Happy April 1! I can't believe the year is already 25% of the way over. It kind of sucks to think of it like that, doesn't it? Time to get cracking on those goals! I really want to focus on my photos and videos over the next couple of months, making sure everything is backed up and work on making a DVD of the videos. I long for the day that I can sit on the couch and watch old family movies like we used to do when we were growing up - you know, when you had to connect that big video camera to the tv or pop that tiny tape into the adapter and put it in the VCR? Oh, the good old days.
Last week was spring break for both kids and we were so excited to get a visit from my mom and dad for a few days. I was so thrilled when my mom called to offer to come down during our race weekend to help out with the kids. I mean, seriously....when we've never hired a babysitter ever, how exactly would we find someone that we trusted enough to be at our house at 5:45am on a Saturday? It was a great excuse for my parents to visit and I was so relieved.
After some spring break haircuts, the kids and I parked it on the porch to enjoy the beautiful weather and wait for their arrival.
And to say everyone was excited when they finally arrived is an understatement.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't going to be that great while they were here so we took advantage of the few hours of nice weather and played outside. Dad fixed an old kids' fishing pole that was in our garage and they practiced casting it from the porch, and Riley had to show off her bike skills. It was so nice...relaxing and just fun!
We came in as the rain moved closer and I was inside prepping dinner when a tornado warning started. I knew we were expecting storms, but there hadn't been talk of tornadoes so it kind of caught me off guard. We spent a few hours watching the radar and trying to keep updated on the path of the storms, but luckily we didn't have to get in our safe place at all.
Thursday morning I woke up and did a quick two mile run, we stopped off to visit Amy and let my parents see the younger girls, and then we headed out to a chiropractor visit for me before having a pretend birthday celebration for Gavin. We did lunch at Chickfila and then took the grandparents to Fast Lanes, where Gavin will be having his party later this month. The kids had a great time playing games and trying to earn tickets for those oh so popular arcade prizes. Last stop was a visit to Target where Gavin was allowed to pick out his own gift - and he chose Super Mario Brothers for the Wii. It was so cute to watch him play with Beepa! He can't play without jumping around and moving with the controller.
Friday, Jarrod took the day off and we treated our guests to dinner in the smoker. Once we got the pork all set, we headed off for a lunch date. Check one of our two dates off my 2015 Bucket List! We did a little shopping, went for pizza at Peddler's Pub, and then stopped and picked up our race information.
Friday was our usual family night - dinner and Family Movie Night! It was Riley's pick, so Mom and Dad got to watch Tangled for the first time. We headed to bed somewhat early in preparation for our early morning.
Unfortunately, we knew the weather was going to be a bit chilly for everyone to come out and cheer us on for the race with Riley's allergies being so bad (she gets a horrible cough), but we hadn't ruled anything out for sure. Then we woke up at 5am and saw the forecast had changed to include RAIN! Really?!?! So, Jarrod and I ate our bagel and banana, did some stretching and headed out after leaving my parents a note telling them it was probably best to just skip coming out at all.
The race started at 7 and I surprisingly wasn't as nervous as I was expecting to be. And, I was doing really well! My goal was to stay under a 11:30 pace, and I was actually staying under 10:45 for the first 9.5 miles. Perhaps it was that faster speed that did me in, but when we got to the downhill segment, it felt like my right knee started to buckle under me. And it hurt. A lot. I ended up spending the next two miles switching from a very slow jog to walking, trying some stretches along the way. I was feeling so defeated. I had worked so hard and I was so frustrated that I wasn't going to be able to finish without stopping, which was one of my goals. Once I got to the flat path trail, I was able to start my run again at a somewhat decent pace and even made it up the dreaded hill at mile 12 without needing to stop and finished about 5 minutes past my goal of 2.5 hours. Again, somewhat disappointing, but it could've been a lot worse! I, of course, wish my parents and the kids could've been there when I crossed the finish line, but at least we got a picture when we arrived back home! {And the screenshots are of us approaching the finish line taken by the race photographer.} Jarrod finished in 1:58, and my time was 2:34.
Thanks, Mimi and Beepa, for holding down the fort for us so I could cross this off my Bucket List, too! We love you.
After showering and warming up, we all headed out to enjoy the day, which turned out to be beautiful after about 10:00. We did lunch in downtown Rogers, did some shopping to finish up our bedroom makeover, and then headed back home to play outside.
Our evening capped off with a birthday cake for Gavin's pretend birthday, board games with Mimi and Beepa, and lots of last minute hugs.
Because of all the outside time, Riley struggled with her allergies that night and couldn't seem to stop coughing. Around 9 I ended up bringing her out on the couch to sit up with me while we just watched some tv and the grandparents got to witness her cough so hard that she puked all over me! That was fun. I'm sure Mimi loved helping us clean up puke, and Beepa was lucky enough to have to sleep on the part of the couch where a little vomit landed. Oops. Talk about a long night...I'm exhausted and so sore from the race and I ended up with a coughing three year old sleeping on top of me all night. Truly, you can't make this stuff up!
My parents headed out bright and early while the kids were still asleep, and we ended our spring break with a lazy day of napping and staying in our pajamas. Just what we needed!
