Memorial Day

We had a fun Memorial Day with lots of friends breaking in the grill for the season. It was a combination Memorial Day celebration, a celebration for the runners (Me and Michelle for the half, Shoma and Robin for the 5 mile, and Kiera and Jim for the Boston Marathon. They win.), and a good-bye gathering for Melissa and Alexander who are sadly leaving Brookline and moving back to London.

We broke out the pool:




(How many kids can you get in a kiddie pool?)

The jumbo fun ball:





(don't ask how many kids - and adults - got crammed in that)

And the stomp rocket:



Mike was a force to be reckoned with on the grill:


There were lots of shennanigans with a tricycle:





Of course there were 'Smores:




And cake:


The ladies:


It was a great time. Thank you to all of our friends for being with us, and to Alexander and Melissa, we will miss you terribly! Watch out for the London invasion - we'll all come visit soon!

Cross it off the Bucket List...

Anyone who knows me will tell you I am in no way athletic. I did things like the tennis team in high school and the soccer team in middle school, but I was really, really bad at them. As an adult, if I could avoid sweating in any way, I did.

Then, in January I had a crazy idea to run a half marathon. It was one of those things that was on my bucket list, but always in a nebulous "future" sort of way. I had done a few 5K's at that point (my first last September), and in a haze of champagne on New Year's I decided to sign up for the Run to Remember Half Marathon. Then I told a bunch of people I had signed up. Then my friend Michelle decided to run it with me. Unfortunately, that then meant I couldn't fake an injury or back out.

Training was no fun, but I was excited to actually do the race. Last night, I started to panic somewhat though - what the heck was I thinking trying to run 13.1 miles?? My longest training run had been a few 10-milers, so I would be going 3 miles further than I had ever run. But, all of a sudden I found myself in the corral with Michelle starting off - I was offially insane.

The weather wasn't great for running - about 70 degrees and almost 90% humidity at 8 AM. That slowed us down, but I felt great for the first 6 miles. Miles 7-10 were OK. Then, a little before mile 10 my left knee gave out (I had been having IT band issues with both knees during training). It hurt to run - a LOT. It also hurt to walk. Going downhill was agony. I kind of had to hobble the last few miles. I looked like I was drunk.

But, I did it!!! My goal was to average 10 minute miles and finish in 2 hours, 10 minutes. Due to my knee, a slow start (over 9,000 runners meant we were pretty bottle necked for the first 3 miles), and a quick port-a-potty break we didn't make that goal., but Michelle and I average 10:35 minute miles and finished in 2 hours, 18 minutes! (also, just to note that my GPS running watch says we actually ran almost 13.5 miles, not 13.1...but I guess I am being nit picky).

Here we are running by Mike, Henry, and Michelle's family - we are right at the finish here, so I looks slightly crazed - I was so happy to see Mike and Henry, and that finish line!



And, running to the finish line (under the pedestrian bridge):



After the race - sitting!:







So, now I can say I have run a half-marathin and cross it off my "to-do" list. While I had a great time, I can guarantee you I will never, ever, ever run a full marathon. Now THAT would be crazy!

Kid's Race

This morning we headed down to the World Trade Center to pick up our numbers for the half-marathon tomorrow.

The guys all walking in to the Trade Center:




Our route tomorow (dear Lord, all the way out past Harvard and back!):


With Michelle - both of us trying not to look panicked at the fact that this crazy idea we had is actually happening tomorrow:



The best part of the Expo was that they had kid races. Here are Jake and Henry showing off their race bibs:



Doing some last minute stretching:


And they are off!:

Goggles

Are fun.

Favorite Playground

One of Henry's favorite playgrounds has been closed since last Labor Day for renovations. It was supposed to re-open around Thanksgiving, but for who knows what reasons it only re-opened two weeks ago. All winter and spring Henry has been asking to go. When it finally re-opened we were so excited to visit...then it rained for two weeks.

Today the stars aligned with gorgeous weather, a free afternoon, and good friends, and Henry was in heaven.

Two Birthday Parties

We have had a big few days. The most exciting news is that after a solid week of rain and a full month of May gloom and cold temperatures (we haven't gotten above 70 yet!), the sun FINALLY came out (bad news is the rain is supposed to come back in a few days, but we aren't talking about that...)

On Friday we celebrated Alexander's 4th birthday with a party at My Gym (popular place for parties - and for good reason!):







And today was a joint birthday party for William and Charlotte's 4th birthdays. This one was a costume party at a local park. Henry wore his pirate costume for about 30 seconds before I then had to carry it the rest of the time.





Our friend Sarah made cupcakes that looked like ice cream cones - very cute:



For the "make your own goody bag" Henry chose to write "Mom" on it - no prompting involved!




The sad news of the day is that Henry and two of his friends have now come down with really high fevers. Henry is not a happy camper right now - feeling pretty miserable. Fingers crossed that it is short lived!

Urban Dare

Today my friend Robin and I competed in "Urban Dare" - basically a one day version of The Amazing Race through Boston. I love The Amazing Race, and have always harbored a secret dream to go on the show. However, I also know I would be THE WORST PLAYER EVER due to several factors, including (but not limited to): My complete lack of a sense of direction, my lack of driving, my inability to speak any other languages, my impulsivity, my inability to read a map, and my low tolerance for frustration. I figured this was a good way to ease into it (although there was a clue that involved Spanish - arrrgh!) I knew it would be a good time, and it was.

We started at noon - Robin and I recycled portions of our costumes from the Avon Walk (why let perfectly good mesh gloves go to waste?)



We did not win the costume portion of the race - some guys in kilts did. Oh well.

We had a list of about 14 clues we had to solve. Once solved we had to figure out what order was best to do them in, how best to get there (running, the subway, etc. No taxis allowed), and then run all around either taking pictures at each location or completing tasks.

Here we are with General Patton's feet:



And me performing a task (involving getting through a plate of whipped cream with no hands to find the piece of bubble gum and then successfully blowing a bubble - bizarre). The guy in the statue is the inventor of Pullman sleeping cars...learn something new every day.




It was really, really fun. We didn't come close to winning. We had an unecessary detour to Brookline (don't ask, it wasn't pretty), got off at the wrong T stop once because we were talking and missed our stop, and never did find the Plaza named for Luis Minoz Marin(anyone????), but we consider this our "training year". Next year we will know what to expect, come armed with better maps, and see what we can do.