Saturday April 30th we decided to wake up at 6:00AM, get dressed in multiple layers of clothing, wake our kids up (I know, who does that on a Saturday morning?), pack up 2 strollers and a backpack full of snacks so we could ride the max train to downtown Portland.
I know, you're thinking 'Seriously??-- You're crazy. However, we weren't waking up at the crack of dawn just for the heck of it. We were packing all our kids and their crap up and riding downtown to walk in the March of Dimes. Volunteers in the walk agree to raise/ donate money to help babies. It was for a great cause-- and since Key Bank happens to be one of the top sponsors -- and my husband just so happens to work for Key Bank... he not only signed HIMSELF up, but volunteered ME as well. Thoughtful, wasn't that? :)
I fully admit that I wasn't too thrilled to be getting up before the sun AND waking our kids up on one of the ONLY days we get to sleep in.... BUT it was for a wonderful cause. In addition to that reason it was a family adventure as well.
We had to be down to the max park and ride by 7:15AM, which lucky for us is basically across the street from our apartments near the Clackamas Town Center Mall. We made it with plenty of time to spare and managed to remember everything we needed to. Quincy was thoroughly excited to ride the "train". He couldn't wait!
Since it was so early, it was still a bit chilly, thus the reason my children look like they are bundled up for a winter snowstorm. :) Can you not see the anxious anticipation in Quincy's face as he awaits for the train to arrive?
Although Quincy was excited for the train to get to our stop, he was NOT as thrilled to be taking a picture with me on it... hence the 'Get that camera outta my face' expression. I guess, in his defense it WAS still a tad bit early.
The picture below sort of says it all... Tyler and I look all bright eyed and bushy tailed, Quincy looks thrilled to be drinking his juice, and Braxton doesn't know what's going on... nor does he really appear to care. This family snapshot was taken BEFORE the walk started.
It is a great thing we don't have an AFTER picture.....
This is how our walk went: since Key Bank is one of the big sponsors we got to line up at the start with other Key Bank walkers. It was freezing cold and the wind was blowing, but luckily it was just clouds and we encountered no rain during our whole walk. So, let me tell you that BOTH Tyler and I were under the impression that there was a 3K, 5K, and 10K. After gaining this knowledge we decided that for our family the best walk would be the 5K. About a quarter mile into the walk there were 2 signs one that pointed east that said 10K and one that pointed west that read 3K. We were momentarily confused because neither of us saw a sign for the 5K, however it was a huge group of people walking so we just followed along thinking that there would be a sign a little further for the 5K.
Oh-- how wrong we were. After getting to our 1st checkpoint Tyler and Quincy made a pit stop in the portable potty's-- Quincy thought they were nasty, and rightfully so! Along our walk by the Willamette River we saw a Sea Lion... which is pretty rare to see them that far inland, but there he was just one lonely Sea Lion enjoying all the attention from the walkers. When we had followed the river east and then crossed over the river heading back west.... we passed through checkpoint 4, finally I asked a lady: "How many checkpoints are there?" She replied with a cheerful "8". WHAT?!? At this point Tyler and I were getting pretty tired of pushing the boys in their strollers and our feet were starting to hurt a little. Needless to say, we did manage to finish the 10K...which ended all uphill (*lovely*) and we did it in a mere hour and a half!
We were completely exhausted by the end, and I don't think I felt like walking for a few days after, but we DID IT!
I know, you're thinking 'Seriously??-- You're crazy. However, we weren't waking up at the crack of dawn just for the heck of it. We were packing all our kids and their crap up and riding downtown to walk in the March of Dimes. Volunteers in the walk agree to raise/ donate money to help babies. It was for a great cause-- and since Key Bank happens to be one of the top sponsors -- and my husband just so happens to work for Key Bank... he not only signed HIMSELF up, but volunteered ME as well. Thoughtful, wasn't that? :)
I fully admit that I wasn't too thrilled to be getting up before the sun AND waking our kids up on one of the ONLY days we get to sleep in.... BUT it was for a wonderful cause. In addition to that reason it was a family adventure as well.
We had to be down to the max park and ride by 7:15AM, which lucky for us is basically across the street from our apartments near the Clackamas Town Center Mall. We made it with plenty of time to spare and managed to remember everything we needed to. Quincy was thoroughly excited to ride the "train". He couldn't wait!
Since it was so early, it was still a bit chilly, thus the reason my children look like they are bundled up for a winter snowstorm. :) Can you not see the anxious anticipation in Quincy's face as he awaits for the train to arrive?
Although Quincy was excited for the train to get to our stop, he was NOT as thrilled to be taking a picture with me on it... hence the 'Get that camera outta my face' expression. I guess, in his defense it WAS still a tad bit early.
The picture below sort of says it all... Tyler and I look all bright eyed and bushy tailed, Quincy looks thrilled to be drinking his juice, and Braxton doesn't know what's going on... nor does he really appear to care. This family snapshot was taken BEFORE the walk started.
It is a great thing we don't have an AFTER picture.....
This is how our walk went: since Key Bank is one of the big sponsors we got to line up at the start with other Key Bank walkers. It was freezing cold and the wind was blowing, but luckily it was just clouds and we encountered no rain during our whole walk. So, let me tell you that BOTH Tyler and I were under the impression that there was a 3K, 5K, and 10K. After gaining this knowledge we decided that for our family the best walk would be the 5K. About a quarter mile into the walk there were 2 signs one that pointed east that said 10K and one that pointed west that read 3K. We were momentarily confused because neither of us saw a sign for the 5K, however it was a huge group of people walking so we just followed along thinking that there would be a sign a little further for the 5K.
Oh-- how wrong we were. After getting to our 1st checkpoint Tyler and Quincy made a pit stop in the portable potty's-- Quincy thought they were nasty, and rightfully so! Along our walk by the Willamette River we saw a Sea Lion... which is pretty rare to see them that far inland, but there he was just one lonely Sea Lion enjoying all the attention from the walkers. When we had followed the river east and then crossed over the river heading back west.... we passed through checkpoint 4, finally I asked a lady: "How many checkpoints are there?" She replied with a cheerful "8". WHAT?!? At this point Tyler and I were getting pretty tired of pushing the boys in their strollers and our feet were starting to hurt a little. Needless to say, we did manage to finish the 10K...which ended all uphill (*lovely*) and we did it in a mere hour and a half!
We were completely exhausted by the end, and I don't think I felt like walking for a few days after, but we DID IT!
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