The post that has nothing to do with Joshua...

...but yet it has everything to do with Joshua.

Marriage is hard.  Marriage with a sickly child and a very extended hospital stay is even more difficult.  To put it simply - this year has been very hard for Joe and I to communicate and connect.  And even now that Joshua is home, we have many feelings and things to work through.  What makes it extra difficult is that we can't just call a babysitter and go on a date to work on "us."  So we do our best and try to make time for our relationship when we can.

So when I saw a Groupon for the Urban Dare it sounded like a lot of fun (we love watching the Amazing Race together) and we love outdoors and running and anything competitive.  So we signed up and got Joe's mom to come down and watch all 4 kids.  This would be her first time babysitting Joshua.

Joe and I had no idea what to expect from this race, but ended up having a really fun day.  They gave us 12 clues of places around Columbus that we would have to travel to.  They stressed that the clues were not in a logical order so we had to figure out the landmarks and devise our own route to get to each place.  This was a little difficult because Joe and I do not have smart phones, but we had my mom on standby to Google whatever we needed!  With my mom's help, a map, and a GPS we figured out all the sites and the order we would visit them in.  So Joe and I jogged and walked MILES and MILES around Columbus and took one bus (that was the only transportation allowed besides your own two feet)  Many of the sites were just photos, but others were dares that consisted of a 3 legged race, making a balloon sword, deciphering a numeric code, proposing to someone not in the race... It was great weather, not unbearably hot and Joe and I got to spend time together like the old days when we used to run together...now we just get sore and out of breath together!

All in all it was a really fun day and we got to go out to dinner after it was all done!

Ready?  Let's Go!!!

Our first stop - Home of the Columbus Clippers!

Making a balloon sword.
I had actually practiced this about two months ago
with the kids and successfully made the sword after
popping only one balloon.  We saved a lot of time here!

Eternal flame for firefighters memorial

Joe looks a little tired doesn't he?!?!?

Three legged races are VERY difficult when one of the
competitors has bowed legs.  

Trying to hunt letters and numbers to crack a code

Franklin University Clock Tower

Off to the next stop!

If you look very closely, Nationwide Children's is between our heads
I never thought I'd be walking on this side of town on my way to German Villiage!

And this photo is kind of funny because our cold foamy beverages
of choice are a pepsi and a diet coke.
So we enjoyed our complementary waters once
we arrived back at the pub/finish line.
All in all - a GREAT Day!
And to our surprise we finished 35th out of 270 teams!!!!