Playing in the Rain and Feeding the Ducks!

The past few days, we have been having thunderstorms every afternoon. We got caught in one walking to the park, playing outside, and at a baseball game. On Friday afternoon when we were playing outside it started pouring rain on us, but the kids thought it would be more fun to play outside in it rather than come inside. It was the perfect day to play in the rain as it was still warm outside and there was no thunder or lightning or hail and it was the end of the day on a Friday. The kids had a blast! They just ran around and around in the yard getting soaking wet. It was a lot of fun and I'm sure we will be doing that a lot more as the summer thunderstorms continue to rain on us!





Saturday afternoon we took our lunch to the park and then played for a while and then fed the ducks and the fish. The ducklings are starting to hatch at the hatchery now so the kids had fun seeing the baby ducks too. It was such a nice day (finally!) and so much fun to spend the day outside. And to make the day even better, Caiden and I went to some garage sales this morning searching for some things for Chloe's birthday and found a princess table and chairs set for $10, a brand new kitchen set for $5, and a princess round chair for $10 and everything is in such good condition! The money that Grandma Sharon sent for Chloe's birthday went a long way today! She is also getting princess bedding from us and a princess bike from Grandpa Ken so she will be all princess this year. She is so excited! And Caiden is so cute telling Chloe that she is going to love all of her birthday presents that we picked out such good ones - he is such a good big brother (usually!) Today when we were walking around Walmart, he put his hand around Chloe's shoulder and they just walked like that for a while. If only every moment between them was like that! :)

Chloe is Almost 3!!!

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I really can't believe that my "baby" is turning 3! How did that happen? I thought she would be our little baby Coco Bean forever! Next Monday, she will turn 3, which for me really means not being a baby anymore. But really, she hasn't been a baby for a while as she wants to do everything right along with Caiden. There is a lot of "Monkey See, Monkey Do" when it comes to her and Caiden. She wants to learn everything he learns in Preschool. She wants to jump off of everything he does. She wants to hit the ball as far as he does. She wants to dig in the dirt even more than he does. She really loves her big brother. And USUALLY he is a good role model for her and a good friend to her. They play really well together and only being 14 months apart, Caiden hasn't known his life without her and they really are the best of friends.

For her birthday party, we decided to do it the weekend after her birthday which is also the weekend that Chris and I will be running the Deadwood/Mickelson Half (me) and Full (him) Marathon. And of course we have to eat pasta the night before the race so we are having a pasta feed as part of Chloe's birthday party so that should be a lot of fun. We have some friends who are also running the next morning so it will benefit them too! :)

Chloe is SO excited for her party and can't wait to go shopping this weekend for her party dress. It's all she has been talking about this week. I hope she has a great time at her party and a great year of being 3!! It has been a wonderful almost 3 years for us and even though the kids are so close in age and many people think we are crazy, I wouldn't have it any other way and couldn't imagine life without our sweet Coco Bean!

Yes! I actually got to Vegas!!

When the plane finally touched down at the Las Vegas Airport, the people in the terminal could probably hear the cheers from our plane. It had been a very long 24 hours (that's how long I had been with these people!) so everyone was just a little excited to finally be there. After getting off of the plane, I headed to the tram (something I had never heard of before!) and then over to baggage claim to get my bag and see my family! I was greeted by my mom (who I hadn't seen since last August!) my mom's boyfriend, Dave (who I had never met before) my sister, Kristin and her husband, Javier (who I hadn't seen since last June!) my brother, Kevin, (who I also hadn't seen since last June), and Lauren and Kelly! So, it was a big wonderful welcome, just a day too late. I missed out on the big surprise for my mom, but they videoed it on Lauren's camera so at least I got to see it and boy she was sure surprised. And of course my mom had to tell me the biggest surprise of all was that I (big mouth Shannon) didn't let the secret out about us all coming to surprise her! Haha, funny Mom!

