A vacation all about Mom

This weekend we went to Richmond to visit Alyssa and Jeff and to run in the Ukrops 10K.

We took the kids out of school early on Friday. It took us about 5 1/2 hours to drive down to Richmond. Alyssa is always concerned that the kids will be bored at her house because she doesn't have any toys, video games, or even a TV, but the kids love to visit her. Athena practices belly dancing with Alyssa's scarves and belts:

The boys make various weapons from the craft box Alyssa provides:

(This is a popsicle stick turned into a knife--there were swords and guns, too).

They helped Alyssa make muffins for the morning:

They also made posters to cheer Alyssa and me on in the morning. It rained hard all Friday night but the rain had stopped by Saturday morning. It was cloudy but comparatively warm--all in all not a bad day for a run. It was my first 10K and the first time I'd run a race in 6 years, so my goals were to not stop and to make my wave time (66-70 min.). Happily I made both my goals. I ran a 10:38 pace which put me in at 66 min. and 18 sec. About halfway though I thought I might be crazy for wanting to run 6 miles (let alone a marathon someday) but as soon as I finished I thought I could definitely run a 10K better, and can't wait to run another one.

Alyssa pulled a muscle during training so she planned on walking the 10K in about 90 min. But she did better than that, walking and jogging to make it in 86 min. Unfortunately, with so many people running and walking it, and with Alyssa doing it faster than expected, the kids weren't able to see either one of us cross the finish line--so they did a lot of standing around in the chilly air. Still, Brian got them a funnel cake, so they decided it was worth it after all.

In the afternoon, Alyssa, tired of me saying I was going to get my hair cut and then never making time to go to the salon, made an appointment for me at her hair stylist. Here is the after picture:

Brian entertained the kids by taking them to Monsters vs. Aliens. They then immediately named a balloon Bob, and it became the plaything of choice. (I guess you have to see the movie to really understand it).

Anyway, it was a great weekend away. I got to run, get my hair done, and spend time with my sister. Thanks, Alyssa and Jeff! (and you, too, Brian!)

oh--there is a story behind the hard hat Apollo is wearing. Packing up is hard and sad work, and Apollo was having a hard time not whining and crying, so Jeff designated the hard hat as a No Whine Hat and Apollo wasn't allowed to whine while he was wearing it. It worked pretty good too!