The Biggest Block Party Ever Featuring In It To Win it!

We knew the block party would be fun! Mandi and Erin had planned a wild outfit for the night! We began at 4:00pm promptly as the doors opened wearing our usual In it to Win it t-shirts and gear. We gave the secret password, Visual Delight, and easily completed our given challenges. We then headed over to Extreme Entertainment’s booth where Missi’s friend and Amazing Race competitor, Demaris was face painting. We all got our faces painted each a little differently. Missi chose a spider WEBB to signify her last name. Erin chose a butterfly and Mandi chose the princess look. We were so excited to see Demaris, as we had an extreme outfit planned for the night and the face painting would be the perfect addition. After getting our faces painted, we headed home to change our outfits and prepare for the fun night ahead. We are not really sure what the theme of these outfits was exactly, but we like to call it the “In It To Win It” clubbing look. Everyone seemed to love our glamour and several stopped to ask us what we were doing and why were dressed like superstars. That allowed us the perfect opportunity to promote CYP and the race. By the end of the night everyone was talking about the race and our team as we walked by. We were even offered help in the race by many people at the block party. One table was really eager to help us, and asked all about what we have done so far and our future challenges. So we pulled out our challenge book and they gave us several tips to help us on our journey. They were such nice people and we shortly discovered that they are Chamber members and business owners throughout the community! This chance meeting turned out to be a wonderful networking opportunity!

Midway through the night we were greeted by the Mayor, Fred Armstrong, who asked to have his photo taken with us and requested an autograph. He had heard about us from The Republic coverage of the event on opening night and he was so excited to meet us. We granted him a photo, gave him some campaign tips on being In It to Win It, thanked him, and then headed on our way.

As usual, there was one small mishap! Missi accidently bumped into a Columbus Police Officer almost tangling him in her neon green boa! Luckily for her, he was a very understanding man and let her go with only a warning!

Irwin Gardens, the Sculpture Tour, and MORE Injuries . . .

Next, we headed to Irwin Gardens which was so beautiful. We spent about an hour strolling through and getting pictures of the flowers and animals. Our adventurouous morning had been fun, but we were now ready to eat. We headed to the Columbus Bar where we met the cook, Nana, and enjoyed the food.

Of course the day was not without injury. Who knew that the sculpture tour would be so dangerous but it certainly was. As we headed our way through town to see each sculpture, Mandi stepped on a large piece of glass. The glass penetrated all the way through her sandal, but luckily did not reach her foot. Erin, like any good teammate would do, readily came to her aid and began removing the glass. It seemed that all injury was avoided when Erin suddenly realized that now her hand was bleeding pretty hard. She had cut herself removing the glass and it was her “We are #1 and In It To Win It finger.” She needed some medical attention and she needed it quick. They looked around….no one was close by to come to their aid. Where is that Stat Ambulance team when you need them?
Then it came to them. They were right by the Senior Center and they probably would have a band-aid and a place to wash it off. Well they got into the Senior Center all right, but as they walked in, to their surprise they were in the middle of a wedding reception. Oh we felt so bad for the couple! While all attention was on them previously, suddenly everyone was crowded around us for an autograph. We got the medical attention that we needed, signed a few autographs to be nice, and then headed back into the city to discover more of Columbus.


Anyone keeping up with our journey knows that we are injury prone! And that’s why Mandi and Missi gasped with horror as they saw the next humorous pose that Erin was attempting. They tried to stop her. They yelled at her to “Please, get down!”, but she did not! Before they could talk reason into her, Erin was hanging over the bridge by the senior center. Luckily, no injury was sustained but that one was close!

We continued on for the rest of the sculpture tour and took funny pictures at each one. At the Monk sculpture, Mandi and Erin got the idea to have Mandi on Erin ’s back for the photo. It all seemed like a simple enough plan until Mandi jumped and we all heard a loud ripping sound! Mandi’s pants split right in the middle as she jumped on Erin ’s back! After we quit laughing hysterically and inspecting the damage, we decided something had to be done to repair the pants. We had a lot to do and Mandi now had on black pants with a white stripe showing down the middle! Erin came to the rescue with a safety pin, creatively closing the split. You would think the multiple injuries suffered by the team, would have stopped here, but oh no there is more…As they ended the sculpture tour, they walked to the car, ready to sit down and relax a minute from the long day of walking. BUT, at the exact second Mandi went to sit down, the safety pin being used to keep her pants together, suddenly popped wide open, giving her a much unexpected poke! BUT, as is to be expected of the In It To Win It team, we did NOT lose our spirits and raced on!

Visitor's Center Architectural Tour

Oh the girls of In It To Win It, they live and race each day to the fullest. Today, July 28, was a long day of CYP Amazing Race fun. It all started early in the morning with the Architectural Tour. We learned a great amount about the numerous buildings and structures around Columbus and a lot of facts that we never new. Mandi and Missi sat in the back of the tour bus reminiscing about their younger school days of riding the bus. Erin ’s son, Owen, also enjoyed the tour, but we knew he had had enough when he grabbed the cord in the bus requesting a stop! Although he is the youngest honorary member of our team, he is not too young to know that we had a busy day planned and had to be on our way.

As we ended our tour, we heard the Scottish Bag Pipers warming up so we promptly put on our homemade kilts made by Erin and headed over to meet and greet. Oh you should have seen Missi turn three shades of red as one bag piper asked her if she was wearing her Kilt properly! FYI we were NOT! Apparently, the proper way allows quite a breeze under that kilt!
As has become routine for our team, another one of the bag pipers was so impressed by our team spirit that they asked to wear one of our red, white, and blue leis as a symbol of their support!