Misty's Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon

In celebration of her 32nd birthday, Misty decided to run the very first Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland. She's been training for months and months for it. Along with Misty were her friends Lisa, and Lindsi and my two friends since high school Sandra and Andrea. My mom went with me and the kids and we picked up Tom and Nicole at Tom's apartment in Northridge. We stayed at the Best Western Park Place, our favorite bc it's cheap and right across the street. What was really strange was being SOOOOO close to Disneyland and walking through the entrance area but NOT going into the park.  :(((  We are gonna save our money and plan a really fun, long trip at one of the Disney hotels hopefully in the fall! 

 When we first got there we loaded up the kids to go meet up with Aunt Fishy and Uncle Eric! 

 Mom and Cole

 Walking through the middle of the entrances :(

 Thomas chose to push the kids! 

 I'd never been to the hotel before, so it was pretty cool to see the hat! 

 When we got to the expo it was crazy busy with runners! It was really neat to see all of the excitement and stuff available to marathon runners. And they were giving away St. Jude's Hospital balloons at one of the booths, so Clara started freaking out and begging for a balloon non stop. We had already left the expo, so we asked where we could buy a Disney balloon and they said they gave them away for free at the front desk of the hotel. The Cast Member was soooo sweet and gave Clara a cute Mickey balloon. She was a very happy girl after that!! 

Posing in front of the Lego store. We wanted to stop in there but there were gillions of people, so we skipped it. 

 Cole held Jack Jack in the carrier. He's half as tall as she is! 

 We popped into the Disney Store real quick in Downtown Disney and it was madness, so Aunt Cole and Uncle Thomis took the kids outside to wait. 

 Clara passed out on T 

We went and ate at a place called Millie's and it was what Nicole calls "old people food" lol. I had a disgusting veggie burger that tasted like an eggroll. But we were all so hungry it didn't matter. Misty had to be careful of what she was eating, so she had turkey bacon, and eggs. 

 Nicole let the Minki touch her face and out she went. They slept in the fold out bed, which was like sleeping in a taco. Mom and I were gonna be up early to watch Misty start the race, my children decided to stay up till 12:30am. I could not get them to sleep for nothing. Mom had Jack while I dealt with Clara. So about 1am we finally fell asleep and had to be up at 3:50am. Tom and Nicole stayed with the kids while we went. 

 before bed the kids were watching Gabba and Pixar Shorts on DVD. 

 I was eating brownies. 

 4am!!! Lisa and Misty ready to run!!

 Misty's number, with her corral section E on it! 

 Lindsi and Lisa in their cute outfits walking to the start. 

 THEN we found Sandra and Andrea and it was so exciting!! I was so happy to see them and support them through this amazing thing they were about to accomplish. 

 and then I was laughing at this couple that were doing these crazy stretches and so I made Travis and Andrea do it too, lol!! 

 The girls lined up in their corrals. Then they made spectators get lost! So we went to find a spot to see them pass us! 

 We chose Mile 4 marker to wait by and cheer them on. My mom ran back to the hotel to get the adorable posters that Nicole had made for Misty. They were quite a hit bc runners kept laughing at the one poster and talking about it as they passed. 

 Eric and I waiting for the race to start. 

 I kept laughing all night about how Eric kept taking my picture when I wasn't expecting and I had beaver teeth, so Travis posed with fabulous beaver teeth.  AND he was a smart boy and brought a chair. What was I thinking not bringing one!! 

 Eric, Ma and I

 This was the first runner to come through the Mile 4 area. She did not win however, bc I read that a man won the race. My heart was pounding when she came through, it was so amazing and exciting!!

 The second person not far behind her. I didn't get pictures of Misty bc I was in charge of videoing while Eric photographed. 

Hilarious story about Andrea though...we seen her coming and so we all start cheering and screaming, and flapping around like crazy people and we are literally about 4 feet from her and she has NO idea we were there. She just ran by us like we were fools. It was sooooo funny!! 

Here's part of the cheer squad!!! After everyone ran through, we went back to the hotel to get the kids awake, fed and dressed, and away we went all the way back through downtown Disney again. Eric received text updates from Misty's GPS tracker that the race provides. So we knew where she was at most of the time. A lot of people had already finished, so when we got to the family meet up area, it was mayhem. There were runners everywhere, and all of them were sitting down all over the place, and I had to try to push my double stroller through everyone, lol. 

 the kids were still exhausted, I wonder why. 

 Love this optical illusion. I look like an average sized person here, so NOT the case. Great shadowing and angle, lol.

 Here's Misty after she came through and was able to collapse. She was hurting pretty bad and had blisters on her toes. 

 Andrea came through with Misty, she did so AWESOME!! Andrea's heels were a bloody mess from blisters. yikes! 

 And then Sandra!! Yay yay yay!! 

 they all finished, got their medals, and some snacks, and then time to go rest for a bit. 

 Here's Misty with her full cheer squad!! woot woot!!!

 Her beautiful medal!!

 After Misty had to walk back to the hotel, which was torture for her, we decided to pack up, check out, and head to Cheesecake Factory in Glendale. Clara loved the escalator. 

 the "20" minute wait was 40 minutes, but well worth it!!!

 I took Clara out to the fountain and let her throw in some pennies, good times. 

There is NO way to express how PROUD I am of all the girls. It's amazing to see them endure and push on and get through so a difficult goal! They all set their minds to it and accomplished it. It makes me realized how much our bodies can endure and what they are capable of if you take care of them. It has been very eye opening and encouraging to watch them do it! They are inspiring, maybe I can make it my goal to do my first 5K next year!! Love you girls!!!