Maybe The Best Weekend Ever!

Me with my kiddos before the Color Blaze 5k!

It's Tuesday and I feel like I am finally catching my breath from an insanely busy and fun weekend! I'll start off with a confession. Juice fast ended for me on Day 14 and for Fred on day 16. We didn't make the goal of 30 days like we wanted but we gave it a good shot and feel great. We are still juicing but also eating now. We are definitely eating pretty clean too, it's amazing how juicing makes you want to eat better. We got our first week of veggies from the CSA we joined and have been enjoying all of the yummy greens, especially the chives!

We ran/walked the Color Blaze 5k in Springfield, IL on Saturday! Our kiddos went too! We met up with Danyelle and her family along with another friend and her daughter. They gave out one bag of color powder to each person registered and since we are all about 12, the color fight ensued. So yeah, we were all pretty colorful before the run even began. Who doesn't love a face full of colored powder!?!?

Our friend, Leslie!

The line was HUGE. They were letting people go in waves every 5-10 minutes but it still felt like the line wasn't moving at all. We decided to mosey up closer to the front and blend in. Okay, we totally cut in line but really I don't think anyone noticed or cared. Once we got moving, it took about an eighth of a mile before my kids were asking to walk. Then, my son fell and skinned his ankle a little bit but was a trooper and continued to hobble along. Not long after, my daughter was taken out by a woman who, once righted herself, didn't bother to see if the small child she ran over was alive, maimed, or scarred for life. Luckily, she was fine. Now I'm not going to say that my daughter had no fault in this. She tends to weave when she runs (we are working on that) but this was a race FILLED with small kids, parents with strollers and lots of walkers so running all out was kind of pointless really. Especially since it wasn't a timed event but a fun run.

 The color stations were fun! Be sure to keep your mouth closed and sunglasses on! Somewhere in the middle of the course we went through a neighborhood. People were sitting out watching as we all passed by in our rainbow parade. One couple had their sprinkler out and invited the kids to run through it. Even some adults took a turn.

By mile two, Fred and I were each carrying a child piggy-back. I figure it was just more exercise. We were still having fun. The 'finish line' was a bit of a dud. Which is code for there really wasn't a finish line at all which made it a bit anticlimactic and a little confusing. Fred and I were looking around and asking, "Is that it? Are we done?" So yeah, they really need to work on that. I felt robbed of my dream of all four of us running across the finish line, holding hands, Chariots of Fire playing in the background... it was nothing like that.

We had an ABSOLUTE BLAST though! This was the perfect event to attend as a family. Best part, the event benefitted the burn center in Springfield which is where serious burn victims from all over Illinois go for treatment.

Our super fun weekend continued with possibly the best veggie burger I've ever had. We stopped to eat in Springfield before heading home. Fred used his phone to search for a restaurant with vegetarian options and found The Brickhouse Grill and Pub. One review said, "best veggie burger ever" so we were sold. The review was correct. They actually have two veggie burgers which is unheard of here in the middle of cow and corn country or the Midwest. We each ordered one and then shared. They were both excellent burgers but the black bean burger was phenomenal!

We drove home and because we were totally covered in color from head to toe, thought it would be a great idea to go to Menard's. We wanted to check out play centers for the kids and also get the last few things needed for our raised garden bed.

Fred (The Sheik), myself, and our kiddos before
the run started. 

For those of you who don't know, Fred is incredibly good at getting great deals. He has no shame in talking anyone down in price on anything. When we were dating, he actually asked if we could go to lunch as 'Dutch Treat'... you know, where you each pay your own. Well, he's actually Dutch, so the ability to be frugal, (okay he's downright cheap), is in his DNA. Why am I telling you this? Because you need to know why I didn't even flinch when he asked the manager at Menard's how much more money we could get off of the playset, which was set up as a display and already clearanced, if he came in and took it apart himself instead of them taking it apart. The answer was another $200... turns out my husband is a frugal genius. Best part, we borrowed my dad's flatbed trailer to haul it so Fred actually only had to take the swing part off from the 'fort' part in order to get it home. It was back together and being played on in a very short amount of time.

Oh, and as a side note FYI, you can get FREE furniture from furniture stores if you are buying other items and actually ask them, "What else can you throw in?" Yes, I watched that happen. I have a jewelry armoir to prove it.

So, great time at the Color Blaze 5k, new play center for the kids, and our organic, raised bed garden is in! This really was maybe the best weekend ever!

Peace, Love, Happiness!
~Bekah

Finished product!

Have you done a Color Blaze before? What did you think?