High Fives 5K & Spike 150

Amazing how life always looks perfect in pictures.  I can assure you that ours is not, but I do enjoy going back and remembering all these happy moments.  Let's continue the trend with an annual spring tradition and a once in a lifetime celebration.  

First off, the High Fives 5K.  We had so much fun running this free neighborhood race last year that we brought the grandparents this year.

Annika rocked the Kids Dash with her preschool pal, Annie.

Here's Talia, shootin' down the chute.

It was a hot race day, but the root beer floats made it worth it.

Brooklyn ran with her friend Fa.  They chatted for much of the race about Fa's perfect hair.

And here's our fast Daddy.  He and I raced, along with Grandma Susie.  (Okay, Susie and I aren't really ready to race Jason, but we were there.  You know what I mean.)

The only people not running were Eli and Grandpa Charles.  They arrived late because they were at the championship game of Eli's Avenues baseball tournament.  The Tigers won so it was all worth it.

And now for the great news: these guys all took first in their age divisions!  Congratulations!  The Wheelers were well-represented.

But really, the best part is just being there.  Thanks to the race organizers for putting together such a fantastic neighborhood event.

And now for a more unique outing: the Golden Spike Celebration.  On May 11th we headed to Promontory Summit, Utah to celebrate the sesquicentennial year of the completion of the transcontinental railroad.  While it was recently made a National Historic Park, there's not much else in the area.  If you're going to drive to the middle of nowhere, might as well go when they're throwing a huge party! 

 As you can see, they brought in  replicas of the two steam engines that originally met up in 1869: Jupiter from the Central Pacific and Number 119 from the Union Pacific.  

The Golden Spike was driven right between.  (It was a little smaller.)

While the actual spike is in a museum, they've marked the final tie with a plaque.

An interesting tidbit is that both locomotives were last minute substitutions when their predecessors broke down, just like the unnamed railroad worker who actually drove in the final spike.

Building the railroad was hard, heavy work, right Eli?

While riding a stagecoach seems quite luxurious today, the actual experience was probably less glamorous.

 You think I'm taking a picture of the horses...

...but I'm actually trying to get a good shot of this guy's mustache.  (No, not Jason's, although that would be a sight.)


We were so glad to have Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles join us.

Justin, Brianna, and Ruby joined us well.  Ruby actually had much more fun than it appears--Annika was just crowding her wagon.

 And now for the grand finale, the performance of As One  It did a great job of highlighting the complex and multi-faceted stories of those who worked on the railroad, ranging from the Chinese to the Irish.  While more somber, I'm glad the perspective of the American Indians was included, for whom the railroad was not a welcome development.  It's important for us to reflect on how even great achievements can have negative consequences for those we marginalize.

 And now, it's time for me to stop marginalizing my children by putting away this blog and feeding them breakfast.