This past Saturday, Paul and I dragged Abby out of bed at 7 AM for a 5K run at the Denver Botanic Gardens in Chatfield.  The event was called Color Me Rad and is named such because at 5 stations throughout the race, we were hit with color bombs (dyed corn starch) or sprayed with a liquid version of the concoction.

This is me with my friend, Becca.  She was the one who convinced me to do this run.

Abby hangs on to one of the many, many beach balls flying through the air before the start of the run

Waiting for the run to start

Abby and Gwen getting a taste of being color bombed

Kids ran free with a registered adult and the color bombers really targeted the little ones. As we ran through the color stations, we saw the color bombers pointing at Abby and any of the younger runners and yelling at each other to "Get them! Get them!"

Since the run was only 5K, even with walking most of the way, start to finish took less than an hour. Just something fun and crazy to do as a family on a weekend. We all had a good time and look forward to another similar run in May.

Lucas and Becca - the before picture

Lucas and Becca - the after picture

Paul, Abby, and me - the before picture

Paul, Abby, and me - the after picture

Abby and Gwen - the before picture

Abby and Gwen - the after picture

What our backs looked like after the run

Another look at the result of color bombardment.  Not sure how long it will take for that pink to come out of Gwen's blond hair!

Our friend, Kim, talking with her daughter, Gwen

Colors covered our faces and scalps. Two showers later and there are still colors on our skin we can't get off!

Our friend, Bob, recently moved to Golden and he invited Randi and our whole family to spend a relaxing day exploring downtown Golden. 

We ate a light lunch and hiked a trail near Bob's condo.  At the top of the ridge, we enjoyed the sprawling view of this little town.

Look, there's the Coors Brewing company.

After the hike, we went creek jumping.  Everyone but me, that is, since I'm quite afraid of water.  Luckily, the girls were in good hands and stayed in very shallow water.  Creek jumping seems to be a favorite Golden activity on a hot summer day because the creek was pretty crowded and there were a lot of people out strolling and watching the jumpers, plus musical entertainment right along the water.





And why two adults decided it would be a good idea to go head first down a kids' twisty slide, I don't know.  All we heard was, "Ow, ow, ow!" as Paul skinned his elbow coming around a bend.

As Abby and her friends from daycare transitioned to Kindergarten, each heading to different elementary schools, there were a couple of dear, dear friends with whom we needed to maintain contact and see regularly.  Emory, Olivia, and Abby have been such constants in each others' lives up until now it seemed tragic to have to separate them.  So, we decided to sign the girls up for soccer and Emory's dad and aunt are coaching the team.

After two short weekday practices, the girls had their first 4 vs 4 game last Saturday.  I believe every photo I took of Abby showed her with a giant grin on her face.  All the girls had a blast.  I didn't think anyone even cared to pay attention to the scores as we all enjoyed just watching the teams play, but Abby told me yesterday that the final score was 9 to 2.  We knew they were on the losing team, but winning or losing didn't matter to them in the least.  In the end, every single player was treated as a winner and every kid got to run through the winners' tunnel created by parents and friends to congratulate the players.

Emory was out of town for the first game, but in watching Abby and Olivia find every opportunity throughout the game to catch-up, we know this was the best thing we could have done for these good friends.  Not only do they have each other still, they are expanding their circle and building friendships with the rest of the girls on their team.

A very happy child, pumped up for her first soccer game

Abby felt like she was flying

At this age, soccer is not very strategic.  No one is assigned a position to play.  Both teams more or less swarmed around the ball back and forth across the field.

First let's all run in this direction....

and now let's all run in THIS direction.

The ever-present grin on all the girls' faces throughout the game told us they LOVED it out there on the field

Blue team helps the white team score a goal, unfortunately.

Abby up against the entire white team!

Blue team zeroes in on the ball

"Oh, the ball's in front of me..."

Lining up for the kick-off

Half-time

The main reason we signed the girls up for soccer was to maintain this strong friendship they have built.

Coach Rob makes sure the girls understand which direction they're supposed to go

The funniest and sweetest thing about watching kids this age play was seeing how polite the girls are.  No one really seemed to understand the concept of taking the ball away from someone else.

Huddle or social break?