I'm going to be out of town on Father's Day, and I didn't want Thomas to miss out on having a dad-centric day. So, yesterday, we had a Fowlkes Family Faux Father's Day celebration.
Breakfast in bed
Homemade cards presented to Dad on a homemade tray
Carter is 5 today! We celebrated on Saturday night with a pajama party -- an idea borrowed from the Kimbro's (thanks!). Here's a short slide show of the fun.
Friday was Carter's graduation from Pre-K. They had a whole program including a procession, displays of knowledge such as counting to thirty in English and French, spelling the numbers o-n-e through t-e-n, and performance art (or recited poetry). Finally they had the diploma presentation.
As Elizabeth was out of town unfortunately, I was instructed to take lots of photos. Due to my proximity to Carter (very far away), his proximity to a very sunny back lit window (very close), and my apparently very shaky hand with the zoom on our little digital camera, I got very few good pictures. What I did do was take video of Carter's part of the presentation.
This video is as much for E as anyone else, note I think it is the first video I have ever edited. I did get editing assistance and advice from the aforementioned E, so now I know why Director's Cuts exist. "If you're going to have a hit, then you got to make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05..." (extra credit if you know this reference).
Enjoy.
UPDATE for mobile readers: The video appears to be restricted from mobile devices (I assume due to copyright issues with the music I used), but it works on desktops so I encourage you to watch it from one, I think it's worth it. Thanks, T.
This past weekend, I ran the Warrior Dash with Park and Ashley, and it was quite the event. It is basically a 5k race...with obstacles. It takes place over 2 days, with race waves starting every half hour, with over a hundred people per wave. Lots of people in costume, lots of beer, lots of general merriment. My wave was at 3:30 in afternoon, so we had a chance to watch and absorb before we took to the...street, lake, mud, trails, barbed wire, walls, and fire.
Well, I've had some pretty crazy days, but this was certainly fun!
Eli and a reluctant Carter before the race.
Carter feeling better after getting the official warrior hat and shedding his shirt to look more like lots of other people.
Before the race, looking serene, thinking "this will be interesting, I believe...."
Off we go, with FIRE! The first mile or so was a regular run around the lake/pond. I decided to avoid the crowds and make some decent time, as I was wearing actual running shoes and clothes and not a wedding dress or superhero outfit....
The run around the lake ended with a jump INTO the lake for about a 100 yard wade/swim (see in the background above). Then you slog out of that into 3 sets of burned out cars and a field of tires. And mud.
Over the top.
Just after that you hit a 4' plywood wall to scramble over, then a barbed wire fence about 2' off the ground to scramble under. Through mud. Repeat that FIVE freakin' times! I was okay with the going over, but the going under was hard for an old man.
After a little more trail running (and mud), you hit the BIG wall. After that it is another hill of tires. And mud. Seemingly several more miles of strictly uphill trails. With mud. Then several more obstacles that I was too busy conquering to take pictures of (and they were back in the woods away from spectators, so no photos). A suspended horizontal cargo net 40' long to crawl over (which I busted a$$ coming off of and was bleeding and massively brusied from), a 2' high blackout tent also 40' long that required an army crawl to avoid the giant wood beams in the dark put there to (apparently) knock people unconscious. Then a giant hill covered in plastic and hosed down for a super long slide into a pile of hay and likely another runner. The 18" deep mud pit with barbed wire just at head high you had to crawl under, the other pool of (slightly less) muddy water with floating logs to swim over. Then, finally...
FIRE!
2 sets to be exact, back in front of the adoring crowd. Grace under pressure is all I can say about that photo.
After.
"WTF did I just do to myself?!?!?!"
Park and Ashley before.
And after.
I would highly recommend seeking this race out in your area and getting a BIG group and being warriors. Next year, we are getting more people, and more drunk. It should hurt less. Thanks to Eli and Carter for being a great cheering section and support team!
Our first veggie garden two years ago was moderately successful. Last years was a complete bust, as I wasn't home enough to maintain it. Hoping this year is at least better than last year!
Finally getting around to posting from Easter. Carter didn't get much candy, instead, he got a much needed new bicycle helmet in his Easter box (which he made).
He also got his first game for the Wii. A dancing game, of course!
This year we dyed and tattooed our eggs...
Friends came over to hunt for eggs in the afternoon. Silvie shared her Easter treats, including nail polish, which was a big hit with all the kids.
Carter has become a very good helper in the shop. He helped Thomas with the headboard construction, and then used the scrap as the base for a work of art that is now hanging in the garage.
We finally, finally got a king-sized bed. It's just as life changing as I thought it would be! I no longer mind having Carter pile in with us (except when he sleeps perpendicular to us; the bed is still too small for that). There's room for all three of us - and my expanding belly. It's a dream!
We constructed a new upholstered headboard for our new bed. The only hiccup was when we discovered that the headboard wouldn't fit up our stairs. It took Thomas, Park and Lance to heft it up through the top of our garage and into our master closet via a large access panel. I was really glad that worked so we didn't have to cut it in half after we built it!
It was the first time we tried tufting. It worked out great - and was much more cost effective than buying a headboard.
We have also transformed the nook in our bedroom. We didn't use it much before, so we put in a couch and installed a TV so we now have a secondary lounging area in the house.
King size bed, secondary lounging space... Trying to create space for our new family member. We'll eventually start working on his room, too!
Well, I've had some pretty crazy days, but this was certainly fun!
Eli and a reluctant Carter before the race.
Carter feeling better after getting the official warrior hat and shedding his shirt to look more like lots of other people.
Before the race, looking serene, thinking "this will be interesting, I believe...."
Off we go, with FIRE! The first mile or so was a regular run around the lake/pond. I decided to avoid the crowds and make some decent time, as I was wearing actual running shoes and clothes and not a wedding dress or superhero outfit....
The run around the lake ended with a jump INTO the lake for about a 100 yard wade/swim (see in the background above). Then you slog out of that into 3 sets of burned out cars and a field of tires. And mud.
Over the top.
After a little more trail running (and mud), you hit the BIG wall. After that it is another hill of tires. And mud. Seemingly several more miles of strictly uphill trails. With mud. Then several more obstacles that I was too busy conquering to take pictures of (and they were back in the woods away from spectators, so no photos). A suspended horizontal cargo net 40' long to crawl over (which I busted a$$ coming off of and was bleeding and massively brusied from), a 2' high blackout tent also 40' long that required an army crawl to avoid the giant wood beams in the dark put there to (apparently) knock people unconscious. Then a giant hill covered in plastic and hosed down for a super long slide into a pile of hay and likely another runner. The 18" deep mud pit with barbed wire just at head high you had to crawl under, the other pool of (slightly less) muddy water with floating logs to swim over. Then, finally...
FIRE!
After.
Park and Ashley before.
And after.
