It's Spring Break - So I Went to Body Building Competition

This post is totally about my baby brother....

And the Fact that he is a body builder.

Really.

Saturday, after S3's Near Death Experience and the re-coop of that, I spent the day doing laundry and dishes until I realized I was suppose to leave RIGHT now to meet my brother for his first ever body building competition.

I put on somewhat clean clothes and ran out the door, blowing kisses to my hunky hubby and dirty looking boys and hurried over to my brother and sister in law's, carrying a dish of the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls because the boy hasn't eaten sweets in MONTHS (he was even that disciplined through Christmas and New Years and all that) and figured I he may wake up the next day craving cinnamon rolls. I know his sister does.

I walked into their house to see my brother standing in a speedo in the middle of the kitchen while my sister in law rubbed brown body paint all over him.

People, nothing really prepares you for that sight.

Nothing.

After I tried to gather myself up from that shock, we chatted a bit trying to ignore that my brother was nearly naked.

Or I was trying to ignore the fact. He was ready to go and strut his muscular body.

The brown paint sorta looked like Robin Williams when he got stuck in that insta tan booth in Old Dogs.

My super sweet sister in law hopped in the suburban loaded with booster seats and an unfound icky scent of something the boys have forgotten about while my brother drove his super cool four by four pick up truck with a bunch of other friends to down town Kalamazoo where he would compete for Mr. Kalamazoo.

Why, yes, I did suddenly feel very very very old.

Because I didn't have a ticket I stood outside with body builder wanna be's and body builder groupies. I soooooooo should have worn "My Husband Rocks" t-shirt.

My family had gotten tickets earlier in the day so I sat all alone among strangers in a front and center great seat to watch my brother perform.

There were 44 performers. My brother was about number 39 or so.

But I thought he was the best!!!!!

It was quite the learning experience. The couple to my right knew everything about body building, apparently, so I just listened in as they critiqued all the body builders.

The man next to me was taking a zillion and a half photos and I considered asking him to take extra pictures of my brother but since I couldn't quite figure him out, I decided not to.

I did, however, text my friend KE a bunch of times and told Becca I know what we are capable of with the #pushupchallange2011.

These body builders spend MONTHS and YEARS getting ready for this day. And most these performers were a lot older than me. By a lot. (I liked the one mom who was out there...I know she was a mom because a young voice called out "Way to Go, MOM!") They have followed a strict diet, they work out every day, they practice and sacrifice and work as hard as they can to be in the best shape possible.

They should all get trophies and rounds of applause.
My sister in law has been by his side through all this, step by step. Helping him eat healthy, encouraging him, going to the gym with him.....and she was super proud of her hubby for the great job he did.
This is a picture of me, my parents and my little brother. Except, he's not little AT ALL anymore. And do you see our sleepy looks? This was waaaaaaay past our nine pm bedtimes. But it was soooo worth it to see my brother up there on stage.

He says he learned a lot about himself gearing up for the competition. But the thing that shocked him the most? He has no fear of performing in front of large crowds.

Obviously! He walked in front of theme in a speedo like everyone in the world does that every day to show off their muscular body.

As soon as the competition was over and he had been critiqued by the judges and the place cleared out, we drove down to Pizza Hut where he ordered two large pizza's, a family order of cheesy breadsticks and downed a million glasses of water (dehydrating your body before a competition makes your muscles look more taut.)

The next morning he ate the full plate of cinnamon rolls. Less than 24 hours after the body building competition we all gathered up at my parents for home made pizza. He had gained 12 pounds already.

And then he will start training again for another competition.

I am extremely proud of him.

As in words escape me how proud I am of him.

And I can't wait to watch him perform again!

Here is the video I took of his competition. It's shaky at best because I was trying to take pictures with my camera, my phone and hold the flip cam in one place. At one point I am clapping and realized "oh yah! the camera!" but it's here for you to see if you want.

Way to go, Dustin!

Thanks for letting me blog about you!