So, we head straight to the Outlet Mall to do some major shopping. It had started to rain (of course it did while I was there - it only rains, like what? 3 days a year in Vegas??) After our shopping trip my mom wanted to head to her favorite locale in Vegas - Old Vegas. We went to the Golden Nugget and had some dinner and then walked around a bit afterwards. It was pretty smokey down in those casinos so Kristin, Lauren, Jav, and I head back to the hotel and I call Mindy (my best friend from high school who lives in Vegas for those of you not in the know!) The rest of the clan stay to do some gambling. Mindy comes to the hotel to see us and it's so awesome to see her! We haven't seen each other since my wedding in 2002 - over 5 years ago! But it was just like old times and every is the same as it was back in high school - so much fun! Kelly and Kevin come back soon (they don't like to lose!) and we all just chatted in the hotel room and got caught up with each other.

Mindy and I head to her house around midnight where her husband is there waiting for us to bring him some Taco Bell! Probably a little later than he thought he would get to eat dinner! Well, of course I am on vacation and I get some food too! And it was sure good! I haven't had Taco Bell in months! But after the day I had, I thought I deserved it! :) Mindy gets her high school box out and we go through it laughing hysterically along the way. "Oh my God, what am I wearing?" and "I can't believe I had my hair like like!" were a few things you would have heard us saying. It was so fun to catch up with her and talk about the good ole times we had in high school. Around 2am we go to bed and I don't wake up again until 830! I haven't slept in that long for a LONG time!

Kristin and Jav came to pick me up and we headed to pick up my packet for my race the next day and then to the mall for some more shopping (it was still cold out so now laying out at the pool today either!) I came to Vegas on the wrong weekend for sure! Everyone ended up at the mall eventually and then my mom gave us each $50 to spend because she had been up $400 on the blackjack tables the night before. Whoo hoo! More spending money! After shopping we headed down the strip to see the sights. We went to Paris, The Miracle Mile Shops (yes, more shopping!) The M & M Factory, and other Las Vegas tourist places. It was fun, but very crowded! It was finally not raining and so everyone had come back outside!

After going back to the motel to get ready, Kristin picked the Rio World Carnival Buffet for her birthday dinner. We get there to find quite a long line, but we have all heard that the food is definitely worth the wait. So we wait and don't end up getting to eat until close to 9pm, but it was sure good! There was every type of food imaginable at this place! And the desserts were amazing! It was for sure worth the wait. Kevin, Dave, and Javier ate their weight in crab legs, but they weren't really my thing and I didn't think they were all they were cracked up to be...haha...get it? Funny I know! :)

I get to Mindy's house and chat for a while before heading to bed because we have to get up early, at 6am, to get to our 5K the next morning. 6am comes fast that night, and I am still feeling the effects of all of that food I had eaten the night before, but I still have a pretty good feeling about the race. My whole family got up early to come and watch me, which shocked and delighted me. I really couldn't believe they got up early on their vacations to watch me run. So, I better do well now! We start right at 730am and Mindy and I stay pretty close to each other for the first half. I feel ok during the race, but definitely not great as my legs feel like lead and my stomach is still pretty full from the night before. But I forge ahead and I'm pretty sure that I can still make an under 30 minute 5K. Mindy pulls ahead of me so either she sped up or I slowed down, or maybe both, but I knew she was going to blow her previous PR out of the water! So, that made me really excited for her. I made sure I could see her the whole time because I didn't want her to beat me too bad ;) but she was definetly faster than me today! She finished in 27:35!!! And I finished in 28:07!! She was 3rd in our age group and I was 4th! So, we both had a great race and my family was there to cheer us on at the end, which was nice to hear. It was a wonderful way to end my trip (although very short trip!) to Las Vegas.

So, although my trip was delayed and shortened, I am so glad that I got to go and see my mom and my sisters and brother, and my best friend. It was all worth it in the end and I couldn't have had a better time. Well, maybe I could have if I had more days, but there's always next time!

