Walking for a cause

I was determined to wear that stupid
bib thingy even though it was unnecessary. 

I've often said that I prefer dogs to people, because I get along with dogs better. For that reason, when it comes to supporting a cause it usually involves animals.

Our darling dog Luther joined our family over 6 years ago (his anniversary is Nov. 19th) from PAWS Chicago, so every year the whole family signs up for the PAWS 4K walk/8K run.

We enjoy this event because I always like to gear up for a good run, and Jeff and Luther can get involved by walking the 4K. As the years went by, my parents also got into the act and walked the 4K with their dog, Macaroon.

Usually I run this event, but since Aviva was born about a month prior, I had to face the facts that this year I'd be walking. My first run isn't scheduled until July 26th, and I'm not really sure I'll even be ready for that one.

Getting to Montrose Harbor on a Saturday morning for the PAWS event is always difficult, and since we have the pups we can't get on public transportation. That means searching for parking by the beach-something everyone else is also doing. We managed to get out of the house around the time we planned (hey 20 minutes late isn't so bad), and we found a parking spot right in front! Then I realized we forgot our packets...

You see, when you're running the race, the packet and bibs with numbers are vital! Apparently, this isn't the case with the walkers. But I had no idea! So I stayed in the car with Grandma, Grandpa, Aviva and the dogs to secure the spot while Jeff graciously ran home to get the packets. On the plus side, it was sort of rainy and icky out, and we had about an hour to kill. Grandpa and Macaroon braved the drizzle, while Grandma and I played Words With Friends in the car.

Again, had I opened the packets at any point I would've realized how useless and unnecessary they were. Ooopsies! Luckily I get a free pass for all things stupid for I would say the first year or so of Aviva's life, right?

Once we got the packet issue settled, we all enjoyed a nice morning and a nice walk. It was fun to see how the other half lives (re: walkers), but next year I am definitely running the race. There were tons of doggies, strollers, and crazy dog owners (myself included). Many of the dogs were in costume, and there was a lot of butt sniffing and pooping along the route (I wasn't included in that). We ran into a few friends we hadn't seen in a while, enabling us to show off the latest addition to the family.

PAWS was aiming to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by having the most animals in costume in one place, so we participated by forcing Luther to wear his Illini jersey. He wasn't especially happy about that.

Aviva blissfully slept through the entire event, and even stayed asleep as we went out to a tasty brunch immediately following the walk. I would characterize the day as a success, and look forward to next year!