Color Run: Atlanta!

Earlier in April I participated in the Color Run Atlanta.  I originally heard of the Color Run on Pinterest and a friend had a team going so I joined the team and signed up.

 

On the drive up, I was kind of regretting going; it was Easter weekend, I hadn't really been running a lot, and I probably would have backed out had I not already paid for the registration and hotel room. Even Saturday morning my running mate and I were not very enthusiastic. (We later heard of people taking shots and tailgating, at 7 am, maybe that was why we weren't as excited as everyone else!)

  Once we got all checked in we ended up getting excited and were in the front for the first wave. When the the starting shot rang, we figured we would have to run for our lives because we were in front of the first wave of 1500 participants.. Well, we took off so fast only to look behind us at people running a slow, steady pace. We ran through the first two colors, and then ran (when the camera guys were near) and walked.

It was so much fun. Too much fun! You get covered in color, and then at the finish line you get completely colored in the finish line party with 10,000 of your closest color running buddies. K has blonde hair, so she had nice colored highlights for a few days. My dark hair didn't show any but my hair line was hot pink and my with some scrubbing all the color came off of me in time for Easter the very next day.

If there is a Color Run close by, I would recommend going. It is so much fun and it is for a good cause! Atlanta's charity was a local Children's Hospital.

Color CRAZY!!

tips if you are planning on running in the event: 

• Wear sunglasses or goggles if you want color above your neck/chest. The color run volunteers won't really throw powder at your face unless you have sunglasses on or ask for it. And I suggest them at the finish line party too, as you will be constantly bombarded with color from all angles! 

• If you have asthma or a breathing condition, I would wear a bandanna or something over your mouth at the finish line party. Every 15 minutes, everyone throws color powder in the air and it is super thick and hard to breathe (plus it tastes like bitter sidewalk chalk dust) , but if you can hold your breath and are close to the edge of the group, it clears pretty quickly. 

•  Bring a little hand towel to wipe off with, the air blow stations blow a lot of the dust off, but it helps get any loose powder off.

• Take off your color shirt, or anything you want to preserve before you get dusted off.  If you would like to preserve the color in your running shirt, spray it with vinegar and iron it before you wash it.  For more color cleaning ideas and tips, check THIS LINK out!

• Have fun with it! There were teams that were decked out in tutu's and crazy socks, with matching team tee's. It's all ages too! We saw kids/babies in strollers and some Grandma and Grandpa runners too! 

(Sorry about the fuzziness) Our Team: The Fast, The Slow, and The Pretty

Running for the camera :)

The people behind us at the start line (they are facing sideways because that is where the DJ booth was giving out free stuff)

Color-tastic!

What the outside of the finish line color party looks like, we were probably about 100 yards away from the big blob of people, so you can see why the center of all that is a little hard to breathe in.

Potty Training: Epic FAIL

Last week I was reading some articles and tips about potty training your toddler in a day/weekend. I got extremely excited and very motivated. I was sure I could do this, and I knew Addy could too, she is so smart and she is two and half.  I was so excited and went out to target and stocked up for our big potty weekend. We had neon posterboard for a potty sticker chart and the stickers were oversized sticky rhinestones at the request of Princess Addilyn, the best treats and sweets, salty snacks, a new special cup, ballons, everything.

We made the chart and decorated it with curly gift ribbons and glitter markers. We set up the potty and I explained to Addy what the plan was.  SN: We have had the toddler toilet since last July and so she knows what it is, she has even successfully used it once or twice when we catch her making the potty face, so she is up to date and informed on to what it is and what it is used for. 

I followed the tips and made Barbie have an "accident" with a water filled medicine dropper and rushed her to potty in an excited, and positive way. Then I had Barbie use the potty and praised Barbie with stickers and a special Barbie crown. (I will admit to looking like a complete fool talking to Barbie, but I am so desperate to have Addilyn out of diapers, I don't even care).

We used a timer set for 15 minutes and every 15 minutes we sat on the potty. We did this for two hours, and cam up empty. I had been feeding her salty snacks and loading her up with water, hoping for more potty opportunities, but so far it was not panning out. I thought Addy might need some encouragement, so we called Grandpa in NC, she wasn't interested in the phone call and I chatted with my dad for a minute, venting about my unsuccessful attempt so far, and I was distracted for maybe 2 minutes and in that time, dear Addilyn squats and pees on the floor. Addy and I cleaned up the accident, and I took the blame because I was distracted and not watching for the signs. Then I vowed no more distractions and reset the timer.

We played  and sat on the potty when the time went off and it was getting close to Addy's bed time so I slowed down with the water and snacks.We decided to play with her big ball and were rolling it back and forth. When Addy is standing behind the ball it comes up to about the middle of her chest, meaning I cannot see her waist and down. I rolled the ball to Addy and she held it in front of her, she was smiling and rolled it back, just in time for me to notice the puddle. Accident again. Addy laughed and ran, taking off her big girl underwear and running around yelling and laughing.