What Happens In Vegas...Gets Delayed.....

I guess the beginning of my very anticipated trip to Las Vegas started on Thursday morning when I was just starting to think about what I was going to pack. I noticed that Vedder, our black lab, was not himself at all and he wasn't eating and was throwing up some gross stuff that I won't describe for all of you! I called the vet and they said that he should come in and when Chris took him in, they said he was dehydrated and they needed to put an IV in him and he should stay the night so they could keep an eye on him and try to figure out what was wrong with him. So, along with packing, I had that in the back of my mind.

Friday was Chris' 30th birthday and yes, I was flying out on this milestone birthday, but in my defense, there are only flights out of Rapid City on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays! And plus I wasn't flying out until 5pm that evening. Caiden went to the dentist that morning and Chloe and I started packing up my stuff. Both kids seemed really excited about spending the weekend with Daddy. Mean ole mom was hittin the road! Chloe told me about all of the fun stuff they were going to do while I was on the airplane. We went to Pizza Hut lunch buffet for Chris' birthday lunch and while we are there, we get a call from the vet. They did an X-ray of Vedder's throat and he has a needle and thread stuck in there! WHAT?? How in the world did that happen?? We have no idea. So, they tell us that they are going to put him under and then get the needle out and he should be able to come home at 5pm if he isn't too sleepy. So, we then head over to Dairy Queen to pick up Chris' blizzard cake. After getting home and eating some cake, I finished packing and we were on our way to the Rapid City Airport. Chris and the kids only had time to say good-bye quickly and drop me off at the curb before they had to turn around and get back to Belle to pick up Vedder from the vet so he didn't have to stay the night there again.

This is where the trip gets interesting. After checking in and going through security, I have about an hour until the plane is supposed to get to Rapid from Vegas and then we can get on and get to Vegas - ON TIME - this is what the computer reads....how wrong it was. It said on time for the next hour and then changed to "see airline" Well, in small airports like ours, the ticket agents are also the people who put you on the airplane and the ones who put the luggage on the plane and probably have to fly the plane at some point too! Needless to say, we would have had to go down out of security to talk to the people so we all just sat and waited. They FINALLY get on the speaker and say that they plane has been delayed (duh!) and that it should be getting to Rapid at 730pm. So, we would be flying out 2 and half hours later, but that was better than nothing. The plane came in around 750pm, and the computer even changed to "Arrived" so everyone started cheering. But that cheering started way too early - now the plane couldn't land because the fog was too thick. So, they circled around the airport for a while and then had to head to Bismarck to refuel and then see if the weather would clear up so they could come back to Rapid. And this is when everyone in the airport started drinking...and drinking A LOT. They waited until 10pm to tell us that the plane was not coming back to Rapid because the fog had not lifted and they would have to stay the night in Bismarck and we would try again at 1130am Saturday morning. This is the part that upset me and most everyone else in that airport - the airline would not get us a hotel room, because "it was weather related and out of their control" and not only that, but they wouldn't even help us FIND a room! A lot of people fly out of Rapid from different places because it's the closest airport so a lot of us did not live in Rapid, but they didn't care. So, there were some very angry people around! I met 6 very nice people from Gillette, WY and one of them had a cousin who worked at the Econo Lodge who would get us a good rate for a room for the night if we wanted to stay there. So, they invited me along with them, and we headed out to the airport shuttle to take us to the motel. We were under the impression that the shuttle would be free because we were going to one of the local motels, but when we got out, the driver asked for $11 each! That's $77 he just made on that one trip! Wow! But it was late and we just wanted to get to bed so we could get up in the morning and get back to the airport so we just paid it. The room ended up being only $45 and I shared it with another couple so we just had to pay $15 a piece so that wasn't bad at all - probably the only one high point of the night!

