Sunday Runday: Strawberry Run

After last year, I was ready to skip the Strawberry Run.  I was not impressed with the old 10k course.  But Thatkid asked if he could run it with me.  It's not an easy 10k course, so I didn't think it would be ideal for his first 10k.  Instead I told him I'd run the 5k with him instead.  And once he found out his brother and I were running, Thatbaby wanted to run the kids race again this year too.  Looks like we were all in.

Since the 5k starts later than the 10k, we could get there later.  I almost didn't know what to do with myself!

Thatbaby immediately went looking for his mascot buddy.

And then he headed off to breakfast with Thatboy while Thatkid and I headed to the start line.  Almost as soon as we started to run, it started to rain.  Oh goody!

The 5k course was much easier than the 10k one, so it was nice for me.  I decided to implement a run/walk with Thatkid, 5 minutes of running, 90 seconds of walking.  He really liked it, and even though it was not one of his faster races, there was less complaining.  

The last bit though he always likes to run, all the way through to the finish.

We got our medals and strawberries and met up with the other two who were waiting for us at the finish.

And then we traded out.  Thatboy took Thatkid to breakfast, while I brought Thatbaby over to the kids' race.

Thatbaby calls these our "ready faces."

Luckily the rain had stopped before the kids' races.  He had so much fun during the run.

And I very much enjoyed the beer garden, as usual.  This time around I went with Twisted Horn's Elder's Mead with Strawberry and Serano.  There's nothing I let better than a good mix of sweet and spicy.

I'm glad we got to do the race again, it's nice to have a family activity both kids can participate in.  

Easter-ing: Strawberry Orangeade

For the first time in years we didn't travel to the inlaws for Easter.  It was a combination of a bunch of things.  Typically the week before Easter we're bouncing between Arizona, LA, and the Bay Area.  Basically unpacking suitcases, running from airport to airport, and generally being exhausted by the time the week is over.  Add to that the fact that Thatboy's family makes no accommodation for us as we do all that running around and traveling to them while keeping Passover and we're all pretty hungry, crabby, and hurt by the time Easter is over.

So this year, we cut out 2 flights, the inability to eat for 3 days, and stayed home.  It was marvelous.  We started the weekend by dying eggs. 

And we combined our traditions by eating matzah brei as we did it.  Passover AND Easter!  Together at last.  

While our eggs dried, we headed over to Kenny's Strawberry Farm, where they were having their own Easter celebration.

Plus, I mean - strawberry picking!

It was such a mellow way to spend the morning and a great way to ring in Easter.  While Thatboy waited in line to pay for our haul, the kids were entertained with balloon animals.

And while we couldn't partake in the strawberry doughnuts, because of Passover, we could definitely indulge in strawberry milkshakes.

The next morning, the boys did a little Easter egg hunting in our yard.

Then we headed over to do another hunt with friends.

But the best part for us was the fact that we could actually eat an Easter meal!  No matter how many years (19) we've been spending with the inlaws, they refuse to acknowledge that Passover occurs at the same time, and so they don't make any food we can eat.  Thatboy even got into a huge fight with his brother last year when he asked if we could please have something to eat other than the pizza and lasagna they serve every year.   They make it seem like it's a huge deal to serve anything that doesn't contain bread or noodles, so let me show you just how hard it is.  With the reminder that we were out of town for almost the entire week before.

I purchased a Passover-friendly frozen pie crust and created a brie and apple tart.

Passover plum muffins

Crustless quiche

Passover pancakes (made in a sheet so I didn't have to stand over the stove that morning flipping pancakes)

Passover raspberry rolls

Goat cheese and beet salad

And of course, the easiest Passover friendly food - fruit salad.  With out fresh picked strawberries of course!

But that fruit salad isn't the only thing we used our strawberries for.  We have an orange tree in our backyard that is dying.  But with all the rain this year, we still got oranges!  So with a huge crate of oranges and a huge carton of strawberries, I tried to think of a good way to use them both.  Strawberry orangeade it was.  Perfect for the summer, and even more perfect to freeze into popsicles.  It's the gift that keeps on giving. 

