Deanna's Playhouse

Deanna's Playhouse is about one hour away in Holland, Michigan.  We've been meaning to check it out and finally did on Wednesday.  It is open from 10 to 3 and we stayed the whole time.  I took too many pictures.  We really had a great time together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/2 Marathon

 

I finished my half marathon last Saturday!  Not gonna lie it was hard.  I didn't have as long to train for it.  I had wanted to run this race but was scheduled to work June 1st.  I requested to switch with someone but didn't hear back so I just dropped the race idea.  Then someone from work emailed me six weeks before the race saying they would swap days with me.  So I went for it.  I had been running some just for exercise so I wasn't starting at zero.

The race was in South Bend, Indiana and the finish line was in Notre Dame stadium.  My friend Robyn and her son Daniel also ran.  They are both faster than me so I didn't run much of the race with them.  I finished in 2:18:58 which is about 6 minutes faster than my best.  I never stopped running during the race but I wanted to so so bad.  There were some hills.  It was just hard and I thought several times--Why am I doing this?!  Pay money, wake up so early, and be in pain.  But oddly when it is done it feels great.  And I do feel proud of myself.  I was talking to Robyn about why we do races like this.  And she said she likes to prove that she can do hard things.  I liked that.  I also like having a goal and something to work toward that is just for me.  And I love running with friends at night or early in the morning.

The weather forecast said it might rain Saturday so Eric wasn't sure if he was going to come.  When I finished I kept pacing and was looking for my family in the stands.  I didn't see them and was kind of bummed.  I left the stadium and ate some food and started stretching.  And then I saw them walking toward me and I was so glad they were there.  Eric said that he got into the stadium at the 2 hours and 20 minute mark.  They had just missed me!  One minute off.  He said it was hard getting out the door because the kids kept wanting more cereal.  I was still glad they came to support me.

Washington D.C.

First Metro ride

 

 

 

Hard to see but Janie was often found walking around hiking her shorts up really high to both sides. 

 

I think Janie had the hardest time in D.C.  The heat paired with lots of walking wasn't her thang.  I had to convince/bribe her often.  We were at the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial and she did not want to walk up all those stairs.  I told her that there was a surprise at the top and we had to climb to go see what it was.  She looked at me straight face and said "Is it real or pretend?"  But substitute the r's with w's.  Weal o pwetend.  She had caught on to my tricks.  But there was a surprise and it was Abraham Lincoln.  But it was pretend because it was a statue.  She had me.

 

When Blake was walking down from the Lincoln Memorial Blake said to Eric "I'm never going to forget this day." 

 

On the drive home we were recapping the trip.  I asked her who was at the top of all of the stairs and she said "Neighborham Lincoln."

 

 

Eric, Blake, and Nate went to a Nationals game one night.  Blake said this was his favorite part of the trip.  Eric said he asked questions nonstop and I believe it.  After a full day of walking/running around D.C., they stayed up until midnight.  Lucky boy.

 

 

 

 Poor Janie

 

 We tried to determine what part of this outfit made it over the top cool.  I think its the socks.  Janie was getting a little loopy at the end of all the museums.  She was doing some funny moves while we were walking.

 

 

 

 

 

Virginia

We just got back from a fun trip to Virginia and Washington D.C.  My roomie Brie lives in Charlottesville and her husband Nate is going to school there for his MBA.  They have a cute 2 year old Emmy and a baby boy on the way.  We stayed there for about four days and then we all headed to D.C.  We had a great time!

 It was about a 12 hour drive.  That is the longest we have driven in one shot with our kids.  They all did pretty well.  Ty probably liked it the least.  I kept him happy by feeding him cheerios and pieces of bread.  This is what I would see every time I turned around when he wanted more.

Our other roomie Jill just happened to be moving from NY to Virginia Thursday, the day we were arriving.  Her husband is going to be doing his residency about three hours away from Brie.  Jill and her family drove out of their way to stop and visit with us for a few hours.  I got to meet cute baby Clayton.  I love these two friends and that we have stayed connected.

 

Blake and Daphne playing Fruit Ninja on the Xbox.  They got pretty into it.

The great husbands that let all this happen.

 

Boys playing football.  Blake adored Nate and pretty much wouldn't leave him alone the whole trip.

We went to an outdoor mall and walked around.  Here is Janie dancing and doing the Minnie. 

 

Janie and Emmy hand in hand

 

Since I had one more week until my race, I needed to do one more long run.  Brie's friend offered to run with me so early Saturday morning we ran through beautiful green Virginia trails.  She was so nice and easy to talk to and I loved it.  My sister said that she loves running in new places and I agree.   

 

 We went for a hike along the trail to Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home).  We didn't actually see the house (further up and expensive to tour) but enjoyed 2 miles up, picnic at the top, and 2 miles down. 

Every time we got in the car Janie would conk out fast.

 

Memorial Day we spent the morning at a park/splash pad area.  It was so fun for the kids.  Didn't plan it but for the second year in a row Janie and Emmy have matching swim suits.

 

 

 

  

Eric lived in Daly City, Virginia from age 4 to 14.  On our way to D.C. we found his house and took some pics.  It was fun to watch him remember where he grew up and tell us what we were driving by.  I even knocked on the door to tell whoever lived there why we were out taking pictures and hoping that Eric could peek in the backyard (he wanted to).  It was a very old lady who didn't quite get what I was saying but she was still nice.