Saturday morning comes and we have to be back out to the shuttle at 830am so we can get back to the airport. The Rapid City Airport is 8 miles out of town and not near ANYTHING so it takes a while to get there. On the way there, we ask this driver why we had to pay the night before for the shuttle since we were going to the Econo Lodge. So, he calls his boss and asks why and his boss tells him it's because the Econo Lodge hasn't paid their bill to the shuttle so their account is past due!!! Of course this is the motel that we pick! Probably the only one who had an overdue bill! But it's in the past and we are looking towards the future of sunny Las Vegas! After checking in (again!) and going through security (again!) we have an hour (again!) until the plane is supposed to be getting back from Bismarck to take us to Vegas. 11am comes and goes and there is still no plane, but really, we aren't surprised about that now....it's just par for the course at this point. They get on the speaker and tell us that they had to do a routine maintenance check on the plane this morning so they are running "a bit behind schedule." Right, a bit....We didn't end up leaving Rapid City until 2pm - a full 2 and a half hours after we were supposed to. Of course the pilot and fight attendants tell us how sorry they are and to make it up to us, they are going to give us a glass of free soda!! Wow! How nice of them! Can you sense the sarcasm here??

We FINALLY get to Las Vegas and it's 4pm before I see my family and get my bag - yes, that would be 21 HOURS LATE. Now 21 hours might not seem like that much if I would have been going for a week, but when you are going going to be in Vegas for less than 72 hours, 21 hours is a lot!

And that ends the story of my VERY long flight to Vegas....more to come soon about the actual trip - which was really fun once I got there!

Finally a Nice Weekend - Both Days Even!

We finally had a warm weekend! It's hard to believe that just 2 weeks ago, we were playing in 2 feet of snow when yesterday, we are playing in the pool, but that's what you get in South Dakota!

On Friday night, we went to a Forest Service Picnic at a city park, which was a lot of fun. A lot of people are leaving the Spearfish office so it was nice to see them maybe for the last time and meet some new people too.

Saturday morning was Chris' 5K and then Saturday night, I watched my friend's kids so her and her hubby could go on a date before their 3rd child comes in a couple of months. The kids had a blast together making mini pizzas for dinner and then we all took a walk to Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat. While we were there, Caiden and Chloe decided they wanted to be photographers and take some pictures of us and as you can see, they did a pretty good job! :)

On Sunday, both Chris and and I did our runs and I had to run inside as by the time I was ready to go, it was already 80 degrees and I knew there was no way that I could run 11 miles in that kind of heat. So, I ran 126.5 laps around the track and had a pretty good run, considering I was running in circles. I ran the 11 miles in 2 hour and 2 minutes which is a 11:05 pace which puts me on track for a 2 hour 24 minute half marathon(5 minutes faster than my last half) so that would be really awesome if I could do that on race day - less than 3 weeks away now!

When I got done running, the kids and Chris were outside working on the yard and when they were finished, we filled up the little pool and had fun splashing around and pouring water on our heads. The kids LOVE getting Mom as wet as possible! It was 90 degrees out so the cool water felt great!

The sun sure wore the kids out too. We put them down at 8pm and at 8:03, both of them were out! My friend, Lacey, and I headed to Applebees for a little yummy food and good conversation as we hadn't been able to get together for a while now, so that was was a great end to such a fun weekend! Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Chris Rocks Out the DAM 5K!

No, I'm not swearing about the race - that's the name of it, really! It's actually the shortened version of the name as it's named the Doug A. Miller 5K and it is run every year with proceeds going to the youth football program in Sturgis. It's a relatively small race with 68 runners this year, but the smaller races in belle and the towns around us are our favorite ones. They usually have pretty cool shirts, good food, and stuff to give away. This race was no exception. The atmosphere was really fun and there were lots of nice people around. It was Chris' turn to race a 5K while the kids and I cheered him on. The racers took off at 845 and we saw the first runner come in 18 minutes later. There is a 2 mile hill (over half the race!) in this race, so it's a little slower going (another reason it was Chris' turn to race!), but we thought we would see Chris around the 20 minute mark. And right at 20 minutes, we see him coming down the street. He was 6th overall and I thought he was either first or second in his age group (I can't tell how old some of these people are!) He finished in 20:24, which is about 40 seconds slower than his PR, but with before mentioned hill, this time was awesome!

