We Bloomed!

"What is the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival?

A series of more than thirty events includes: band competitions, dances, parades, carnival, circus, dinners, luncheons, a 10K Race, the Coronation of Queen Shenandoah, Firefighters' events, and celebrities. The Festival is an event the whole family can enjoy."  --www.thebloom.com

Winchester, VA is Apple Country; complete with apple orchards, Apple Farm Markets, the Apple Blossom Mall, Apple Pie Ridge Elementary school, WhiteHouse Foods Manufacturing plant, and the Apple Blossom Festival (just to name a few of the Apple name sake).  So, when the Apple Blossoms are in bloom...We celebrate.  We wear pink/green/white, run races, attend parties, and watch parades that last 4 hours minimum.  We eat carni food, get sun burned, talk to old friends, make new friends, walk till our feet hurt, play midway games, and help support the Winchester economy. 

Friday Ryan attended the Stag luncheon (all male event) while I worked and the kids were at Grandma's house.  That afternoon, the kids, Priscilla and I headed to Handley High School for Nick's first 'Bloomin Mile.'  I had coached and practiced with Nick weeks prior to the race...(pace yourself, walk if you need to, don't worry if you get passed, sprint to the finish line, have FUN).  He did FANTASTIC!  I was so proud of him.  And, he said he had a lot of fun doing it!  He came in 36th out of 150 6-7 year old boys.  His race time was 8:34.  He never walked and he sprinted strong to the Finish line.

 

Sprint to Finish Line

Saturday morning we headed back to Handly High School for the 10K (6.2 miles) race.  This was my third Apple Blossom 10K.  My first 10K 3 years ago was my first race I ever ran.  This race marked my 7th race.  4 of those races Jamie has ran with me.  Unfortunately, a chest cold kept her out of this one.  I missed her.  A LOT.  It was a a hard, humid, and HOT race.  My stats were an average of a 9:03 minute mile, finishing in 56:14.  That was 45 seconds SLOWER than my last year finish.  I was 583 out of 1499 runners.  23rd in my divsion of female runners ages 25 - 39.  I didn't meet my goal of making a PR.  Not my best race, but still great to see familiar faces running.

After the race we prepared to watch the infamous Apple Blossom parade.  This parade lasts at least 4 hours...so you better have a great place to park your family.  Thankfully, we receive an annual invite to watch the race at the CFW.  It is a prime location with great friends.  This year was extra special because Kevin proposed to his fiance' during the parade with a banner on a float!  It was quite the highlight of the day.  The proposal also scored Kevin an interview and an article in the Winchester Star!  Here's the picture as seen in the paper.

Congrats Kevin!



Here's a few of the kids watching the parade....

Alexander and Lauren

Lauren, Nick, and Samuel

Us  :)



Sunday rounded out our weekend with baseball practice, grocery store and a birthday party at the Henkel's.  Party had a HUGE Princess Castle moon bounce/slide, full cookout, and more great friends and a great time.  Here's one little princess enjoying the Castle.  See ya soon!