Great Race of Agoura Hills

One of Tori's goals for 2012 was to run a 5K and/or a mud run, so we found a race that was kid-friendly and signed her up. Of course that meant mom was running the 10K and dad was running the 5K with Tori. Of course that also meant Kaylee, Kimber and Tavin wanted to join in on the fun. Kaylee was guilted into the experience because she didn't want her younger sister to run a 5K before she did. Kimber and Tavin just thought it sounded fun. The training was interesting. I was running in the mornings for myself and then running in the afternoons to help the kids. At one point someone saw me running with my 4 children around my neighborhood (while pushing the double jogging stroller so little kids could take breaks) and thought I looked like I wanted to hurt someone. I probably did. Running is my peaceful, happy place and my children were complaining about something they WANTED to do. So, I madea "no complaints or I'll cancel your race" rule and things got better. I no longer looked or felt like I needed to hurt someone and children actually started to enjoy the experience. The race actually happened on March 24, 2012 in a city that is close to LA. I ran the 10K first. Then Kevin ran the 5K with Kaylee and Tori. Kimber ran the Kids' 1 Mile all by herself and then THE ENTIRE FAMILY (that cost $120) ran the family fun run (1 mile) so that Tavin could run a race. He ran the entire mile without stopping and even beat the entire family to the finish line ;-) We sure love him and now he thinks he's the fastest runner in the family - even after watching me run marathons...

I had just finished the 10K and we were walking to the start of the 5K.

The entire family - ready to run.

Kaylee and Tori

at the finish line - I am so happy for them! This is a great accomplishment to boost their confidence. They are starting to understand that they can do hard things - with hard work and persistence.