After the race, they served us breakfast with muffins, fruit and some yummy breakfast burritos and gave a ton of stuff away including a golf bag, liquor, gift certificates, and an ice angular, but unfortunately, it wasn't our day and we didn't win a thing!

And then it was time for the medals - we were pretty sure Chris was getting one, but weren't sure which one! Well, it turns out the first 5 runners were in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, so Chris was first in his age group with 2nd and 3rd place just 30 seconds behind him! So, that age group was very close with their times! Overall, it was a fun morning and it was a great race for Chris who ran his last race as a 20-something year old - he turns 30 next Friday!

A Wonderful Mother's Day Weekend!

Well, it's back to the grind of a Monday after a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I am so blessed to be the mom of my 2 beautiful children. I feel like the luckiest person ever to have the great family that I have.

On Friday night, we went to a local steakhouse for a going-away party for a co-worker of Chris'. She has been with the Forest Service for 25 years, which is crazy to think about being in one job for that long. She is actually staying here though, but working for the BLM now. We had a fun time at the dinner eating the great food and listening to the stories that she and others told about her 25 years with the FS. It was fun to be around adults and have some grown-up conversations! And even better, a few people commented on how I look like I have lost weight! What a confidence booster! And right when I needed it too after not losing any weight this past week!

On Saturday morning, we woke up to snow, yes snow, on May 10th! Not what I had in mind for a Saturday at all! I really wanted to get a run in outside, but I'm a wimp so off to the gym I went. I'm glad I did go to the gym though, because there was a lady on the elliptical next to me who I chatted with the entire hour which made it go by really fast! So, with my workout done, I head home so Chris can go to work. He normally doesn't work on Saturdays, but was offered some overtime to drive around the forest and make sure people were following the rules of the forest. Well, with the snow, he didn't have any people to watch so he ended up working a couple of hours and then coming home.

I spent the afternoon making dinner for a friend of mine whose baby just had surgery. One of the holes on the baby's head (there are 5) closed which caused the baby's head to start to become misshapen. They had to open it back up and then reshape his skull. Now get this! In order to do that, they actually had to take the skull OUT! How scary does that sound. But the surgery went great and he is doing great and was letting me hold him and smiling at me too when I brought the dinner over. Most of you know that I am not a great cook, but with my mom's help over the phone I made a GREAT lasagna. And that's not just me talking - my friend said that she and her family enjoyed it! :) So, thanks Mom!

Saturday night was spent playing some Guitar Hero - wow, the whole family is addicted! It's a really fun game and the kids love to watch us play and take a spin on it themselves. They can even hit a few of the notes too! Lots of music and dancing and being silly! My kids are sure rockers!

Sunday morning was Mother's Day and we woke up to a beautiful day! It was finally supposed to get up to 70 degrees! Yes, after the snow yesterday even! Chris and the kids let me sleep in (something I rarely get to do!) so I took advantage of it and didn't get up until about 830! Wow! That's late! They had made pictures for me with their handprints which were just adorable and Caiden had made some flowers for me in preschool that were also very sweet. After Chris and I both got our runs in, we headed across the street to the park and played for a while. It was so nice outside, I just wanted to stay out there forever. The kids rode their bikes, played on the slides and swings and had races with each other (I think we will have a family of runners!) When we got back, the neighbors were outside and invited us over to play a game called "hang the balls" or something like that. It sounds a little crazy, but it's really fun. There are 2 balls connected to the ends of a string and you have to throw them and try to wrap them around different colored bars and each color is worth a certain amount of points. I had never seen the game before and I ended up not being very good so it's a good thing you only go to 21 before someone wins! It was fun though and the kids loved watching us and cheering for us and asking how many points we had.

