Let's get dirty!

You all know that the Ashby family has a bucket list :) One of the things on it was to run a Mud Run as a family. We looked into doing a few and the Man versus Mud in Logan, Utah fit our schedule and budget the best. These races can get pretty expensive. But the memories we made that day were priceless. Plus, if you registered 8 or more people at a time we got a slight discount. Austin and Kambree were too young to run the race...they had a kids mud run but they chose to just watch and take pictures instead.

Look how clean and happy we are at the start of our race.
Racers included...Me, Shawn, Paige, Shawntell, my sister Shelley, her son Breck, my brother Cory, his sister in law Sheena and her boyfriend Will. Let the race begin!

The long walk from the car to the actual race...Breck is a stud muffin!

Registration line that we waited in...then found out we didn't need to be in...we were to go! But first, check out Sheena's cute socks! I am getting me a pair for my next race...adorable!

My brother ...he is THE man!

A few "Before" pictures

You can tell we are all related...we pose so well!

We gathered our inner tubes..and headed off to the start of the race. It began with a huge slide down the hill. The weather was great...a little cloudy but nice.

What a fun slide...I could have done that part all day.

There were at least 3 other obstacles after the slide, but the spectators couldn't see them. There was a walk through the creek, over a bridge, a walk through some more water, and then a huge soap thing you had to slide on your tummy through. Totally fun stuff.

Then we ran a little ways...it is a 5K run after all :)

Not sure why the Teepee was there...it wasn't part of the race.

More running...then a big stack of hay bails we had to climb over...a few mud pits to cross...and one of my team members lost a shoe...she shall remain nameless (Shelley) and the boys dug for it in the mud pit, found someone else's shoe...then they finally found hers :)
Breck ran the whole thing barefoot by the way.

More fun mud based obstacles.

The water was so deep here...I couldn't touch the bottom, even after sliding out of that pipe...I went super far under and still didn't touch the ground. It was a little scary and it made me glad Austin and Kambree didn't do this with us. They can swim, but by now the weather was turning cold. The wind was blowing and we were wet from head to toe!

Breck was a smart kid...and wore goggles...can you see them?

Then came the water ditch...um I mean mud ditch.

Shawntell's face says it all in the picture below.

We tried holding hands....so we wouldn't slip in the mud so much...but then my brother, Cory, decided it was a good time to start another, yes I said ANOTHER, mud fight. He was the instigator from the start...mud flew..it was from Cory.

See the mud on Brecks back...awesome!

Breck and Cory, scooping up more mud...to fling at those in front of them.

Trying to climb out of the ditch was harder then you would think.

 With 4 obstacles to go...it began to rain....cold...Logan, Utah rain!

So, we cuddled!

And then climbed down into another ditch...and went through a drainage tube. It was tiny and full of water, but warmer then outside the tube :)

Once again, the goggles came in handy!

We were almost finished...when we had to wait in a line to go down the last slide...into another pit of mud!

Final pictures...

Somehow Will didn't end up in the final group shot...and Sheena was spitting out mud (we all know it was really cow manure...we were in a cow pasture after all)

Back at the car...trying to warm up. Look at these Warrior women I have for daughters!
They rocked this race. So did Shawn, see him trying to get warm all wrapped up in his towel :)
When I first suggested we run this race I got a few comments about how it wasn't going to be fun and it was too far. But if you ask them...they all said they would do it again in a heartbeat!

This is the after math...mud in the hair for days! I blame Cory ;)

Final review : Definitely a do again!!! It was so much fun to do this with family. The experience was amazing and I can't wait until my other two kids are old enough to play in the mud with us old folks! Now a few words of wisdom for those thinking about doing a mud run...find a group to do it with, get a discount for it. Wear clothes you don't care about. These tank tops were $3 from Old Navy, totally fine if they never come clean. Wear old shoes and nothing white...it will NEVER be clean again. Bring two towels. One to get warm, and one to actually shower with. Ladies, use a head band or a bandanna, it helps keep the mud out of your ears. And lastly....have fun...when can you ever throw mud at people and not get in trouble ;)

Camp Oasis 2014

Austin had the great opportunity to go to a camp just for kids with Crohns and Colitis.
It is called Camp Oasis.

This year it was just outside of Denver, Colorado.
There were 2 other kids from our area that went.
Jaden and Blare, they are both 13 and have Crohns too.
Blare's mother drove them out there, 7 hours in the car :)

Austin took his camera...so these pictures are all his...enjoy!

On the drive there.

He slept in a cabin with 9 other boys from ranging in ages of 7 years old to 11 years old.

He had 3 councilors..2 girls and 1 boys.

They did lots of arts and crafts, and a lot of outdoor activities. This is Austins favorite one...archery. They did T-Archery (traditional) and F-Archery (where you ride on a horse and shoot at targets as you ride) he had a blast doing both of them.

This is "Pirate Dan" he is one of the camp councilors. The amazing thing about this camp is that they have a ton of medical staff on hand, and to be a councilor you have to be over 18 , have Crohns, colitis, or a child with one of these diseases. So everyone that works there knows exactly what you're dealing with.

Pictures of some of the kids he met...with Pirate Dan

They had 3 days of rain while they were there...and even a flash flood warning one day.

They have an amazing ropes course the kids were able to do. They talked a lot about how life is like these ropes courses, challenging, but you can make it through it with help from others, not giving up when you are scared. It was great for these little kids to know they can do hard things.

More outdoor pictures. Austin said he loved taking the camera with him and maybe he will be a photographer when he grows up. I tried to not use all the pictures he took and he freaked out saying "Mom, there is a reason I took each one of those. They are beautiful, you need to show them all." So here ya go :)

They also had a rock wall for the kids to climb. This is a picture of the staff.

His councilors again.

Austin being himself...goofy!

His little friend James, they did part of a talent show together. Austin did some beatboxing...Who knew he could do that??

And before you knew it camp was over...and he was flying home. Jaden's mom flew over and got them, then flew home with them. Blare was staying longer with some family members.

Austins first airplane ride...didn't go as smooth as we were hoping. He kind of got sick. After we picked him up from the airport we ended up making 2 stops on the 20 minute ride home...he threw up in the car...and 5 more times when he got home. But by the next day he was doing great again. Crohns...it will get ya!

When Austin first got home he wasn't so sure he had a good time. He said the food wasn't very good. He was upset they didn't have the salad bar open for breakfast...silly kid! He said everything was Gluten free or Lactose free, but a lot of kids with Crohns have to eat those types of food or it causes problems. Austin has a list of foods that trigger a flare or make his flares worse and he knows to avoid them. He ended up losing almost 4 lbs in the 6 days he was gone. Not cool!!!
The longer he has been home and had time to think about all the fun things they did and the amazing people he met, he will now tell you he wants to go back again next year :) I am not sure that will happen, the camp lost a lot of Federal Funding last year and it is kind of expensive, but I am glad he had the opportunity at least once.