The Color Run

What is the Color Run?

The Color Run is a five-kilometer, un-timed race in which thousands of participants are doused from head to toe in different colors of powder at each kilometer: blue, yellow, pink, and orange. The fun continues at the finish line with a gigantic “Color Festival,” using more colored powder to create happiness and lasting memories, not to mention millions of vivid color combinations.

 Here are the before and after shots of us at the color run.

Everyone that participates is given a bag of color to throw around at the end of the race party. They have a dj out there and everyone's having a lot of fun.

Should you run The Color Run with your Kids?

So, I can't say yes do it without telling you the truth about the clean up. It was tons of fun and the kids will hopefully remember it forever, but it was hard to clean up. If you need to push your kid in a stroller then don't do it. Your stroller will be ruined. The site says that it doesn't stain and it washes out and that is half true. It will eventually wash out. It took dawn detergent to get it off our skin. I had to wash our clothes twice. I had to wipe down the car and seat belts. 

If you are going to do it take towels and wipes. If you can take a change of clothes. As you are leaving the run there will be people using leaf blowers to blow the color off. Get in line and get the color blown off, because it will save you a lot of clean up later.

Disclosure - I received free entries for two of us in exchange for a review and then Will Run for Pasta was gracious enough to give us some entries.

Travel Fail

Do you ever let your kids skip school to go have a fun day? We decided to keep our kindergartner home from school one Monday and take him skiing up on Mt. Hood. It would be an opportunity to spend some quality time with him one on one. He's the youngest of three. 

We got all suited up and loaded the car and proceeded to drive an hour up to the mountain with him. When we got there the parking lot was empty. There wasn't a person in site. Ski Bowl was completely empty. We made a few phone calls and found out that they didn't open until 3 PM. We had to be one the road back home by 2 PM, so there was no way we were going to get to ski at Ski Bowl.

We drove on towards Summit ski area only to find out that they are closed all day on Mondays. Who would have thought in the middle of February during ski season there would be no where to actually ski.

We didn't drive all that way for nothing so, we went to a store in Government Camp and bought a sled and took him sledding. It turned out to be a great day, but it will be the last time we head out without checking the hours of operation. 

Related articles

• Ski Bowl - Mt. Hood

Joel Parkinson becomes World Surfing Champion

Yesterday, at the Pipeline Masters surf competition we saw Joel Parkinson become the 2012 World Surfing Champion when Kelly Slater got eliminated from the Pipeline Masters. We were watching Kelly Slater out in the water when all the people on the beach started turning around looking up at a house and cheering. It was the house Joel Parkinson was staying in and he was out on the balcony. You can see what followed in this clip.

Related articles

• Surfing magazine releases February issue (grindtv.com)
• Parkinson hungry for more world titles (bigpondnews.com)
• Kelly Slater releases new GoPro clip (grindtv.com)
• Surfer Profile Joel Parkinson (scsurfbutler.com)

N's Level 5 Vault & Floor

My oldest boy has been in gymnastics off and on since he is 2 1/2 years old. Now that we are back in Oregon he is back in gymnastics and having a great time. These are his level 5 vault and level 5 floor routine. He will be competing level 6 next year.

Jr. Olympic Skills Competition

The Jr. Olympic Skills Competition is a FREE national grassroots skills competition that provides both, boys and girls ages 8 to 13, the opportunity to showcase their athletic abilities in four (4) sports - basketball, soccer, tennis and track & field. Jr. Olympic Skills Competition encourages youth participation in sport and emphasizes fair and friendly competition. Youngsters can participate in any or all of the individual sports and advance through three (3) levels of competition, including Local, Regional and the National Finals. Each sport is scored individually and the boys and girls compete separately.

Kids Fun Run

I just found out that Pier Park hosts a half marathon, 5K, and a 1 mile Kids fun run every December.
  For more info

http://www.runfortheredfish.com

Jr. Olympic skills competition

I had previously mentioned (click here to see other post) that my son was going to compete in an upcoming Jr. Olympic competition and he did today. He placed second in every event! I thought this was quite good since I didn't really prepare him for it. Things have been a little crazy at our house so I wasn't sure if he would want to compete or that I would be able to get him there. I let him know yesterday afternoon that I had signed him up and that he could compete in every event or just pick one or two. He decided to do them all.

Here are a few things I wish I had done.

First, I wish I had told him sooner so he could have at least practiced a little!

Second, there is a section on the Jr. Olympic website that says something about parents. Well, be sure to read it. I didn't! It basically tells you exactly what is going to happen, how they score, and you get the drift.

Also, the reason I was back on their website was because I was going to find another local event to see if he could do it again since now we know what is going on. (only the 1st place of each event get to go on to regional) I figured if he could get second then he might could get 1st if he had another shot. Well, it turns out that you can be disqualified for participating in more than one event. Good to know, maybe next year!

Tumble Time Gymnastics in Boise, ID

We discovered this wonderful gymnastics gym, Tumble Time Gymnastics, in Boise, Idaho back in 2003 when our oldest was just two years old. They have a fantastic mommy and me program. They make gymnastics so much fun for all ages. The owners are great people and you can tell that they love what they do.

I should also mention that besides gymnastics they also have a learning program. Which includes preschool and before or after school care.