After the game, we headed over to Applebees for dinner so I could get my favorite - WINGS! Lauren was working and so she was our server, which the kids just love and my wings were delicious! After a stop at Walmart for some new fish (ours got sick and went to live with God and Jesus) and a new booster seat for Caiden (he was SO excited to finally hit that 40 pound mark so he could get one, because all of his little friends have one), we headed home for baths and bed for the kiddos and Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters for me! :)

It was a wonderful weekend and I hope all of the mothers out there had a wonderful day of their own! MOMS RULE!

Vegas in 2 weeks!

Two weeks from today, I will be headed to LAS VEGAS! I am so excited! We (my 4 siblings and I) are going to surprise my mom for her 50th birthday! She does not have a clue either! Her boyfriend is taking her and that is all she knows - that they are going. She has no idea that on Friday night, my sisters and I will walk into where she is and surprise the crap out of her! I am so excited for that moment. And then my brother will be coming in on Saturday afternoon for another surprise.

It will be the first time I have ever left my kids for a whole weekend, but I think they will be in good hands with their dad. They should have a fun weekend without mean ole mom around! It will probably be filled with pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if dad has anything to say about it!

My best friend from high school, Mindy, also lives in Vegas so not only do I get to see my mom, my sisters, and my brother, I get to hang out with Mindy and her family too who I have not seen in years! This is going to be one of the best trips ever!

One more month until my next Half Marathon!

It just dawned on me this morning that in exactly one month from today, I will be running my next half marathon. I think I told someone yesterday that it was still 2 months away! It came up really quick! I'm running a course that I have never run before, but have only heard good things about. It's on the very beautiful, very scenic Mickelson Trail. My last HM was last August through Spearfish Canyon and it was all women and all downhill and had about 190 half marathon runners with an additional 100marathon racers . This race will have close to 1000 half marathoners, 300 marathoners and additional people running in the relays. Chris is running the full marathon, with the first half being all uphill (no thanks!) Caiden is running the kids 1K on Saturday and then we will have Chloe's 3rd birthday party along with a big pasta feed on Saturday night. So, if you are in the neighborhood, come on by for some pasta and birthday cake!

I'm not really sure if I am ready for this half. In the last month, I have run 3 5Ks and a 10K so those have taken me away from a few long runs, which I really need to get in to have the endurance for the half. I have 4 weeks left so I HAVE to get at least 4 more long runs in (10 miles or more) or come June 8th, I'm not sure I will make it those 13.1 miles! My time last August was 2:29:08 so hopefully I can take a few minutes off of that next month. And after that, it's all about training for my FULL marathon in August! That is just 3 months away now! Wish me luck!

Kelly Moved Back to Montana Today :(

Today is a sad day in my house. Although it really hasn't sunk it yet. Kelly had been living in SD since last June and has been going to school in Spearfish. But she decided that SD wasn't for her and she missed MT and wanted to move back. I understand her decision of course, but we are still sad. We will miss her. The kids love playing with her. I loved watching DH and Greys with her and freaking out when something crazy happened. We didn't see her everyday of course, but a couple of times a week at least and I think we all got used to that so now that we won't see her for months, it's sad. Saying good-bye is hard and neither of us is very good at it so we just kinda said bye like any other day thinking we might see each other in a few days. But when those few days turn into weeks and then months, we will realize that she's far away and not just at school. The kids won't get to see her until July and to them, that seems like forever, not just 3 months. Well, I better stop writing about this before I start crying and the kids wonder why I am sad! I hope Kelly will be happier in MT and find something she loves to do!

8 Years Ago Today.....

Cinco De Mayo has been an important day in my life since the year 2000. It was the day Chris proposed to me. I'm not sure how many people know this story so I thought I would share it here.

