He Asks...

 So this was a question that we found on the family phone that Briggs had typed into ChatGPT...

At least he's trying to be proactive?  Because typically what he does to stay entertained is to repetitively ask his parents if it's time to go or how much longer we have to stay.  If ChatGPT can come up with something better than that, we'll all be happy.

She Says...

 Adelie:  "I hate geometry.  Why can't shapes solve their own problems?"

He Says...

 Yesterday, I told Zach that all 3 kids were having friends over after school on Thursday to celebrate the last day of school.

Zach's response?  "Tell me you want me to go to the office on Thursday without telling me you want me to go to the office on the Thursday."

#makinghimselfscarce

Annie, Jr.

Adelie (and Staley, sort of) just finished their spring Stage Kids show of Annie, Jr.  Because of spring track schedules, Adelie was in the NTA Thursdays cast and Staley was in the Bloomington cast.  Staley could never actually practice in Bloomington because of her track schedule, so she did all her rehearsals with Adelie in Washington on Thursdays.

Adelie was cast as a housekeeper.  She had one short line in a song.  She was bummed, but did her part well.  It was tricky as she is now too big to be an orphan and her cast had some stronger older kids to play the adult leads.

Adelie was in the housekeeper scenes as well as NYC.

She was also one of 4 older kids who sang "Tomorrow" with Annie.  The Annie for Adelie's cast really struggled, so they had various people sing all her songs with her.  It spoke highly of Adelie that she was chosen as one of the stronger singers to help out.

Staley ended up dropping out of the Bloomington cast when she was given the opportunity to run the mile at her sectional track meet.  She had been cast as a housekeeper and the police officer, so they were able to find someone to fill in for her.  She hated to not follow through with her commitment to the show, but was also very pleased to be given the opportunity to run at sectionals.

Although Staley and Adelie could not officially tech any of the shows because of their track schedules, they helped out backstage at several of the shows when they were available.

Staley even jumped in as an orphan to help the little kids safely get up onto the bunk beds.

Adelie got to help out on one of the nights that some of her Eureka friends were performing.

Uma and Papa came to watch Adelie perform.

So did Grammie and Grandpa.

Even though we spent much less time at the theater during this show than most others, the kids still enjoyed their time with friends.

Annie added a little more crazy to our spring.  Although the girls weren't super excited about their parts in the show, Adelie did so well and proved once again that any part she is given, she will do it well.

Boston Marathon

 Zach and I took 5 days out of our busy April schedule to head to Boston for a little marathon running.

Initially we were supposed to fly in on Saturday night, but some serendipitous potential bad weather in Chicago allowed us the opportunity to change our flights to earlier for free.  We were even able to make a last minute change to our connecting flight when we got to the airport to get on the earlier connection to Boston.  We ended up getting to Boston by late morning instead of late at night.  #winning

We grabbed our rental car and headed to the Expo for packet pick-up and scoping out the merchandise and booths at the race expo.  We also saw part of the world record attempt for 100 miles on a treadmill that Ashley Paulson set while there.

After the expo, we explored downtown for a while, watched part of the kids 1 mile run, and then took pictures at the finish line before driving out to our hotel for the night.

 

Our Sunday, we took it easy as I prepared for my big run the next day.  We slept in, did a short little 2 mile shake-out run at our hotel, ate a good hotel breakfast, and then relaxed until check out time.  We then headed to our downtown Boston hotel and thankfully got an early check in time.

The day was cold and rainy, so we mostly just relaxed in our hotel room.  We had an early dinner reservation in the North End, so we walked from our hotel to the bus loading area (so I knew how to get there and how long it would take), then wandered through the Public Gardens before walking to our restaurant for dinner.

We ate an early dinner at Trattoria Il Panino for dinner.  The food was good.  Nothing spectacular, but good.

After dinner, we walked back (in the cold, windy, rainy-ness), got everything prepared for the next day, and went to bed early.

The day of the marathon was cool and calm, perfect for running.  Although my start time wasn't until 11:01, my bus loading time was 8:00.  So I got up, got dressed in my marathon gear, wore all my start line throw away layers that I had gotten at the thrift store, and then Zach walked me to the bus loading area.

The bus loading area was chaos!  I waited in line over an hour to load my bus to the starting line.

Thankfully, I was able to meet up with Jill (my new "friend" from the flight to Boston who was also running in my wave), so we were able to pass the long wait time and hour bus ride together.

While I was getting to the start line and starting my marathon, Zach went for a long run along the Charles River in Boston before packing up, checking out, and then making his way towards the finish line to see me.

The marathon went well for the first 17 miles as I was consistently running my goal marathon pace.  However, I started to struggle around mile 17.  The last 9 miles were really tough, but I finished and was proud of my time on the hilly, crowded Boston course.

