Friday, April 8, 2011

Cooper River Kid's Bridge Run

The Bridge run is a HUGE deal around here. It's a pretty big race. Oprah has even done it before. We didn't do the bridge run this year...Shea says "why should we pay $50 a person to get up at 5 AM to run the bridge with thousands of people when we can run it ANY OTHER day of the year for FREE?"
Dianne does the run every year and she and Theresa thought it would be fun to at least enter William and Asher in the kid's event at Hampton Park.
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I know what you are thinking....how on earth can a 13 month old enter into any race? I must admit thought the same thing. I know that he can win any race if there are certain factors involved such as: if he hears a bathroom door open, if he hears me loading/unloading the dishwasher, if he gets hold of any one's cell phone...and etc.
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I am finding out that toddlers just like to run!!! That is an understatement I am sure!

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Dianne's little friend Elizabeth came too. On the way to the park Aunt Theresa and I were talking to Asher about where we were going and who was going to be there. He loves to be with other kids so we told him that he was going to meet a little girl named Elizabeth and we asked if he would like to make a friend today.....he said "is she pretty?" Oh man!! He is starting young! We cracked up! He is the funniest child I have ever known. We didnt know there were such stiff requirements
to be his friend.
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They got along really well and had a blast together....and he of course she is very pretty.
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They do have completley different personalities. Asher is so easy to get along with and he will go with any flow (which worries me too).
Elizabeth is spunky and take-charge, she kept Asher in line all day.
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They had a great time. Asher LOVED the characters! When we were walking up on these giant fruit characters I pointed them out to Asher and asked if he wanted to go see them. He said "oh wow, look Gogo! I am going to see the M&Ms!" It was so funny.

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He didnt want to move onto any other activities each time we found a costumed person. He probably drove them crazy. He hugged them all over and over again, gave them five, shook thier hands and asked a billion questions.
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Here he asked the giant banana to dance with him. What a character he is! And yes, I am talking about the child.
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The funniest part of the day is a story that I will tell Asher for the rest of his life. His lack of fear when it comes to people, rejection and being included and accepted amazes me. He believes with all of his heart that he is a part of every conversation (adult or child), he believes that he is everyone's best friend, and he believes that he is loved the moment he meets you.
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As I was saying earlier he LOVED the costumed characters.
There was a stage at the park where there was an anouncer/DJ. He entertained and threw prizes into the crowd, led games. As we were waiting for the races to begin we went to the stage area to watch what was going on. Asher had no interest until I pointed out to him that the Chick-fil-A cows were on the stage. We were behind a good bit of people and he couldnt see. I noticed that right in front of us there were about 25 kids all sitting in front of the stage. It was within my sight so I told Asher to go up there so he could see the cows. He walked up and as I was watching I noticed that he didnt sit the with other kids. I tried to get to him, of course in a small panic thinking where is he going....
Well, he thought that they must need him ON STAGE! Maybe that is what he thought I meant. I dont know. The cows were throwing prizes into the crowd and Asher waltz right up on stage with his "shinkin fwiends" and gave a helping hand.
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At least I knew where he was! I tried to get as many pictures as possible. But it was hard to see over the people in front of me. So I had to lift my camera and the air and blindly shoot.
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This is him tell his audience that all the prizes are gone.
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There were several "cows" on stage and I am not sure what they were thinking. Maybe each of them thought "hey, why is this kid on stage?" maybe each one thought that one of the other ones had invited him up there. I dont know how he managed to get away with this but he did.
My only guess is that HIS confidence that that is where he was suppose to be just made everyone else think that he was suppose to be there too.
Of course he had to give them one last hug.
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One of the cool FREE activities that they had was pony rides.
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Even this little guy got to ride the pony.
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After that we (adults) bravely allowed Asher and Elizabeth to have a Krispy Kreme donut.
This photo says it all.....Asher was jumping in place ( this is why it is stragley cropped).
Nothing like a good sugar rush.
Photobucket A funny William face.
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Then it was time for the races. Asher and William were in the same age group (0-4) but my little runner crashed before he could take the prize.
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I coulnt get any photos of the actual races. I had to run with Asher in the mob of toddlers and thier parents. Asher didnt care though.
After they were all done with the organized race part we sat on the bench and enjoyed YooHoos and cheetos.
Of course Elizabeth and Asher wanted to race some more so they had their own races!
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Asher was running with a bag of cheetos in one hand. He cares nothing about winning. This kid is all about the fun.
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In this picture you can see the cheeto in his mouth. He was taking them out and eating them while running. Photobucket Photobucket
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William was awake by this point so he joined in the fun too.
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I dont think the sugar had worn off yet when this picture was taken.
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Elizabeth trying to sneak off. She may have been trying to escape from that crazy three year old with the stick.
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She is a free spirit for sure. Ms. Dianne held her and Asher's hand most of the day or had them hold each other's hands, and told them that they had to do that so no one got lost. But Elizabeth is a fire cracker. She ran off a few times and Dianne would have to take off after her. One time when she ran away Asher yelled out "Wiz-a-bef! You're gonna get wost!!! Wizabef! Hold my hand!"
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Sam the clown.
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He pulled a quarter out of Asher's ear, which totally amazed him.

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This is William's new favorite face to make. We make it at him and get him to do it all the time. He is so funny!
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He enjoyed some cheetos too.
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What kid doesnt love balloons....
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It seemed like they had everything there, there was so much to entertain all the kids. Even as we were leaving the park we came accross one more thing that would amaze Asher..... FIRE TRUCK!!!
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He thought that was so awesome. He has been talking about being a fireman when he grows up for months.
I hope to do again next year and maybe next year I can talk my frugile husband into paying to run the bridge with thousands of people, even though we could do it for free 364 days of the year.
And if we dont....we will still have the Cooper River Kid's Bridge Run....those smiling faces say it all.

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2 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! What a super fun day! I love the stories of Asher-- what a precious boy. My favorite pic was of Wm sleeping---sooooo sweet. And that sweet look in his eyes in the second cheetos pic near the bottom of your post--- I love that innocent sweetness.
    Great post. What a special day!

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  2. I love your header, by the way!!!

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