It Goes On & On & On

Just like many of you we are on a two week Spring Break Count Down. Lucky for us our community is so jammed packed with events the time is just flying by. Wed. afternoon the weekend events kicked off with a parking lot Coloring Contest.

Kids from Elementary age on down gathered to show off not only their art skills but juice box consumptions skills for fun and prizes.

Graham hung out with his best bud "C".

Randy, C's Dad, who was only trying to help suddenly became part of the masterpiece and by the end of the event was covered in chalk marks from the little guys.

Now for the bigger boys. I was so proud of the boys not because their art work, although their depiction of the ultimate Death Star Battle was impressive, but something else made them stand out even more.

Often when it comes to prize time it turns to mayhem. The kids gathered around the prize table and with each name called they took a step closer. I'm not sure why they didn't make the kids just sit down but by the end the table was so crowded it became a free for all with even some parents grabbing several gifts over kids heads. Frankly I was disgusted. Then there was Zach, Ethan, and Zach's friend C. Who stood there not grabbing, not stealing, not pushing, hoping their names would be called. As everything was swiped from the table just in front of them they turned to me with devastated faces. C's lip began to quiver, Zach couldn't take it and started to cry, and Ethan was totally confused as to what had just happened before his eyes, and I was left to clean up the mess of trampled hopes with these 3 boys.

I immediately consoled them and explained how PROUD I was of them for just standing there patiently and not getting involved in the chaos. I was disturbed by what I had just witnesses, (adults shoving kids out of the way for gifts), I decided the boys definitely earned a reward for their proper behavior and I took them to the commissary for a treat of their choice. They were pretty happy about that and by the time we got home Chris was ready and waiting with a yummy Tiramisu.

We drove up our main hill to what we call the Tent for a Fitness Club Celebration. It was a pasta party to carb up for the Annual 3 Peak Road race the following day and celebrate our friend Greg's 3rd place finish in the Kili[man]jaro Adventure Challenge . This event is INSANE they really do try and kill you by:

• summit Kilimanjaro (5895 m) over 6 days (this is not raced)
• compete in a two day mountain bike race around Kilimanjaro (246 km) and
• finish the Kilimanjaro Marathon (42,2 km).

Check it out on the link above.

As soon as that event ended I quickly returned home to scrub all the "little boys smell" off me and get gussied up for a ladies night out sponsered by the Arabic Women's Group. Alas I have no pictures of this event because all the veils were off. But let me tell you this when those Abayah's come off the grooves come on and those ladies like to boogie. It was fun to get really dressed up and see the fancy dresses from other cultures and FINALLY see some of my neighbors face to face. There are some really beautiful women hiding in those black sheets.