Day 2

On the second day, there was more driving. ;) 647 more miles and time in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. Whew. (And, yes, we crossed into yet another time zone. Ugh. We're telling ourselves that at least we'll gain time on the return trip, lol.)

Before all that, though, we stopped at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. It was, in Noah's words, worth the driving.

(Ha!!! Proud Project Pre-Thirteen moment! Given that Noah was the strongest voice of opposition to making this trip by car, we feel vindicated, lol.)

Here are some pictures...(trying to learn how to add them from my phone, so I'll apologize if they end up all weird).

In any case...we were quite impressed. The stainless steel shone and was remarkable in scale. We rushed through the underground museum that we hadn't known was there. We rode the tiny elevators up the north leg to the observation area (where boys busied themselves taking photos out the windows)...and we rode the tiny elevators back down the south leg. (The elevators were really small...the five of us took up a single one. If you're claustrophobic, you probably won't appreciate them.)

We then ventured over to see the Mississippi River (which was officially flooding), where I had to caution the younger two to not fall in since they obviously had to touch it, lol. And we took more pictures...running here and there and taking advantage of the precious moments out of the van. ;)

Project Pre-thirteen

Or, project try to take advantage of time spent with your kiddos before they turn into teenagers and don't think it's cool to vacation with family...

It's a working title, lol. I haven't decided for sure yet. Micah's calling it our DC/Coast trip...which is also apt.

In any case, we're on vacation. ;) I'm figuring out how to post from my phone, so bear with me.

On the first day, we drove. A lot. Like 936 miles a lot. We also forgot about things like changing time zones, which means it was an even longer day than we had been bracing ourselves for. We drove in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. Did I mention it was a loooooonnnnngg day? ;)

Anyhow. Day 1 was just driving, nothing much else to report. We realized just how thankful we are for cruise control, fresh wiper blades, interstate highway systems, and not being the original pioneers (lol). Oh. And we decided our van needed a name. We settled on Vincent VanGo. ;) Vinny, for short.

Spring program

Just quickly...last night was the boys' spring program at LEAP. It went just dandy and now we're done. ;)

Asher performed with the bells and drumming classes...playing some lovely pieces. 

No, the photo's not crooked...Micah is, lol. Looking his dapper little self, Micah performed with his recorder/chimes class and also sang with his Sound of Music class. He looked so adorable up on stage! I'm biased, obviously. Don't get me wrong...the seven little girls were all very cute, too, but the tie/vest/mohawk combo just really did it for me. ;)

Noah and Asher performed with their guitar class earlier in the day (each student has been working on a solo piece), but the class didn't perform at the program on account of having missed two class days due to snow recently, such that the group pieces weren't quite ready. :)

And that was the spring program. :) I have more pictures (and some for friends) but they'll have to wait to be processed. Heading out the door just now... ;)

Teacher appreciation.

Done. :)

Thirteen teacher gifts to be delivered this afternoon at LEAP. Each bag has a stainless steel water bottle, some drink mixes, reusable ice ball thingies and a note to that teacher. The tag on top says "School's out. Summer's here. Thanks for all you've done this year...Stay cool!" and then the teacher's name is printed on the reverse for easy delivery. I was rather proud of myself...after searching high and low for inexpensive gift bag options that weren't too short or too wide, I just asked for extra brown bags at the liquor store...they were just the right size, lol!

(Yes, I know it seems impossibly early to be a last day of school. ;) Technically, next week is the last day of classes at LEAP. We won't be there then so are handing our dealios out today. And, for what it's worth, our "official" last day of this school year isn't until July anyhow since we homeschool and do our own thing, lol.)

Whew.

Well, despite more than a hundred miles fewer training runs this year compared to last (let's blame the snow and cold, lol), I finished the Colorado Half Marathon for a second time this morning. Molly and I headed up to the starting line way too early (left the house about 4:30) but at least had brought blankets to huddle in while we waited:

For our morning chuckle, when our bus arrived, the announcer person informed us that coffee and water was available, that we were at the starting line for the half marathon, that porta potties were ready, but that toilet paper had been forgotten. ;) He informed us, though, that they were working rapidly to correct that oversight (I imagine someone is going to be in trouble, lol). Once off the bus, sure enough, someone announced that toilet paper had arrived and to please clear the area so they could distribute it as quickly as possible. Initially, though, their makeshift solution was only rolls of paper towels, but within a few more minutes someone else arrived with actual toilet paper. ;) Entertaining.

In any case, after a bit we finally got started. This year, they introduced pace groups, which were awesome. Even though I wasn't shooting for a specific time, it definitely helped me keep going to have a clearer idea of where I stood. As anticipated, I didn't beat my previous time, but I felt pretty good about my run. Molly, meanwhile, managed a new personal best...yay, Molly!!

Here we are after finishing:

Done. ;)

And, just a few shout outs...

- To the bride & dedicated bridesmaids running together, congratulations! Seems like a good way to get in shape before the wedding day. :) (According to their shirts, the big day is 06.01.13.)

- To runner number 2227, thank you sincerely for being so nice and tall...you may not have noticed me but I ran in your shadow as we came out of the canyon and you blocked the rising sun quite nicely, lol.

- To the runner in blue who occassionally skipped, thank you for sharing your joy...seeing you randomly switch to skipping raised my spirits in the last few miles.

- To all those involved in making the Colorado Marathon (and associated races) happen, you rock! Thank you for making the experience such a smooth one...I very much appreciate the organization and time that went into the day!