Living Joyfully
Helping Pets & Encouraging People
Mud Bath Anyone?
You know those annoying ads that you get when you go onto social media? The ones for clothes you won’t wear, the ads for weight loss systems that are based on research that has been around forever but is now the best thing for losing that last 10 pounds? I am one that gets caught up in the active ads. The ones that prompt you to sign up for that run that makes you go through powered color, or bubbles of all things.
I was on a family trip this summer in which I get a text from my hubby (he couldn’t come because of work). He had seen an ad about a obstacle course that was only 3 miles long and could be something that our family could do together. So I jumped up from my super cozy couch and went on the search for the kids. My oldest was like “Nah, that’s too much exercise” where the middle and youngest were all for it. So I sat down and looked up how to get signed up. Good thing I signed up right then and there because I got a sale price that was slightly less that half my paycheck to sign up (at least it felt like it). I texted the hubby that we were all signed up, then headed with the kids to the lake.
The week before the obstacle course, we realized there was a little more planning we would have to do before heading over to the race site. The actual race would bring us through different obstacles like cargo net walls, a wall that required a rope to get over it, “live wire” crawls, and army crawls under nets. Most of these were done with lots, and lots of mud. So we needed to plan. The race was about 1 1/2 hr away, we would need trash bags for the clothes afterwards, gallons of water to get the mud off (yes there was a “shower” at the race, but there were also a lot of people using said showers), and clean clothes to change into. Oh and we had to convince the middle child without actually convincing her that she wanted to do this race. By the time we left we had all that required items and we had two kids mostly convinced they wanted to do this obstacle course.
The race day was a hot 90 degree day. Our race waves were late morning and the only “food” available at the location was Hawaiian ice. Our son did the kid race by himself, at the finish line he reported that it was fun, he didn’t do all of the obstacles but that the mud was “wet and a bit cold”. Our middle child decided at this point she would do the race but wasn’t planning on staying with me and the hubby. Our race time came, the announcer told us repeatedly where the showers were, to follow the yellow cones and then had us do the countdown. We were off! True to her word Leah left us. I was determined to do all the obstacles I could physically do, so I managed 6 out of the 8 of them. Tim was determined to get as much mud on himself and others as he possibly could. Our course had to be done twice to get the full 5k. We managed great until the first mud obstacle. The kids race stirred up the mud for the rest of us, so it was slick, it was mushy, and it took a hold of your shoes and for some would not let go. We got through the first round with both our shoes on, mud in my nose and Tim managed to get the people in front of us muddy on their backsides.
The second go through was a bit more challenging. We found running really wasn’t going to happen. Mud puddles also have rocks. That was what was in our shoes. Those obstacles we had to do again, well this time it was with mud in our shoes, caked on our arms, legs and hands. It was also on everyone elses that went before us so we had that on the obstacles themselves. By the time we got to the mud obstacles there was a lot more shoes piled on the side and I swear the puddles were deeper than before. We made it though! We both got medals, Leah and Tyler made it and got their medals, we got our before and after pictures and then made it to the showers in which we just made the mud into mud puddles but didn’t really succeed it getting the actual mud off of us.
It was a fun day to say the least. We had some tired kids afterwards, parents too. I knew that I would feel the effects of the course in the following days but it was so worth it. The next time the hubby mentions something like this I might suggest another type of mud bath though. One that is supposed to relax and moisturize vs. cake on and claim shoes as it’s own. My hubby and I know that our kids are getting older and eventually we won’t have these moments with them. Already we have to convince them that they’ll have fun if they just try it. I love my family and I love doing stuff with them, so if it’s mud obstacle courses over mud baths then so be it, I’ll have time later on in life to exfoliate and rehydrate my skin. Until next time:
All you can do is try, try and be a listening ear, try and be a shoulder to cry on, try and be the one they have fun with, try and encourage and cheer on. If you are actively trying to do these things then you are doing the best you can do.
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