MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO

"Children may close their ears to advice, but they keep their eyes open to an example."

You may recall from a previous post, that after having the twins, I finally decided to make exercise a priority in my life (pretty much the first time since being "an adult"). And, I'm happy to report that I'm still making the time for it (I'm even currently training for my first half marathon)! 

Shortly after deciding to do the half marathon, I signed Joey and I up for a 5K run at our church. He and I hardly get any quality time with one another, so the idea of 3.2 dedicated miles of time together sounded G R E A T!

In addition to the 5K, there were also youth fun runs, so I signed Emma and Finley up for those, too. 

But, that still left three other kiddos to account for that morning ...

So, my mom, who has pretty much worked out every day of her life, happily volunteered to walk the 5K while pushing the twins in their stroller, and Joey and I decided to push Beckett in our jogger while we ran. Oh the planning that's necessary to do anything or go anywhere when you have five kids! My dad was able and willing to keep track of Emma and Finley and get them to where they needed to be while we ran (Emma's run happened at the same time as the 5K).

We arrived for "race day" 15 minutes early, which is worthy to mention because I don't think we have been early for anything since the twins were born. We checked everyone in, got our race bibs, the three babies in their designated strollers and were ready to go.

And, it was so much fun!

Emma's race was 3/4 of a mile.

Love her smile at the start!

And, still a smile at the end! I think running may be in her future :)

Even Joey and I were (somewhat) smiling at the end!
Beckett kept asking for his water the whole run, so clearly riding was exhausting for him...

Gigi coming across the finish line with the youngest competitors of the 5K ;)

Mama, Emma and Finley before their 5 & 6-year-old race.
Finley was a little (or a lot) nervous about it, but she did it (with mommy running next to her).

Beckett even got in on the fun! Love my dad's face in the background cheering him on.

Something I didn't realize was that there was a race Beckett could participate in! Clearly, because what kind of mom dresses her boy in crocs for a race?! There was a very short "sprint" for kids, broken up by age groups ... the youngest "heat" was ages 2 and under. This video is too funny not to share (hopefully by next year he can run in a straight line, and actually crosses the finish line before going to get his participation ribbon!):

It really was a great morning.

My favorite part was knowing we were helping teach our kids the importance of being healthy and active, that exercise can be fun, and that we need to take good care of these bodies that God has gifted us with! I hope that we can continue to do things like this, and that being active is something that is second nature for them.

The crew!

I'm already looking forward to next year ... crazy to think that Campbelle and Sutton will hopefully be "sprinting" in it, too!

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Any family runs that I should add to our list? 

In what ways do you help promote a healthy lifestyle at your house?