We met at the University of Montana in 1998 during my freshman year. while we were both going to school there. We worked on campus at the Cascade Country Store together and one day, we started talking about football. That is how our relationship started.....a conversation about football. I actually told his ex-girlfriend that I thought he was nice and cute and she told him to ask me out. :) We were friends for a while and we dated a for a little while, but then I went home for the summer and he went to North Dakota for his first firefighting job. We talked a couple of times on the phone and wrote a few letters to each other that summer and when we both got back to school in the fall, we started dating again and have been together ever since.

Fast forward to the year 2000. Chris was getting ready to graduate and I was getting ready to transfer to Montana State University - Billings. He was headed to Jordan, MT for the summer to fight fire and so we would only be 3 hours from each other. We had looked at rings that spring and I just KNEW that he was going to propose to me sometime when his family was in town for his graduation which was on May 13th. But he had other plans...probably because he knew that I thought that that was when he was going to pop the question......

It's Friday night, May 5th, 2000. I was working at the store and he came in on my break to have dinner with me. While we are sitting there, he pulls a rose out of his backpack. I thought to myself, "how sweet, he brought a rose to me while I'm stuck at work" And then I see something sparkly inside of the rose and it was an engagement ring! He asked me to marry him there at the store, which was where we met and where he asked me out on our first date. One of the best days of my life!

We had a LONG engagement, not getting married for 2 and half years after that night, but I needed to finish school in Billings and he was moving around working and trying to find a permanent job with the Forest Service. So, it was also a long distance engagement, but we made it work and actually lived apart for the first 6 months of our marriage too. So, if anyone ever tells you that long distance relationships don't work, tell them this story, because ours worked for a very long time and we are still together! :)

All About Our Fort Collins Trip!

I will warn you now - this will be a long post! This is my first official blog and I like to go on and on about things so if you have a good hour of free time, please, read on! I promise you, they will not all be this long! But this will be about a whole weekend and a lot of things happened this weekend in Fort Collins! Enjoy!

