Gala-vanting with the Girls..

A few weeks ago all of my running girlfriends gathered gala-style (not to be confused with gangnam style) to celebrate our dear friend, Meggie Dials. You see, Meggie ran for the Luekemia and Lymphoma Society's Woman of the Year and you can read all about it here. She has done some pretty incredible fundraising for this charity in such a short time frame that we'd be remiss to pass up this opportunity to support Meggie and celebrate all she has done.

We all got dressed up and met in a penthouse suite beforehand to raise our glasses to Meggie...Salud!

Cocktailing

Gun showing

Step and repeating...

There may or may not have been some dancing. Or splits. Or handstand push ups. Let me just tell you this...it was quite possibly one of the most fun evenings I've had with these ladies!

Sure was fun to get out of our running clothes and into our fancy clothes to share a wonderful evening together. We started out as Perfect Strangers and here we are, raising each other up as if we were sisters. So proud of you, Meggie, and all you do!

CF pics...

I know I've already blogged about GLOC (Gorgeous Ladies of CF competition) but some professional pics recently came out and I wanted to share them. Plus, I use this blog as my family's own journal...so this is more for me than anyone else.

Rowing

 Looking for a judge

 Struggling in the finals

 That moment where your best friend carries you to the finish line...probably one of my most favorite pics of Jaime and myself. 

 My sweat sisters

 And this past Sunday was Bump Day at the In.dianapolis Motor Speedway (the day when Ind.y 500 qualifiers can race to bump themselves up on the starting line-up). It was also a day for the inaugural 'Throwdown at the Brickyard' CF competition. Let me tell you how exciting it was to be among race fans and CrossFit fans at the same time. Talk about a lot of energy!

Mike and the girls came out to watch me then watch the cars.

Jaime competed, too.

Daddy forgot the ear plugs and Buggy wasn't a fan.

The girls have been to the track before but this was the first time watching Indy cars.

Team Reebok CrossFit Finish Line: Paul, Clint & Clara

First wod was literally on the track. Such an amazing opportunity that I just couldn't pass up! Run 400m, 100 squats, run 400m, 75 squats, run 400m, 50 squats, run 400m. That's a total of 1 mile running and 225 air squats. Let's just say I was limping for the next 5 days from this workout!

Third wod was clean & jerk 10 times, run 40yards, C&J 9 times, run, on and on down to 1 rep. We were working out on grass, which none of us have ever done before. And we all dropped the weight after it was overhead. Heavy weight + dropping onto grass = large divets and bending weight plates. And it was HOT. On this particular workout I ripped my hands in three places...and they were LARGE rips. Had to sleep with my hands doused in A.quafor and gloves for the next week to heal them.

Love this picture because it shows my shoulder shrug in my clean (read good form that we practice over and over again). I modified my weight but that didn't mean it was easy. This was #65 pounds.

The second wod was the one I feared most, as it was a lot of kettle bell movements that I wasn't confident in. WOD: 25 box jump overs, 25 one armed snatches #35 on each arm, 40 yards KB farmer's carry, 50 KB swings and another 25 box jump overs. I was SO happy when this one was over and even happier I did all of those one armed snatches unbroken. Proud of myself.

I can't promise this will be the last of the CF pictures any time soon. I've got another competition in 2 weeks (this time it's team, thank goodness!). More to come soon!

Super sisters...

These girls do everything together. And I'm cherishing these moments knowing they won't last forever. Maybe not even more than a few minutes. But I relish the time they are sweet and kind to each other.

When these girls were babies Mike and I had to pack a diaper bag for them with change of clothes, diapers & wipes and toys. These days they pack their own activity bags, complete with lovies, games, colors and other miscellaneous junk (they get angry when I say that, they prefer to call it treasures). Sometimes their backpacks weigh more than they do, but they know they are responsible for carrying them.

The weather was in the 80's there for a while (it's 50 as I type this) and the girls were getting some great outdoor time in with their new nanny! More on her later (the girls adore her!). 

 This little guy. He may not be family but he's the closest thing the girls have to a brother. Laney and Sammy could pass as siblings and when they are together? Fughettaboutit. They are giggling and playing and wreaking havoc. It's truly adorable to watch them together. Here they were finishing off a (rather large) cookie a la mode.

 Pushing their own miniature carts in daddy's favorite store: Trader J.oe's.

Laney received all 6 of the chipmunks for xmas several years ago and they remain to be her favorite toys. They go most places with her (if they fit in her activity bag!). Simon is missing...if anyone has spotted him can ya let me know? Mkay, thanks. We hear about Simon on a daily basis and can only say he's off looking for acorns for so long, you know?

 More outside time...

 What, you don't dress up as a super hero for outside play time? That's weird.

 Laney started swim lessons last month. She's not so into it. But it's baby steps, right? She has the rest of her life to swim laps (if she follows in her daddy's footsteps she'll be just fine).

Our road is preparing to be built out (paved and building more homes). Each day we never know what we'll come home to find out front. This was one of the largest pieces of equipment we've seen. Talk about an earth mover!