St. Patrick's Day

Dear Famliy,

For St. Patrick's Day Stacey and I competed in a St. Patty's Day 5K race. The day of the race I asked Stacey to hook me up with some gear at Wal-Mart to make sure I fit in. Well I think I more than fit in, I rather became the spirit of the race.

Here are the comments Stacey put on the her Family's Hardy Blog:

Happy St. Patrick's Day to ya, I hope it brought good luck to ya! Ha ha! Eric was a crazy Leprechaun and sported the best costume at the Wright Patterson 5K Fun Run. He was cheering everyone on, hollering out of the start line and all through the race giving high-fives to most people heading back after the turning point. He definately brought a smile to everyone and might even get his picture in the local paper for his trend-setting costume. It was a blast. We ran most of the way together and then I watched Eric pull ahead, his afro softly bouncing to the rythme of his stride. Ha ha! I enjoyed finishing on my own. It's a great feeling to compete in a fun way with other runners. Eric finished at about 30 minutes and I at 31:30. The weather was chilly (30s) but we beat the sleet at the end.

Above: Eric recovering from his run.

I have to think of a Halloween costume for Joey so he can wear that wig.

[Eric adds: It was fun seeing the kids taking turns wearing the fro and wearing it around the house, Joey of course wore it the most.]









Joey struck again getting into the liquid laundry soap the day after I posted his other pictures.
There were 5 big puddles we had to drench with water and soak up. I cried when I found it but I guess it could have been worse.

-Stacey

Eric adds: At least we didn't scrub a hole into the carpet like the time we had to clean up his fingernail polish spill . . . ah, the joy of home ownership and cleaning up after 3-year-old kids.

Sarah and Joseph, look what you get to deal with in the near future. Instead of getting too angry just get out the camera.

Love Eric.

Our first race together!

Eric and I each earned a medal for running a local 5K race the morning of my 31st Birthday! Can you believe it??! We are both in shock (however we aren't mentioning how many runners we were competing against in our age groups :) ). I came in 1st for women and Eric in 2nd for the men, of course. Eric could have ran way ahead, but this being our first race I asked him to run with me and help keep me going. I ran the entire race without walking and wanted to die before reaching the finish line. It is one of the hardest things I have done and, as such, the reward is soooo sweet! I'm having a big piece of chocolate cake tonight!