Let's get dirty!

Ok, so excuse the title, but I thought it was pretty funny. No I am not talking "bedroom" stuff, I am talking "The Dirty Dash". It is a a 5k run, in mud. The whole thing is not in mud, but a good amount. My sister got all of us into it and I mean all of my siblings did it!! Thats right ALL 9 of us! Plus, my Brother-in-law Cameron, my sister-in-law Amanda, and my niece Kylee. We were team "Goonies". My sister and I (and her daughters) made everyone a t-shirt for the big event. I am NOT a runner, in fact, I hate running. But, I had heard this was fun, and boy, it didn't disappoint. First, we let the kids go wild in the 'piglet plunge'. Can you say hysterical!? I don't think any of the kids enjoyed it, except my niece Jeanie - I don't know if she actually liked it, but she was the only one who didn't cry. The older 'piglets' did great, it was just the young ones. I think the pictures say it best - with the fake smiles, and the fact that none of them would close their hands or put their arms down. (Picture is missing: Aspen, Nelea, Morgan, Joey, Jeanie, and William)

Lucas was too funny. I talked it up for weeks, getting him ready for it. On the way there, he was totally on board, SO excited to run and play in mud. I guess I forgot to mention that there was going to be A LOT of people. Cause when it came time, he was pretty nervous. Then, he took his first step in the mud, and it went all the way up past his knees. He freaked. I couldn't put him down the rest of the way. But he did LOVE the humongous slip 'n' slide at the end!

Cousin Aspen getting Lucas ready for the big run!

Before

Now onto the adults.... What can I say? We were a bunch of little kids. Literally, rolling in the mud, throwing people in, throwing mud onto people, climbing over each other - let me explain that one. Through out the course they have obstacles. Many of them were things we had to climb over, well, us Stokers (especially the girls) are pretty short (just in case you didn't know). ;) So, my awesome brother in law Cameron and my sister in law Amanda would get all fours and let us girls use them as stools. They really love us don't they? Well it was all fun and games until I decided to go crazy. I tried to jump over a TINY stream (key word- tried). It was like 2-3 feet wide. I get a running start and I leap over it. I forgot to mention both sides are covered in mud, meaning really slippery. As I take off, my back leg slips and I fall. Yep, I pulled a groin muscle. It hurt!! It even took a couple of weeks to heal. After that, the run was still fun, though I had to be careful and slow. Here is the before picture (missing Ryan and Amanda). (We went with an 80's theme - I totally had the best outfit. Everyone else had awesome socks though. :)

And the after. My favorite part of the picture? Well, First, Michelle and Emily. I don't know what they were doing, but it looks like Emily is telling Michelle "Hey, you got a little something on your face." Then, I love Cameron and Tyler. It is like they are admiring each other, and grinning. Awesome. Thanks Family for a great adventure - I am game for next year!