and put them out on our corner. And, I had to pee.

It was a crazy hectic morning, especially when we saw chairs had already been put in our spot. How dare they! Turns out, it was our friend Chris, who had gotten there at 5:30am to put out chairs. I honestly didn't think he would've gotten up that early, so I was very upset at the imaginary person who had the audacity to put their chairs in our spot!

Needless, to say, it was crazy and by the time I made it through the porta-potty line and to the starting line, I didn't even have a chance to turn my Garmin on before the race started. Plus, my iPod has been acting funky lately. If anyone has any tips on how to get it to keep playing music after I clip it to my shirt or after it goes to black screen, please let me know! I ran the first 3 miles with my iPod in my hand.

The one picture I got before the race started.

Despite all that chaos, I actually ran a really good race. I was keeping a steady pace of 7:09 and feeling pretty darn good. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that the weather was amazing. Low 60s for a 4th of July race?!?! Unheard of! I started struggling a bit on the second loop (the 10K is essentially two loops of the 5K course), but my pace stayed below 7:15. On the second loop, I actually got to see Charlotte and my dad twice on the course. They were walking, but looked really good. When I came up behind Charlotte and said hi, she tried to run with me. I had to tell her to stay with Papa.

I had a goal of 48:00 for my race. When I looked down at my Garmin with a mile left, I knew I had that in the bag with time to spare. When a girl passed me around mile 5, I didn't push too hard to try to pass her back. This would later come back to bite me in the butt. I almost puked coming up the last big hill, but turned the corner to the finish line and felt awesome. I knew I was going to be way under my goal. I kept going, but didn't push too hard. I waved at my family when I saw them cheering.

I crossed the finish line feeling pretty awesome with a time of 44:47. A PR by a minute and a half. (Previous PR was 7.5 years ago.) I was way under my goal, and I knew for sure I'd medal. They give medals for the top 5 places in each age division. I went to the timing table to get my official time before making my way to my family. There, I learned the cold, hard facts. I was in fact 6th place in my age group. 6th. And, they give medals for the top 5. Blech! And, the worst part? I was only 5 seconds away from the 5th place girl. 5 seconds?!?! Remember how I was going to kick myself for not trying to pass that girl? Or, taking time to wave? Plus, I found out that I was the 10th female finisher overall, but 6th in my age group. That meant that 6 of the top 10 finishers were in my age group. Talk about stiff competition. Geez. Not that I'm still obsessing on it or anything 4 days later ...

Molly had fun hanging out with Tom while we all ran.

While I was pouting over my 6th place finish. Yes, I admit I was pouting. We waited for Charlotte and Papa to finish. I had passed them for the second time right before I got to the 5 mile marker, so I knew they were on their way. When they finally turned the corner, you should've heard the cheers that erupted from our section. Eventually, even the people around us got in on the action. I'm getting a little teary-eyed just thinking about it. It almost made me forget about my 6th place finish.

My dad said Charlotte ran for almost 3/4 of the first mile, then ran the last .1 mile to the finish line. She walked the rest of the time, but never asked to be picked up or carried. She finished in 1:02:19. My 3-year-old. I was so proud.

All the runners. Amber did awesome and PR'd in her 5K. Cory had a goal of a 21:00 5K. He clocked in at 21:05 and placed 7th in his age group. We're both kicking ourselves for those darn 5 seconds. And, yes, Charlotte does have a mouth full of muffin. Running a 5K makes a girl hungry.

6-year-old rerun day

Molly turned 6 on May 28th. I know, I already wrote about her party here, but I decided to include a few pictures from what we did on her actual birthday. Because I was tired, but also because it went over so very well with Charlotte, I kind of stole a few ideas from Charlotte's actual birthday day.

We started the day with breakfast at Papa Pancakes. This was the first one Molly's been able to attend in a long time, what with school and all. As a bonus surprise, my sister-in-law, Aime, came with my adorable nephew Thomas in tow. The girls were super excited about to see their baby cousin.

Molly with Aime, Thomas and Gigi.

While we were eating, one of the waiters came over to deliver a birthday card to Molly. It had been left by two of our favorite servers, Corey and his wife Alyssa. Molly loved both of them and was sad when she couldn't come see them anymore. I thought it was incredibly sweet that they took the time to leave a card for her, especially considering neither of them work there anymore!

Molly with Papa. (In the corner of the picture you can see the card from Corey and Alyssa.)

Next up on our special day was a trip to the mall to pick out something from the Disney Store. In a small world coincidence, we happened to run into her friend Riley at the Disney Store. That made for some fun play time.

She tested out a couple things ... (I was rooting for Miss Piggy)

But, finally decided on Merida from Brave.

The next stop was the nail salon. Can't have a birthday without getting your nails painted.

Molly said her favorite part was having the guy hit her legs. Me, too, Molly. Me, too.

Charlotte sat with me and got her toenails painted, too.

And, because we were at the mall, we had to stop by the carousel. I got dizzy, again, but managed to keep down my breakfast.

Molly picked a dolphin.

Charlotte, a bear.

We ended up going over to my friend Alyisa's mom's house because Alysia was in town from Wichita. Molly and Charlotte had a blast playing with her daughter Rylee. Then, we headed to dinner with Cory once he got home from work. I'll give you one guess where we went?

Noodles & Co.

I may have stolen the ideas from Charlotte's celebration day, but Molly had a blast, and really, that's all that matters, right? (That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.)