Hopice 5K

Yesterday morning, we participated in the Hopice 5K. It was fun seeing several of the people who were on our team for the relay. Jeff pushed Juliann in a stroller and I pushed Caroline. Jeff won first in his age division. Juliann was super excited!!

Jennifer and Connor ran fast.

Here come Caroline and I!

Juliann and Caroline ran to meet MeMe and cheer her on as she finished the race.

After the run, they had lots of fun things for the kids to do. Caroline got her hand painted and then enjoyed a ride on the train.

Connor had fun bouncing on the car.

Connor even rode the train with his Mommy!

Juliann and fun with Owen!

As you can tell, Caroline loved the chocolate chip cookies!

Jeff received a medal for winning first in his age division.

Then we went to the cook-off to check out the teams. We saw Popo, so we went to visit him. The girls love Popo!!!

They posed for their annual picture. Here they are last year... what a difference a year makes.

Port Alto

This past weekend we went to the bay. It was a great way to end Spring Break as a family. Caroline didn't remember the bay from last year, but Juliann always wants to go. It was sunny, but quite windy. Caroline had a blast! The Wallis family came down Friday and spent the night. The girls enjoyed playing together. We ate some delicious fried fish and shrimp, thanks to Kyle and Andrea! Juliann and Riley were excited because they got to have their first sleepover!

Caroline and Abby decided to take the jeep for a spin.
We took the bounce house for the kids to play in and it was perfect. They spent a lot of time in there. We might have to leave it at the bay for the summer.

Riley and Juliann playing with Jeff

Sweet Caroline

Juliann was sad when the Wallis family left on Saturday morning because there was no one for her to play with. We found out that her friend Mason was staying at his bayhouse. We invited him and his cousins to come jump. They had a blast together!

We can't wait to go back and enjoy the warm weather!

Tea with Princesses

Last Saturday, I took Juliann to the museum to have tea with the Princesses. Caroline didn't come along because she is too little. Next year she'll be able to join in the fun! Caroline wore her Princess shoes around while Juliann was getting dressed.Juliann wearing her princess dress.
Our "Little Princesses"

Juliann joined Riley and Abby at the table

Best Friends

The girls got a paper with a list of things to do. They couldn't wait to get started.

First they kissed a frog, to see if he would turn into a prince. Then they went to the mirror...

They had fun making crowns and bracelets.

Then they enjoyed tea (lemonade) and cupcakes.

Texas Independence Relay - Part 2

Here are some more pictures from last weekend. Charles is finishing up his first leg, 4.26 miles, ready to slap the bracelet on Jeff. The bracelet was our baton that we passed on. Jeff's ran his first leg at a 7:47 pace for 4.85 miles.
He passed off to Michael who ran 8.78 miles very fast. Michael said the scenery was beautiful and he enjoyed his run.

Michael passed off to Laura who ran 4.66 miles to Shiner.

I ran through Shiner and ended at the Spoetzl Brewery. My pace was 8:40 for my short run.

After my run we went into the gift shop to check it out and hoped to get a beer, but no luck.

Lisa ran 4.14 miles towards Moulton.

In Moulton, our car stopped and enjoyed lunch while the other car kept on running. We saw Nick running up Hwy 95 ready to pass off to Nikki.

We waited to greet Nikki in Flatonia. We sat outside soaking up the sun listening to music.

Lisa ran with Nikki cheering her on down the final stretch.

Tyson was the last one to run his first leg. We took a team picture, minus Charles who was on to the next stop.

Jeff ran his second leg from Weimar to Borden which was 4.69 miles. He handed off to Lisa. Lisa handed off to me and I ran 6.01 miles down 90 into downtown Columbus. It was an awesome finish because Bobby and Sylvia had brought Juliann and Caroline to cheer us on. I got tears in my eyes as I heard Juliann cheering, "Go, Mommy Go!" What an awesome way to end my second run. Thanks for bringing them YaYa and Papi.

It was dark by the time I ran into Columbus. We stopped at Sonic to get a bite to eat then headed to Wallis to shower and sleep on the gym floor for a couple hours. Meanwhile, the rest of the team ran from Columbus to Altair to Eagle Lake, then they headed to Wallis. Once the arrived, they went to shower and sleep and we started running again.

The only picture I have during the night is Jeff handing off to me after he ran 5.43 miles down Hwy 36.

I ran 5 miles to Simonton.

We drove into Katy to Luke's Locker and had breakfast tacos, courtesy of Taco Cabana. They were delish. Then we headed to San Felipe, where we slept in the suburban a couple hours until Laura finished her last leg and was ready to hand off to Jeff.

Jeff ran 5.33 miles and ended in Memoral Park, where he passed off to me.

I ran 5.18 miles through Memorial Park, along the Buffalo Bayou Trail and ending in downtown Houston. This was the captain's leg. Jeff let me run it. It was beautiful and peaceful, a great way to end my last leg!

Yay, I am finshed!!!!

Joe ran towards Pasadena for his last leg.

Nick took off full force for his last leg, which was 5.99 miles.

The Kainer Family

I ran and cheered Nikki on the last part of her last leg.

Tyson ran the last leg of the race, 5.32 miles, ending at The San Jacinto Monument.

We finished the race in a little over 30 hours. We were very excited because that was two hours sooner than our anticipated finish time.

Sweatbanded Heathens

Our team, with our drivers:)

We walked up the monument, where we received our medals and took a finisher photo on the steps. Then we enjoyed some Papa John's pizza.

The Little Family

Afterwards, we headed back to the car to gather all of our belongings to head home. We arrived in El Campo about 5:30. Jeff and I showered and were asleep by 6:30. We slept like a rock. Thanks to the grandparents for taking care of our beauties while we were gone!

Texas Independence Relay - Part 1

Our team, Sweatbanded Heathens ran the Texas Independence Relay this past weekend. It was an awesome experience! I can't wait to do it again next year! Friday night, we attended the Tent Party where we picked up our race packets and enjoyed Lone Star Beer. Then we headed to Pizza Hut for a long dinner.
We had two awesome team members that were our drivers - Anna and Katie

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to the starting line. A norther blew in right before the race. It was finished raining when we started the race, but it was very windy - 20 MPH.

Here are a few photos of the Sweatbanded Heathens before the start.

Lisa Raun, Charles Hermansen, Laura Williams, Joe Aertker, Tyson Duncan, me, Nick Lee, Nikki, Michael, and Jeff

Our start time for the race was 7:48 a.m. The blasted the cannon before we began the race!

We ran the first mile together as a team! It was fun!

Finising up the first mile

Charles ran the first leg which was 4.26 miles.

more pictures of the race to come...