Tyler, Minde, Chase and Riley visit and Detroit Half Marathon

This week was another insanely busy week for us. The good thing about it being the final week before my half marathon was that I didn't need to do much running, so that made time for other activities. We really enjoyed meeting our niece Riley for the first time and all the activities we did as a family. I was also getting pretty involved with everything in Primary.

On Monday, I took Soren to his storytime at the library. We slept in as usual, so that was the main thing we did in the morning. This is the last week of storytimes for a few weeks, so we tried to take advantage of them.


After the libray, we made a quick stop at Parmenters with Valerie, Jared and Kate. I could not believe that they had never been there before, and wanted to join them for their first experience.
Kate and Jared
Keira and Kate

The ducks were crazy, and came so close this time. They made Keira a little bit nervous, but she still enjoyed feeding them. Soren had to watch from the stroller.


That afternoon, my GOTR girls were scheduled to do a 35 minute long run, so I was able to get in an acceptable slow run with them. Usually I have to hand out lap counters or some other game piece each lap, so I don't tend to run with them for a sustained period. It was nice to do a slow run with them. Many of them were able to get in a full 5K during the workout.

On Tuesday, Keira was star of the week at preschool. The star of the week gets to bring an item for show and tell each day and bring a guest (me) to read a book of our choice. I helped Keira choose the pop up version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and the kids in her class really enjoyed it. She brought her Bitty Baby today to show; she didn't really tell anything about the doll. She was given a crown to wear and also able to be the line leader for the week. Then afterwards, I had a lunch with my old Primary Presidency and Natalie, from the new presidency, was able to attend as well. It was a bit crazy having that many children at Panera and trying to do any sort of wrap up, but it was fun.

While Ryan was at scouts, we went to the library for a special starlight storytime. Keira was excited because her classmate Charlotte was there.


On Wednesday, I took Keira to her storytime, a mere 15 hours later than our previous storytime. The library is such a good resource for free children's activities, especially since the weather turned really cold this week, we couldn't pass it up. Soren has been making this funny scrunched up face and sniffing. I had a video of it, but it was hard to tell Soren's sniffing from Keira's. She joined in on it too.



My GOTR girls froze today, and I was glad the workout portion was scheduled to be short and we had a lot of games to do for the day's lesson. They are all planned out for me, so it was nice it worked out this way.

On Thursday, Keira finished up being the Star of the Week. She chose to bring a McDonald's toy to show and tell today- quite the contrast from Tuesday's toy. Since I was not reading a story today, I was not present to know if she shared anything about it. It was a "good" McDonald's toy, the Madame Alexander Witch from the Wizard of Oz, and she plays with often enough that it manages to survive the McDonald's toy purges.


Here is her artwork from the week:

I did a short run as a final pre-race workout, and then we headed to REI. Soren was so funny. He pushed a large shopping cart around the store the entire time we were there. He was so particular about where we went with it too, he avoided the front door/checkout area and would not push it off the concrete "path" onto the carpet. Needless to say, I didn't get much browsing done because I had to steer it for him.

Friday was the start of one of the busiest weekends that we have had in a while. The morning began with Elise's birthday party, and it was a tea party theme. Keira had a great time with Elise, Lizzie, and Ava. They started the party by making princess crowns, then dressing up in princess dresses, and finally having a teaparty. We brought 2 of our chairs to the party, and it was so funny how concerned Keira was that we were bringing our chairs, and then how concerned that Lizzie was when I loaded them into our car since she didn't realize we had brought them. Those little girls pick up on everything! Keira is making her crown
Keira, Elise, Lizzie, and Ava in their crowns
Keira is all dressed up in her princess attire.
The 4 Princesses, Keira, Elise, Lizzie, and Ava.
Soren is getting his groove on dancing with the girls.


The princesses are sitting down for their tea party.

