Ann Arbor Hands on Museum (for real) and Team Aquaphor

This week was a pretty busy week for us. I felt like I needed to cram in a bunch of things since we are leaving the area soon (or so I thought) and I wanted to keep my pre-race week really low key. Turns out, we (or I plus the kids) may stick around MI for a few more weeks before heading down to KY. We started the week low key. I did a nice long slow swim while Keira was at school, and then took Soren to play at the mall for a little bit before getting her. We also had a blast at home getting the bikes out again. Sadly, it got super cold again later in the week. On Tuesday, we did a few errands after my workout. They are getting shorter! That afternoon, Keira thought she wanted to take a nap with Soren. That lasted about 5 minutes. On Wednesday, I was able to do my long run at the gym since I am tapering and done with biking and bricks until after the marathon. We decided to get some lunch at Aleko's in South Lyon. They have the best breadsticks, and Mark, the owner, is from my tri club. I had won a free entry to a T-Rex tri as a door prize from him last year, and he got me all set up for the Pterodactyl Tri in July. On Thursday, we hit the Hands On Museum. We received a free pass and a buy one get one pass from there when they visited Keira's school last week. I did not want these passes to go to waste, and I did not want to go the week prior to my race or during spring break, so I thought I had this week. Keira and Soren had a really good time. Typcial of them, they did not want to leave any of the exhibits, so transistioning was difficult. They really liked the foam block building, the traffic light, and the big bubble maker. Ryan also had a delay at work that will keep us here a little longer. I am not really sure how long I will stay, but I think I will be keeping Keira in school a few more weeks, and will need to go pay for those days. Friday was a busy morning. I was hoping to run over to Village Oaks to turn in Keira's kindergarten paperwork (as a backup, just in case we have issues getting enrolled or moving to KY) while she was at school. I had to run home to get her winter stuff for going outside at school today, so I got a little behind. I got in a quick workout, and then took Soren to storytime. We opted to do this in the afternoon, and I was glad we waited until after lunch because it took a long time, and Soren likely would have missed storytime. We got Keira all signed up! After that, we stopped at Meijer where we were given a free roasted chicken! It was past the time for selling them, so they were giving them away. A couple stopped us and asked if we got one, and I wasn't aware of the "giveaway", so they gave us theirs. It made for a tasty and easy dinner for this evening. Keira was excited to wear her OSU shirt, she asked to wear it today, I am not sure if it was because of March Madness or not, but the timing seemed fitting. I also learned tonight that I had made the 2011 Team Aquaphor! Since Team Marathon changed their criteria this year, this was my main hope for a sponsorship. They are a bit more hardcore than Team Marathon, so hopefully I won't have trouble fulfilling the requirements of 6 MAJOR endurance events. It looks like the 5ks and shorter races won't count, but I will know more after the conference call. On Saturday, we had a full day. It was Art Day at Linda's montessori school, so I dropped off Keira at her house for the morning. Keira made so many projects and had a blast. I ran a few errands with Soren and hung out with him at home while Ryan rode. Ryan rode his mountain bike and his road bike with his Wolverine friends at Island Lake this morning. It was very cold, but sunny. Kris and Linda dropped off Keira just a few minutes before Ryan got back. Here she is with her loot: I ran a little under 9 miles with Cristina and Monica for my last big run. We averaged 8:01 min/mile, so hopefully that wasn't too fast for the week before the marathon. It was a sunny day, but chilly. I am feeling very good for my upcoming race, and now just want to rest rest rest! I have a few miles to run next week before the race, but not too much. Once I got back, we went out to Poole's Tavern in Northville, sticking with the trend of going to places that are unique to our area. We ate in the Bak Bar portion of the restaurant, and it was decorated very nicely. On Sunday, we attended church. I helped out in the nursery with Valerie, which is not Soren's class. Keira and Soren were really wound up this evening, so they went to be rather early. Hopefully they won't wake up too terribly early, but with tomorrow being a school day, maybe that will mean we won't have to rush too much. I also have a bunch of artwork from this week and last week that Keira made: Up for next week, I have the Martian Marathon! I am really looking forward to it.