props to us

the girls and i got up early on a sunday morning to head out to universal city for a fun 5K through the universal studios backlot.  the teen and i had been looking forward to this one for a while, since it's been ages since we hit up the amusement park there.  and this would be even better, because instead of being stuck on a tram, we could get a closer look at all the things.

on our way to the start line, we came across piles of their christmas decor all ready to be uncrated and put up.

the event had sold out completely, so we were just three amongst a crowd of 3,000.

there were several food trucks in place, but the most popular by far on this beautiful sunday morning was the one serving coffee and tea.

the girls look excited, don't they?

i managed to get smiles out of them anyway.

because we had a stroller (borrowed from lilcee, since ours is a broken piece of crap), we were stuck at the very back of this group.

i got the teen to pretend she was posing for a picture when in fact, i just wanted to share this lady's incredibly gigantic sun visor.  ain't no sunburn gonna mar that face, people.

at the start line, we caught a glimpse of cutie pie max greenfield, aka "schmidt" on one of our favorite shows, "new girl."

when we explained to her who he was and showed her a picture, the bean said "oh, he's pretty."  ha!  and then through the peephole in the stroller canopy, she sang to us.  "who's that girl...who's that girl...it's JESS."

after he'd done his duty getting the 10K and 5K runners started, ol' max jumped off the podium so he could get started on his own run.  he was replaced by mark walberg - not hottie marky mark, but the other one.  the one who hosts "antique roadshow," or what i actually remember him from - the quality programming by fox also known as "temptation island" from back in the day.

finally, it was our turn.

there was all sorts of entertainment along the course.

and lots of familiar sights, like the set from the "jaws" movies.

on the tram ride, this section gets a rainstorm and flash flood - which would've been kind of nice, since it was butt ass hot that morning.

yay!

one of the teen's all-time favorite movies is "back to the future."  unfortunately, the original set was destroyed by a fire a few years ago.  they rebuilt it, but it's not the same.

i always love seeing the facades that look so realistic.  like, this could be a hospital or something pretty much anywhere in the world.

water stop!

when we got to this area, there were security guards stationed who were telling people not to take photos.  so what did i do?  well, come on now.

i mean, if it's that top-secret, why have it on a route where a crapton of people, most with cameras in hand, are going to be running by?  dumb.  and i was so busy snapping those that i didn't even realize (despite the teen hissing at me that he was coming) that schmidt was inexplicably running back towards us until it was too late.

props.

the dude on the "gladiator" set was heckling everyone who walked by.  "run faster, come on, pick it up!"  he apparently hadn't gotten the memo that it was a run-slash-walk.

we recognized this as the fictional country "genovia" from one of our favorite movies, "the princess diaries."

sweaty fools.

did you watch "desperate housewives"?  i loved that show and had fun walking down "wisteria lane."

as we neared the finish line, we had to tackle this gnarly ass hill that reminded me of the final 2.5 miles of the hollywood half.  i took over pushing the 50-pound bean in the stroller at this point, which was...challenging.  let's just say i was practically horizontal as i huffed and puffed my way up with her.

more fun stuff:  whoville and the bates motel.

the last part of the walk was through the "war of the worlds" movie set.  the bean was perplexed.  "why is there a broken airplane right there, mom?"  why, indeed.

i was so pooped from those hills that i didn't even get a picture of the finish line.  oh, well.  but hey, there was water and snacks!

and, the hardware.  i love the creeper teen lurking behind me and the sweat dripping off my nose.  sex-ay.

we finished with just enough time to say hello to my friend amber and her adorable baby j before heading back out for the bean's kids' fun run.

i was a little surprised to note that the half-mile course for the kiddies included a bit of the gnarly hill we'd just endured.  but she's a little trooper - she trotted right up and kept on going.

and she earned her very own medal.

happy.  hungry.  sweaty.  you pick who gets which name.

we were pushing her in the stroller again to get back to the car when she stopped us, jumped out, and started running again.  that's my girl - addicted to crossing finish lines.

just like her mama.  oh, yeah.