Winning Streak

I seem to be on a winning streak.

Back in August, Moby Wrap posted information for a Vacation Photo Contest on their Facebook page. I usually ignore things like that, because with 5,500 Facebook fans and up to three entries allowed per person, what are the chances of actually winning? But I did have pictures of Ana Luisa in the Moby Wrap while we were in Ethiopia, so on a whim, I sent one in. I was pretty shocked a couple weeks ago when I received an email letting me know that I had won! Here is the winning picture:


The prize was a Moby Wrap of our choice. Since Jeff didn't feel that the powder blue Moby was masculine enough, we chose an organic wrap in black for him to use. So far so good!

About a week after my big Moby win, I was shopping at Whole Foods with the kids. We always go sit in the cafe area for a little snack at the end of our grocery trip. Once I had the kids settled in with their snacks, I noticed a box nearby with a sign that read "Enter to win a free registration to the Big House Big Heart Race!". I had already signed Juan Pablo and myself up to run the 1 mile Fun Run, but I filled out a form anyway to see if I could win an entry for the 10K.

A week later, I got a phone call from Whole Foods letting me know I had won the drawing. No way! So this morning I ran in the 10K. My mom made it all possible by helping Jeff get the kids fed and ready in the meantime.

And then came the exciting part: Juan Pablo's big running debut. The number one comment that we get when people find out that our kids are from Ethiopia is always something along the lines of "Ethiopians are good runners". In general, people don't know much (if anything) about Ethiopia, but if they do know something it's that Ethiopians are good runners. I hate to make generalizations (after all, as a graduate of a public high school in Ann Arbor, I did sit through my fair share of Diversity Week events), but I do think Juan Pablo has the makings of a great runner. He is FAST for a three year old. And he has endurance. We were at a playground in our neighborhood back in the spring, and Juan Pablo and his friend, who is his same age and almost as active, took off running in the field next to the playground. His friend stopped halfway through, and Juan Pablo kept running to the other side of the field, then turned around and ran back. His friend tried to start running with him again on the way back, but couldn't keep up. Yes, I'm bragging here. But I'm a mom, I get to do that every once in a while. My kid can run, that's all I'm saying.

Back to his running debut...well, let's just say we won't be signing Juan Pablo up for any marathons just yet. He was much too distracted for most of the mile to do any running at all. There was a band playing. A water station. Kids in strollers. People wearing medieval costumes. A boom box. He would run about 10 steps, then stop to look at something. The race ends by running through the tunnel onto the 50-yard line in the Big House. When we got into the tunnel, he actually got excited and started running...only to stop and inspect the giant speaker that was blasting "Hail to the Victors". We made it out of the tunnel, where Jeff, Ana Luisa and Abuela were waiting to cheer us on to the finish line...

...and then he became very intrigued by the white, yellow and blue grass.

But we made it to the end...eventually.

And it was very fun.

We had awesome cheerleaders...

...and although Haile Gebrselassie doesn't have to worry about Juan Pablo breaking any of his records just yet, I have a very cute buddy to run (or walk...or run ten steps then stop to to look at something) races with.

And I've heard that winnings come in threes, so I may not be done with this winning streak yet. I'm off to buy a lottery ticket...