I'm Back....Now -- to Catch Up!

Yep, I'm back to "bloggey" land -- if that's what you call it. I needed a little break. Last week, we had some "blogworthy" things going on. But, I'll recap one post at a time.

Marc was on yet another furlough week from work last week. Therefore, Luke and I had him home.

We actually took a short family trip, but I'll blog about that in another post.

This post is about the Wichita Marathon. It took place yesterday (Sunday, the 18th).

You might remember about a month ago about Marc and our friend Seth running the Wichita 1/2 Marathon -- to prepare and train for the full marathon (26.2 miles).

So, Marc and Seth left at 5:15 A.M. yesterday to get there in time to warm-up a bit....

Seth's wife (and good friend of mine), Sarah, and I waited to arrive with their two children and our one child at the marathon finish when the guys predicted they would finish.

I actually didn't capture too many photos -- that would be because Luke absolutely did NOT want to stay in the stroller. He was MUCH more interested in crawling around while we waited on the guys. I did my very best to keep him out of the way of runners. However, we did have a couple of close calls! Sorry for any of you marathon runners who could potentially be reading this....I hope Luke didn't cause any falls.

When we first got there, it was actually a bit chilly. So, all three kids were fairly bundled up.

Here's a photo of Luke in the five minutes he did actually spend in the stroller. In this photo, he was looking at oncoming runners approaching the finish. He was trying to find his Daddy.



Collin and Natalie did much the same thing -- stayed in the stroller for a bit to stay warm. Then, they proceeded to run around (as opposed to Luke's crawling).



After waiting awhile (nearly 1 1/2 hours) -- we did finally see the guys coming up the final stretch. They were actually running with a couple of women. This is the best photo I could get (sorry you can't see them better). Marc's on the far left. Seth is right next to him. The two women are on the right (and yes, Marc knew one of them).



Marc's run close to 100 marathons and ultra-marathons, and so, we won't talk about him. This is "old" business for him.

BUT, this was Seth's first marathon. AND, he finished -- which was the ultimate goal. GO SETH!!!!!!! We're happy for your finish.

Also, Seth and Marc both finished without passing out OR throwing up -- which we're also all thankful for.

I haven't talked with Seth today -- we'll ask him next week (after the soreness has wore off) if he would like to do another marathon someday.

After the race was over, Seth partook of the "free" massage. This is a photo of him in the massage chair -- he had ABSOLUTELY no idea we all took photos of this.



Many times after a race, Marc does go for the free massage. But this time, he didn't. I think he was more interested in lunch and a Pepsi -- of course.

But, before heading off to lunch with the guys, I captured this "end of the race" photo.



Again, good job Seth! I hope you're not too sore.

Sarah and I are very thankful that both husbands/fathers finished in one piece.

Overall, the kids did fairly well considering the wait. I certainly can't complain.