We are back after a fun weekend in Fort Collins! It started off on Friday with us waking up in SD with 2 feet of snow on the ground and it was still coming! What? It IS May right?! So, everything was closed down and I didn't have any kids to watch and Chris had to stay home from work. It was supposed to stop at noon and clear up so we were hoping to still be able to leave for CO in the early afternoon. By 2pm, the snow was melting off at a good speed, but they were still not opening the Interstate so we sat and waited. At 3pm, they had opened the WY Interstate, but still not the SD one so there were 12 miles standing in our way of leaving. And then Chris remembers this Frontage road that he used to run on that runs along the Interstate and takes you right to where you get on the Interstate in WY. So, we decide to leave. We live about 10 miles from the Interstate and when we got to it, there were about 15 cars and semis on the off ramp waiting for them to open the Interstate so they could go. But we just turned onto the Frontage road on were home free in about 12 miles. Later we joked that we should have went back and had the people waiting on the off ramp pay us to show them the way. :) The thing we didn't understand is that by this time, all of the roads were DRY! The snow was gone from the roads and it had already dried up, but they still didn't open them and I guess they didn't open until 9pm that night! So, I'm glad Chris knew about that road so we could get on the road.
The trip there was very uneventful (although some other roads were closed so we had to go the long way - about 100 extra miles) but we finally arrived around 11pm and we all just went right to bed.
Saturday morning, I was up early to go and register for the Cinco Cinco 5K. It was right across the street from our motel so it worked out perfectly. The race was a memorial race for a former CSU student who was an avid runner and was out for a run one day when he was hit and killed by a drunk driver. So, the money from the race goes to scholarships for CSU students in the amount of $555.55 each and I think they gave out 24 this year. :) The race had 198 runners and it was a great atmosphere. I didn't get a PR - my time was 29:24 - but it was a fun race around campus and I ran with a girl who was a student there and she kept me going. Part of the race was a competitive walk and there was a lady in front of us the entire time ( I really don't understand why they don't just run when they are walking that fast anyway!) so the girl that I was running with and I decided that we had to beat the lady who was walking! So, we sprinted it out at the end and she beat her by 5 seconds and I beat her by 2 seconds! YAY!
After my race, there was a kid's race which we knew Caiden would do, but didn't know about Chloe. I really wanted her to do it, because I knew when Caiden got his goody bag and medal, then she would be disappointed that she didn't get anything. She decided that she would run it if I ran it with her. After a few seconds of running, she starts crying and I'm trying to get her to have fun with the race, but she wants nothing to do with it! But after most of the other kids pass her, she calms down and actually starts running. We are 3rd from last, but she's running! I kept telling her that she was going so fast that I couldn't keep with her and so know she's laughing and really having a good time. Caiden was done by now and waiting for us at the finish line. They had a piece of ribbon out for each of the kids to run through and break and Chloe LOVES this idea. The medals were a bit hit with the kids and Chloe didn't take hers off for a couple of hours.
Later that day, we headed over to a farm where the kids could pet the animals and go on pony rides. Chloe LOVES horses more than anything so she had a blast. She talked about riding Brownie the rest of the day. Caiden loved the cows and the pigs and thought it was pretty funny when the pigs were hanging out in the mud.
That night, we met up with 2 people who Chris had met in one of his online running forums. We went to dinner at a place called Beau Jo's and it was very worth going over my calories that day! It was delicious! It was fun meeting Dan and Caroline and Caroline's family too. Dan's family didn't come because his wife was due to have their son next week so she thought she better stay home this trip. I told him that she would probably have the baby while he was running and he joked that someone at an aid station would yell out that his baby was born. :)
After dinner, the kids and I headed to the "heated" indoor pool and played in there for a couple of hours. We met a lady (her husband was also running the marathon the next day) and her 2 year old little girl so we all had a fun time playing in the water.
Sunday morning was a beautiful morning so I was happy that they were going to have good running weather. We made it down to the finish line of the marathon around 845 and was hoping to see Chris come in around 910. And then I heard that the marathon actually hadn't started until 615 so then we were waiting until about 925 until we would see him. There were SO many people there. They had all 4 races finishing at the finish line (5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon, and marathon) so there were a lot of racers coming in at any given time and there spectators galore! Lots going on!
Around 9am, I get an unfamiliar call on the phone and I could barely hear the person on the other end. And then I hear, "This is Dan's wife - I had the baby." WHAT???? I started yelling and probably looked like a crazy person but lots of people were cheering for the runners so maybe I didn't look that crazy ;) So, I get her number so I could give it to Dan when he gets across the finish line. I see him coming and decide to yell, "Dan, your wife had her baby!!!!" as he was coming in. I had no idea if he had heard me or not, because there were so many people, but it turned out that he had and came over to me when he crossed the finish line and called his wife. :) What a fun story to tell him one day! He finished in 3 hours and 36 seconds so he had a great race.
Around 930 I realize that Chris' Boston dreams had fallen short this time around and I told the kids that they needed to look for Daddy because he should be coming soon. And then we see his green shirt coming towards us. He finished in 3:18:05 which was his fastest marathon thus far, but fell short of a Boston Qualifying time by about 7 minutes. He was bummed and the kids picked up on that so Chloe picked a dandelion for him on our walk back to the motel and gave it to him and told him that she had yelled loud so he would run fast. :) How cute is that! To the kids, he is the fastest runner in the world.
The drive home was uneventful (thankfully) and the kids were pretty good for the most part. We did hear from Caiden every couple of miles when he wasn't sleeping, "How many minutes now?" and "Are we almost to Belle Fourche"
Although Chris didn't get boston this time, he is thinking about trying again in September in Billings or Bismarck. He will get it - when he puts his mind to something, there is no stopping him! He is still the number one runner in our books! :)