ever watched a snowman run?

because disney races start so stinking early, i had more than enough time to get back to the hotel, shower, and get a little bit of rest before we had to head back to downtown disney for the kids' races.  i'd already hit up delovely details and mr. DD for a ride back, which was much better than waiting around for the shuttle.

just as i got out of the elevator i ran into the girls, who were heading down to the breakfast room to grab some grub.  the timing was perfect - right as i finished getting cleaned up, they were back with food in hand.  since the usual run disney snack boxes were absent at the 10K finish line, i was happy to snack on the yogurt and juice they'd brought back for me.  

so you know how when you've got extra time on your hands before you have to do something, and you get all comfy and settled and end up totally losing track of time?  yeah.  by the time we got out of the hotel and headed down to wait for the shuttle, it was exactly the time we were supposed to already be at the start line for the race.  oops.  and that damn shuttle took so long to get there that we ended up giving up and hopping in the car.  and because of the road closures and the gazillion people trying to get to the same place at the same time, the bean and i ended up hopping out of the car before the old lady could park it and running to the start line to get there before the race was over.

luckily, we managed to get there just in time.  the 200-meter run was just wrapping up, and the 7-8 year olds were gathered together waiting for their turn to run.  phew.  i even had time for a pre-race photo:

we actually ended up waiting around for awhile before the "fairy coaches" strolled over to get the party started.

despite having arrived super late, we'd managed to worm our way up to nearly the front, and ended up in the third or fourth wave of kids.  when she heard that whistle, she was off and running.

i always forget that this girl is a sprinter.  she got really far ahead of me, and it didn't help that i was already kind of pooped from my own 6.2 miles that morning.

but because this was her first crack at the 400-meter, once she got about halfway she finally slowed down for a walk break and i caught up.

she looked over at me as if to say "sheesh mom, where were you??"

and then she took off again, crossing the finish line in no time, and happily accepting her finisher's medal.

after collecting her bottle of water and a pouch of krave cereal, she headed over to the clif kids tent for more swag.

showing off the day's bling.

because she asked so nicely, we walked back to downtown disney and towards the build-a-bear store - just to look.  while she wandered around looking at all of the different bears and accessories, the old lady found a little friend of her own.

we were a little astonished at the cost of this special edition cinderella bear:

and she did her very best to get me to pony up some cash for a new bear.  

i stayed strong though, thinking of the 47 million stuffed animals she already has at home, and we headed out of there and to the lego store for more browsing.  we never actually made it inside the shop though, since they thankfully had a station set up outside for some free play.

when we finally pried her away from there, we walked past the area set up for the "tomorrowland" premiere again.  this time, the blue carpet was all set up.

it was maybe 10:00 in the morning, with the premiere set to begin around 5:00, and there was already a group of folks who'd staked out a spot to get a glimpse of the celebs that evening.

i knew it would be an absolute zoo down there, and so i settled for this being the closest i'd ever get to clooney.

a crew of cast members was getting debriefed on the procedures for handling the crowds that would be showing up later that day.

back in the room, the old lady packed up her bag and bid us farewell - she had to work that afternoon and wasn't able to stay with us for the second night.  so the bean and i hung out and while she watched tv, i happily drank my coffee and ate an entire loaf of brioche.  carbs, yo.

and we did a bit of this:

somewhere around the time that clooney was walking that blue carpet, my own personal rock star arrived.

i snagged this from someone on facebook.  sigh.  i could've been there too, dang it.  that's okay, though.

we walked across the street to the gardenwalk to get some dinner here:

and then drove down the street to this place for some dessert.

before i went down for the night, i laid out my costume for the next morning.

and for once, i managed to get some decent sleep that night.  i definitely needed it.  i don't know if i could do another one of these challenges, man.  i'm getting too old for this shit.