Howl `n Scream Scram!

I try my best not to over-use exclamation marks because I find it exhausting to read paragraphs that end every other sentence in one—I get breathless just thinking about it. I am rather out of shape right now, though. That being said, it is incredibly difficult not to put an exclamation after the word scram!

Luke and Leia entered this year’s Howl `n Scream Scram Kooky Caper Costume Kids’ Race on Saturday. That’s the actual official name. Can you believe that they squeezed it all onto one t-shirt? Impressive.

Jay did this race last year (in his kilt), so he remembered all about it, down to the green finisher’s ribbon. Jeff and I were the men’s and women’s 5k race winners last year (in our kilts), but we couldn’t defend our titles this year because we’re both out of shape—I’m ultra-atrophied still and Jeff has been battling an Achilles issue since summer. At least our young, spry children did us proud.

First they lined up all the kids and had a costume contest. Jay and Rose got a prize! Everyone loved Rose’s buns—the ones in her hair, of course. The prize was an XL adult t-shirt from a gym that sponsored the race. Kind of lame, but still a prize.

Jay and Rose liked clapping for everyone in the costume contest.

Then it was race time! The “course” was a quarter mile out-and-back on this paved path, so we went out an eighth of a mile, looped around a cone, and ran back to the finish. Jay ran holding Jeff’s hand. They were way ahead of Rose and me—I took this picture after they turned around.

Here’s what Rose and I looked like together. She kept getting distracted by the dirt and rocks on the side of the path so we said “run run run run” while we trotted along together to keep the focus. Her Leia-buns flopped all over the place!

I took this while holding her hand—a tricky maneuver. You can see Jeff and Jay in the background. MAN I love her cheeks.

Jay with his finisher’s ribbon and Dum-Dum pop. The sun was fierce.

We finished at last—not last place, either! Rose didn’t know what her Dum Dum pop was, so I didn’t tell her. It was 9:45 in the morning for goodness sakes! Jay ate his all in one crunchy bite before Rose saw.

I love how her pigtail escaped from under the bun. I have to add that we had a minor costume crisis right when we arrived at the race. Rose had ripped out both of her buns AND her pigtails. Then she threw the clear plastic hair ties into the depths of our not-so-clean back seat. I hunted high and low and only found one hair tie. So I just put one pigtail in and clipped the other bun to her hair without the pigtail—it was very lopsided and kept falling out. But right when we were about to go over to the lineup, I found the missing twisty tie and quickly yanked Rose’s hair up into its rightful place (she didn’t enjoy that part much).

Jay and Rose had a fan club—Grampa Dan and Grama Leslie and Steph all came to watch the run.

We went to Costco after the race, and Jay and Rose charmed passersby with their unique costumes. By the time we made it through Winco, though, the costumes were looking rather bedraggled and Jay and Rose just looked like little ragamuffins—cute ragamuffins, but still raggedy.

One, two, three!