Bloomies

This Sunday was the Bloomsday "run" in Spokane...I put quotes around "run" because we decided to bring Anna and Lily along for their first ever Bloomsday, so we walked most of the way and finished almost last...but don't worry, we had fun doing it. The day always starts waaaay too early, so we can catch the bus and don't have to drive into downtown Spokane. Anna pretty much summed up how we all felt at that hour...


We've done Bloomsday for the past 5 years or so (missing last year because I was too pregnant to want to walk 10K), and I was excited to bring Anna along this year. Beka and Lily (Tim's sister-in-law and niece) decided to come, too, and we met up with our friends the Pauls and Ockers along the way. My wife, being an Ironman, ended up finishing the race and getting back to the beginning to start again with us slow people in the stroller group...lucky her, she got to do the whole thing twice. For the rest of us, once was enough. :P

Doing Bloomsday with an 8 month old and a 2 year old was an interesting experience, but honestly it went a lot better than I expected. Anna and Lily rode in the Burley, and Lily was a patient little angel, letting Anna fall asleep on her shoulder and fetching her binky for her when she decided she needed it. Poor Lily...I'm afraid Anna was less than cooperative and alternately fussed, slept on Lily, or tried to steal Lily's cookies. Us adults took turns pushing the Burley, which gets amazingly heavy when going up Doomsday hill.


Around mile 6, we also found out that Anna will in fact drink cold milk if she is hungry enough, despite her usual demand that it be as hot as her little mouth can stand. Nursing in a sports bra was simply not to be attempted.


By mile 7 or so, the girls both got tired of being in the Burley and decided to be carried and/or walk, which significantly slowed our progress...but let's face it, we weren't exactly competing for the Top 100 spots anyway. ;o) We finished in 2:44, which is basically last, but a real accomplishment with two little girls in tow and me starting to get sick with the flu halfway through.


Here's our "little" group, at the end, celebrating our victory. Maybe next year we'll get back to our normal finish time of around 2 hours (still not competing for the Top 100 by any means), but in the meantime I'm glad that Anna and Lily can call themselves Bloomies!