Strawberry Orangeade

3 cups strawberries

3 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

3 Tbsp sugar (if not using fresh oranges, reduce or eliminate the sugar)

1. Puree strawberries in the food processor.
2. Using a fine mesh sieve, press the strawberry puree through, discarding the seeds.
3. Stir together the strained puree, the orange juice, and the sugar. 

Sunday Runday: Minions 5k

I really miss the Disneyland races.  I loved being able to go up and spend the weekend with my family, get a run in, and spend some time at Disney.  I was especially bummed when they discontinued the races, because it was right after Thatkid had discovered his love of the Disney races also.

So when I got an alert that Universal was starting their own running series this year, I immediately signed up Thatkid and I to run together.  He was equally as excited.

As background info - The Universal 5k is not cheap.  However, I found that it was comparable to the Disney races in terms of price, so there wasn't a ton of sticker shock.   Unlike Disney, we don't have the luxury of staying at my mom's house, so we did need to factor in the extra cost of a hotel.  We chose to drive up Friday afternoon for the Saturday race.  Originally the race was requiring packet pick up on the day before anyway, so this gave us the chance to pick up our packets, grab dinner, and theoretically get an early night's sleep before an early race morning.

Friends, we did not get an early night's sleep.  But Thatkid and I were up bright and early anyway.  You have to be 5 to run, so Thatboy and Thatbaby stayed in bed while we drove to the race.

Right from the start I was impressed by the race's organization.  Unlike the Disney races I'd done, parking was complementary.  And parking at a theme park means that it was easy breezy.  While I'm used to cars backing up from race entries onto freeways and byways, there was no line to get in.  Everything just moved very smoothly.  Not knowing how things were going to be, we had gotten there early, and we used the time to sunscreen up and use the bathroom before heading to the start line.

The start line was at the entrance to the park, so Thatkid and I took advantage of the time to snap a quick picture with the globe before finding our corral.

The corrals weren't seeded, they were first come first serve, which I heard bothered a lot of people.  I get it - faster runners don't want to have to weave around all the slower runners ahead of them, but since I was doing the race with my kid, I liked not having to wait as long before actually starting.

For never having organized a race before, the Run Universal people were on it.  Their wave starts were one of the best I have taken part of.  Maybe it was due to the course route, but it felt as though you waited for a very short time between waves, and you entered a virtually empty park. 

We began by running through the streets of their little Europe area, a nice reminder that you're at the Studio.

And it led us directly into the Minions area of the park - Minions Mayhem and Super Silly Fun Land.  Along with the first character stop.

We passed by the entrance to Wizarding World of Harry Potter,

and right into Springfield, U.S.A.

And then we were at Hogwarts.

With a jaunt through Hogsmede - you can see how excited Thatkid was for this part.

After that, we were running in the backstage part of the backlot area.  On our way to the tour route.  There were a lot of hills here and Thatkid took a couple spills while walking.  He's not a hill runner and he was happy to get to the bottom of a big one and take a break to watch a little shark action over and over at Jaws Lake.  This was his favorite part of the race.

Then it was back up the hill and into Whoville.

There was a motel on the course if you decided you were done running. Funny thing is, no one who checked in came out again.  I guess a stay there is killer.  

I thought the coolest part of the race was getting to run through the War of the Worlds set and see it up close.

After that it was more back lot stuff, with a very tired Thatkid who really needed some extra motivation to finish.  Luckily for us, Daphne and Velma of the Scooby Gang caught up with us and he followed them the whole way to the finish.

Overall, I would say it was a really amazing experience for an inaugural race.  Sure the course was hilly, but it was really neat to be able to experience the park so empty and to be able to walk places that you usually only get to see from the tram.

There also was no shortage of characters to stop and take pictures with.  Thatkid wasn't interested in stopping, but he's not really a "picture with characters" kind of guy.

The character stops were also neat in that they were very themed - like the tourist minion at Jaws Lake, the Evil minions at War of the Worlds, or the prisoner minions at Fast and the Furious.

Even the supporting players chipped in - Voodoo Doughnuts featured minion shaped doughnuts during the weekend we were there.

Thatkid complained a lot during the race.  It was not an easy course.  But he claimed to have loved it and begged me to sign us up for the next one before we even left the park.  So we'll be back in November, Run Universal!  This time, running from DINOSAURS!