Boston was a cool experience.  I was glad to be able to run the iconic race, but I don't know that I would do it again.  I did finish 5.5 minutes under my Boston Qualifying time for next year, but I don't think another marathon is in the cards for me anytime soon.

After officially finishing and a short stint in the medical tent, I met up with Zach and we walked (very slowly and painfully) back to the hotel.

My quads were so cooked from the Boston hills (both up and down) that for the next few days, they would intermittently just give out on me as I'd take a step.  It was unnerving never knowing when your legs would just decide not to support you for a second.

After the marathon, Zach and I decided to head up the coast for a relaxing day before flying home.  We drove to Rockport, MA and stayed at the cutest little seaside inn (The Cove).  Since it was the off-season, the rooms were very reasonable.  The only downside?  We were on the 3rd floor with no elevator.

After checking in and a much-needed shower, Zach and I walked to get some dinner.  Most places were closed, but we filled up on pizza and soda at the Rockport House of Pizza and Roast Beef.  It met the need.

We popped by the beach across from our hotel before heading back and watching a movie ('Wake Up Dead Man').  I surprised myself by staying up for the entire movie.

Zach got up and went for a run the next morning.  (I did not.)

Once we were up and checked out of our hotel, we went to explore Rockport.  We had breakfast at Bean and Leaf Cafe, which we really enjoyed.

Rockport was the cutest little seaside town.  We just walked around town, checked out some of the little shops and boutiques, and enjoyed the nice weather.

I wasn't moving great, although stairs and sitting down/standing up were the worst.  As long as I was walking on flat ground, I did okay.

After checking out the downtown areas, we drove out to Halibut Point State Park.

We walked about the 1-2 miles to check out the park and end up down at the ocean.  It was a beautiful place!

After exploring all that Rockport had to offer, we headed to Gloucester (the next town over) and had a scrumptious lunch at the Seaport Grille.

We then enjoyed some award-winning ice cream at the Holy Cow Ice Cream Cafe before driving back to Boston for our last night before our early flight home the next day.  We stayed in 4 different hotels over our 4 nights on this trip, but with only 2 of us and minimal luggage, it wasn't a big deal.

Zach was really sad about having to return our rental car though.  Picking out fun rental cars on our trips is one of his favorite things.

We lucked out on our flight home.  We never pay extra to pick our seat, but the randomly selected seats that we got were the extra leg room ones.  It was lovely!!

We really enjoyed our little April get-away.  Maybe next year, we'll do another one except without having to run 26.2 miles.

April Up-Date

March flew by.  April is done.  We are full steam ahead into May.  Here's a look back at what April brought us...

Just like Adelie helped out Fight for Life by playing in the pickleball tournament, Briggs joined up with his friends for the 3 on 3 basketball tournament.  Also like Adelie, his team didn't win any games but had a fun time together nonetheless.

We celebrated Easter with church and then lunch and family time in Danvers with my side of the family.

We had an Easter egg hunt in the basement where the kids made phrases with Scrabble pieces to "unlock" their Easter baskets.  Clothes and Legos for the win.

Track, track, and more track filled our April.

With Staley doing high school track and Adelie at the middle school, many of our evenings and weekends have been filled with track meets.

Briggs enjoyed his 5th grade field trip to the Shedd Aquarium.  I accompanied him and enjoyed the day with Briggs and his friends.

Zach and I traveled to Boston so I could run in the Boston Marathon.  That will have its own post, but it was an exciting part of our April.

The girls had their final Bible Quiz-Off at Grace Church in Morton.

Adelie missed her first 2 quizzes of the day because of a track meet.  Her team lost all 4 of their morning quizzes and did not make it into the tournament, but Adelie answered several questions in the 2 quizzes that she was a part of.

Staley's team did make it into the tournament, won their first tournament quiz, and ended up finishing in 3rd place, losing to the eventual winner of the tournament.  Staley ended being the #7 senior high quizzer for this quiz and the #4 senior high quizzer overall for the season out of all the teams.

Both girls enjoyed their year of quizzing.  I love that they enjoy the time with their friends while learning and memorizing scripture.  It makes my heart happy.

We got together with Zach's family at the end of April to celebrate January-June birthdays and Mother's Day.  Life gets busy, so I'm glad we were able to finally get together and make that happen.

Zach and I took the girls to see Project Hail Mary in the theater.  Liam, Caroline, and Evan joined us while Briggs stayed at their house to play with Lucy.  We all loved the book, and we really enjoyed the movie as well.

Uma took Adelie to get her nails done and shopping for her birthday. 

Adelie loved how her nails turned out!

The NTA Spring Show, Annie Jr., kicked off in April.  It will have its own post, but it was a different show for us as we tried to navigate theater and track.

April was busy and full, and it was just the lead up to the craziness that is May.

And to cap off this April post, here is a great picture of 'Sir Briggerton.'  Never a dull moment in our house!!