I was not laughing, I was near tears. All the blog posts and boards and tips and articles were so positive and encouraging and made it seem so easy. It was getting late so I cleaned Addy up, read some books to her to calm her down a little and put her to bed. I cleaned up all our messes and set everything up for Saturday morning, I was determined to try again. I had lost a little hope since Addy showed no real interest and the night had ended with Floor- 2 and Potty - 0.  I was trying not to force something on her she wasn't ready for, but I wanted to try. She will be 3 in the fall and I was really hoping to be done with diapers. She is so smart and we have been reading potty books and making using the toilet a regular part of her life. We talk about potty-ing all the time, but try to do it in a way that doesn't overwhelm her or leave her feeling guilty. I was holding out a little hope for Saturday, although I was a little bruised by Friday night.

Saturday morning came and I took off Addy's diaper and put on some new big girl undies. She looked at me, right in the eye and said, " Please don't make me potty, I won't do it. I don't want to." 

And that was it.

 The end of the potty training weekend. Saturday morning was over before it started. 

Everything I have read and heard says don't push them, they will regress and it will be harder. So I stopped my efforts right then. Part of me was a little let down; I was so excited Friday morning to start potty training and have a mostly trained child by Sunday; but part of me was relieved because I was tired and upset from my Friday night failure. Our day went on as any regular Saturday would, we ended up going to the store and buying some gardening supplies and gardening that afternoon. It started raining mid-afternoon so we came inside and played until bed time. Dustin and I watched a movie (Warhorse, which was surprisingly fantastic) and ate dinner and went to bed.

The potty training weekend intensive was a total bust, but I learned straight from the source that my child wasn't ready and it wasn't going to work. I am glad I have an outstandingly verbal child, because otherwise the whole day could have been a bitter battle of will and we probably would have ended two steps back rather than advancing.

Every time I have to change a diaper or purchase a box of diapers, I just have to remind myself that she will not graduate high school in diapers and that we will get there one day, today is just not that day. 

Being Adventurous!

Sunday morning, as soon as I rolled over and woke up, the first thing I said to D (who was still half asleep) was "Hey, let's go to the beach or something today." He was stunned ( If you know me, you know that I am far from spontaneous when it comes to life. My brain functions on a timeline/itinerary type interface. If something on my daily mental itinerary is altered or changed on short notice, I have to completely rewire and mentally re-plan my timeline for the day, subsequently leaving me stressed and annoyed at the person or thing that changed my plan... control issues much? ) and half way mumbled something.

Then, baby A wandered into our room and we asked her what she wanted to do. She of course said the zoo, but we went to Wild Adventures the day before so we decided not to repeat that again so soon.

Dustin had the great  idea of going on a hike at Stephen Foster Park (in Hamilton County, FL).

I am from the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina so there were always hiking places and state parks close and available. Heck, you could walk around my back yard and neighborhood and it could probably count as hiking.

Down here in the flat lands of South Georgia, hiking is not really interesting ( not interesting if you had been spoiled by the Appalachian Mountains as your backyard growing up) or as big of a tourist draw as I was used to. So we had to drive a little over an hour to get to a state park with hiking and stuff. The drive wasn't bad, but we took our adventurous streak a step further and did it sans GPS. Dustin had a general knowledge of the roads and where it was so it turned out fine, only a couple of u-turns.


We got there around 11am after a quick hiking snack food stock up stop. With our hiking gear, backpacks and puppy dog in tow, we headed out on an 8 mile loop. (ha! with a toddler and a puppy..like we would get 8 miles)

Addy was such a trooper, she hiked all by herself and never asked to be carried, she only wiped out about a 10 or 12 times, and each time, she quickly responded with a laugh or an "I'm okay", even when she fell up hill into a tree. She loved seeing all the caterpillars and lizards and hearing the birds, she wasn't even scared of the snake we saw!


 We were finally getting into the thick of the flat woods when we realized we were in the thick of woods in the thick of tick season. We were having to pull ticks off every couple minutes and with a dog and small child we knew we needed to get out there soon, we took an exit path and ended up in the craft square.


Addy got to use a loom with some guidance (which she was absolutely fascinated by...I see a crafting buddy in my near future! )  and we watched a potter at work and some other crafters.

Addy said to each crafter: "that is so neat, how you do that?"  They were all so excited to have someone so interested in what they did and they explained things on her level and they were just amazing. She never meets a stranger!

 We rounded out our trip with ice cream, a trip to the gift shop and some time on the play ground.  And even Ace buddy (our 1 year old Chocolate lab) enjoyed the slides with Addy.



We ended up hiking about 3ish miles total, and my baby A hiked the first mile and half without being carried at all! (she was only carried for time's sake, we had a snail's pace)



According to D, I didn't even complain very  much and was very "go-with-the-flow" the whole day. And it actually felt pretty nice not to have every last detail planned.



Going on a quick hike in flat land on a weekend doesn't sound too adventurous. But I hate the woods, bugs, snakes, and spontaneous changes in the course of my day or plans so this was a big adventure for our little family.