Spring Break

This week was Keira's spring break, and likely Ryan's last full week here in MI before heading to KY. We had some ups and downs. I was either sore or sick almost all week, and the weather was still not very spring like until today.

On Monday, the kids got up at their normal early time, not understanding that you sleep in on spring break. We headed over to the gym so that I could swim and try to get some of my post marathon stiffness out. I was pretty sore still today, despite multiple Compex sessions. I got to the gym only to find out that the pool was closed. Ugh, I stretched and did abs since that was really the only thing other than swimming that I was capable of doing, and the kids were excited to be at the gym after my rest days last week. I made a lasagna for dinner while Ryan rode. Soren tried to help, touching the oven rack with a bare hand, and got a sizable blister on his hand. This was made much worse when we went outside to play after dinner. Keira asked if she could practice running outside, which I was thrilled about. We went outside and while Soren was chasing her around, he tripped and tore open the blister. Ouch! Not a good way to end playtime.

On Tuesday, we met up with friends Valerie, Katie, and Luke at the mall after a short swim. It was a rather dreary day and not super warm, so playing inside was a good option. Keira and Katie had a great time, as well as Soren and Luke. The girls are really going to miss each other. On Wednesday, I met up with Cristina at my gym. She had been asked to teach the Wednesday Brick class. It was great to have her teach and I think everyone enjoyed it a lot. We opted to stay on the bikes the full hour instead of running. This was fine with me since I was still recovering from the marathon. After the class we met up with Nana for lunch at Laurel Park. Soren is finally getting better at sharing the play area there. We have been so many times when it has just been a small amount of children, and it is finally becoming more crowded. On Thursday, I had my first run after the race. I went 3 miles and it felt hard. We spend the rest of the day doing errands. Ryan had a really great ride with his friends this evening. On Friday, we met up with Jen and Liam at the pool. I went early to get in a swim workout, and then got the kids ready afterwards. Keira and Soren had a blast playing with Liam in the pool. Once we were done in the pool, Jen invited us over to their new home, which is right by our place. We finished off the day with dinner as a family at Noodles, our favorite place for carbo loading on Friday nights. Saturday was a busy day. Ryan went on a ride with the "A" group today with Kent, and they really enjoyed that. The completed 63 miles at 21.5mph. While Ryan was riding, I took Keira and Soren to a library craft where they made butterflies. I wished Keira and Soren had not started using the water so quickly for the watercolor effect because they didn't put many dots first, and then once it was wet, it was difficult to add more. Needless to say, it was a very fast craft. Once we left the library, we ran home quickly to pick up some "hazardous waste" from our house to take to a local disposal event in Wixom. We got out there and learned they were also accepting paper that needed to be shredded, but didn't have ours. I was a bit irritated because I looked on the website beforehand and couldn't find anything about paper, and I had a bunch. I wished the event lasted longer into the day, because I was headed back out that way to ride, and didn't want to make 3 trips in the same day through Wixom. It was still great to be rid of our leaky propane cylinder, extra gasoline canister, and old CPU. Keira was excited all day because she was going to have a sleep over at her cousins' house. She was constantly asking if Ellyn was here yet to pick her up. I was glad when Ryan came home from his ride and lunch with his friends so I could ride.

We had a pretty decent group today. Cristina invited Kari and Gary, Julie, and Bill to ride with us. Cristina ate something that was bothering her stomach before the ride, and was throwing up before it started. Gary got a flat and Bill rode ahead to get him. We rode 15 miles, and I averaged 17mph. I was pleased with this, especially because it was my first ride of the season and on my new bike outside. I was a bit squirrely on it in the beginning getting used to shifting on the aero bar ends, but after a couple miles I felt a lot better. We finished the ride and did a very fast 3 mile run afterwards. We averages 8:02min/miles including our half mile cooldown at the end. That evening we had a pizza dinner at home with just Soren. He was wondering where Keira was, and seemed a bit sad to go to sleep without her.

Sunday was a tough day for the kids. The nice thing about Keira being at a sleepover is that I got to sleep in, and so did Soren. The bad part about having Soren sleep in was that there was no way he was going to take a nap before church. He was just starting to get silly as we were leaving for church. Keira apparently stayed up super late, deciding to watch TV on her own after everyone else went to bed, so she was a bit overtired today too. We were in and out all sacrament meeting. I did bear my testimony today, since it is likely our last testimony meeting here, possibly our last Sunday. Ryan was released today too. He should head down to KY on Tuesday. Keira gave her first talk in Primary. She spoke very softly because she didn't like that the microphone made her voice sound loud. Her favorite scripture story is Daniel in the lions' den, so that is what she talked about. I subbed in nursery today with Sister Caruso, so I was in Soren's class. He did OK once we got to class, but still had his moments. I was a beautiful day today, our first really warm day of the year. We didn't need coats and could break out the spring clothes finally. Keira and Soren enjoyed playing outside a bit before bedtime. Here is Keira's artwork from LAST week that I didn't post.