After the birthday party, Tyler, Minde, Chase, and Riley were just arriving so we met up with them for a quick lunch with Kris and Linda. After lunch, we went back to Kris and Linda's to let the kids play a bit. Ryan was at a bowling fundraiser for Juvenile Diabetes in the afternoon, so he was able to head over to meet up with us earlier than usual. Soren wouldn't take a nap over there, so I opted to bring him with me to Detroit to pick up my race packet. He took a decent nap in the car on the way to Detroit. Cristina and I rode down together, and due to the fact that the race is international, each person must pick up their own packet and show a passport. While we were downtown, everyone else did a few errands and then went to Three Cedars Farm. They enjoyed cider and donuts, and there was a nice place for the kids to play. I met up with them as it was getting dark, and got a few pictures. All of Soren's naps today took place here.
Linda got a birthday cake for Chase, since it was earlier in the week. Both he and Keira enjoyed sampling the frosting with Nana's OK.
Ryan and Keira in an old telephone booth at 3 Cedars
The best of my group shot attempts: Soren, Chase, Riley, and Keira

Ryan is helping Keira to feed the goats.
Soren loved the goats.
Keira, Chase, and Tyler feeding the goats.


Saturday was another busy day. We headed over to Kris and Linda's fairly early with a ton of baby gear because the adults were going to the Michigan/Delaware State while 2 babysitters came over. Soren wouldn't go to sleep on his own, but eventually conked out while being held. Keira seemed to have a good time, although she wanted to come with us. Ryan and I really enjoyed being able to go to a football game together. I hadn't been to any football games in a really long time, and although it wasn't an OSU game, it was still really fun. UM was able to play 5 quarterbacks in the same game, which was pretty incredible. I caught the tail end of the OSU game at tailgate that we walked by on the way to the car and was bummed to have it end with a facemask for a loss to Purdue. This is the view from our seats.

Minde, Linda, Tyler, Kris, Me, and Ryan.

Sunday was the big day for my race. I met up with Cristina and her friend Monica to follow them down to Detroit. They both ran the full marathon so riding in one car wasn't an option. It was a typical chaotic start for me and a Detroit race- we were at gear check when the race actually started because we hung out inside COBO hall for too long avoiding the cold outside and the porto johns. I was able to dash over and get in the very back of my wave, but Cristina and Monica's waves were already gone since they are so fast. I had a great run, it was a PR of 1:49:25. Cristina and Monica eventually passed me after about mile 11, since they had started so much later. That is the great thing about chip timed events- if you are a little late, it isn't the end of the world. It was a pretty cool day, and I was very pleased with my time. I felt pretty decent afterwards. I was able to get "easily" on the freeway afterwards, after ending up in the middle of a barricaded street going the wrong way on the way out of the parking garage. Oops! It was a very fast way to the freeway, though, and I had no trouble with crossing through runners because they had already gone through. Due to the international nature of the race, they have very strict cut off times for the course so that they don't have the border traffic restricted all day. We cross over the Ambassador Bridge, which is a 4% grade, and have the only underwater mile as you cross through the tunnel. The tunnel is closed completely from vehicle traffic for the runners for a certain length of time and the bridge traffic is reduced to half the lanes. Since it is such a hassle as a spectator, Ryan and I had decided that he would not come down for the finish, and it was just as well since Keira woke up sick this morning. She has a low fever and threw up once, but has been able to keep food down later on in the day. This is a post race shot of me at home. I was a St. Jude Hero this year.
Once I got home, I had to prepare a few last minute things and get cleaned up for my first day conducting Primary. I brought Soren with me, just to keep him away from Keira for a bit. Things went fairly smoothly, although I must admit where there was one moment that all of us just stared at each other not sure who was supposed to be doing something. I also though it was pretty funny when I called on one of the boys in Primary by name, and he exclaimed, "Wow, I can't believe you know my name already". I always joked that the children never really knew who I was as secretary, and this just confirmed it. I was in charge of taking attendance for all the classes for the past two years and know them all for the most part, only occasionally mixing up siblings. Soren really kept me busy during the whole block of church, so my fatigue was really setting in. We enjoyed a relaxing evening at home.

Up for next week, we will be doing some relaxing I am sure. With Keira sick today, that means we won't do much, and I will enjoy some rest. We will need a restful week with Halloween coming up!