The Time Glenn Ran His Second Marathon

Back in the April we drove to Utah to spend with weekend with Aubry and my darling nieces and nephew, and watch Glenn run his second marathon.  The boys did great on the drive but we were still so excited to arrive at our cousins house!  We went out to dinner together and crashed hard that night.  Mya and Sadie gave up their cute bunk bed room so the Makechnie clan could sleep in there.  They were very sweet about sharing and so fun to be around as always.

The next day we spent the morning at Thanksgiving Point museum.  We were very excited to check out a new museum and especially to do so with our cousins!  Tate impressed us all with his knowledge of trilobites and cephalopods which he picked up on from our science museum.  I'm constantly surprised at the things that kids remember.  It's a reminder to me to watch what comes out of my mouth because even words like trilobite might get stuck in their little memories.

Cute cousins checking out the fishies.

Little Finn was fascinated with this "build your own dinosaur" exhibit.  It was a little scary at first.

But once big brother started jumping on and wrestling with it...

Finn had to jump in too.  Such a little rough and tumble boy.

Baby Hayze is growing up way too fast.  He's such an adorable boy and so incredibly sweet natured.  And he lets me snug him and kiss him as much as I want even though I can tell he'd rather me leave him alone.

Seriously, I can't stand how sweet those little Hansen kiddos are.  

 

All the kiddos on the dino scale.

And Finny, climbing on anything he finds, as usual.

That afternoon we drove up to SLC to pick up Glenn's marathon packet and check out the expo.  It was a pretty small expo but the kids got some free snacks which is always a plus.  We met up with Amy who is married to Glenn's brother Gregor.  She flew out to run this marathon with Glenn and has been such a great training buddy from afar for Glenn.  They'd text after each run, compare strategies and times.  She's incredible.  Glenn decided to stay in SLC with Amy's family for the night so they wouldn't have to travel as far for the race the next morning.  The boys and I went back to Aub's house and we ventured to the mall with the kids to wander around and then we got food at the food court.  We were pretty proud of ourselves getting out with all 5 kids on our own and we didn't break anything at all.  Poor Aubry got a really nasty stomach bug that night.  I slept through it all and felt so bad the next morning when she told me how bad it was and that my dad even had to come over to give her a blessing in the middle of the night.  Sweet Aubry is an incredible trooper.  I don't know how she does everything she does with such grace and kindness.

The boys and I woke up early and drove to SLC.  We got to our first stop and camped out with our signs.  Tate is a big fan of Monster's University and said he wanted to have an oozma kappa sign and chant "you're OK!" so that dad would know he was okay as he ran by.  

We were a big hit with passers by.  The boys took turns holding signs and ringing cow bells or picking up sticks and chasing birds. Poster art by Kenzie, of course.

Here is speedy Amy passing at about mile 6.  She was crazy fast and looking really strong, as usual.

And here's Glenn!

The boys were so excited to see Daddy and cheered really loud.  After that first stop the boys and I headed to Bruges waffles for breakfast.  We got a box full of different kinds and headed to our next stop to eat and wait.

Ringing the bells for the runners got boring after a while.  I tried to keep the boys involved in the cheering but it was, after all, a really long race.

So eventually there was wrestling on the sidewalk and in the street.

Resulting in pants that looked like this.

And when Finn couldn't take it any more I finally gave in and let him play games for a bit in order to keep him from running into runners or cars or generally melting down.

Glenn at mile 21.  This course was brutal and by this point both Amy and Glenn were struggling.  The course map didn't show just how drastic and frequent the climbs were and that combined with the dry heat was just a lot to take.

My dad met us at mile 21 and came with us to the finish.  It was so nice to have my dad there to support Glenn and help wrangle the exhausted boys.

Glenn and Amy after the finish.  They both did incredibly well and got PRs.  Glenn beat his last marathon time by almost 30 minutes.  I am so impressed with him.  He's such a strong, determined man and I'm so grateful that I get to support him when he accomplishes amazing feats like this.  I couldn't be there when he ran his first marathon and it was really cool to see him finish this one. Glenn and Amy were both pretty frustrated with how hard it was afterward but within an hour Glenn was talking about "next time".  Especially right after when your body is so hammered and the memory of the pain and agony is so fresh in your mind, I don't understand being ready to commit to doing it again.
I have to admit that I got a little excited about training for a race myself while watching all the runners run this race.  It was inspiring and exciting and I thought just for a second, "Maybe I need to do this.  Maybe I need to give it a go."  And then I went for a 3 mile run when I got back to CO 2 days later and I remembered how hard running is for me and I haven't thought about it since.

By the time we got home Aubry was feeling much better and after a few hours of rest for us and play time for the cousins, we all went to dinner at Wingers with dad.  

The next morning was Easter!  At Aubry's house the Easter Bunny hides the baskets and the kids have to find them.  I LOVE this idea and I think the Easter Bunny will probably start doing this at our house too.  

The boys got some new star wars jammies and some treats and little toys.

Happy cousins with silly faces.

Finn was so excited that these eggs all had candy inside and he would throw them against the floor until they cracked open to get the treats out.

Sweet miss Mya making a silly face.  I just couldn't leave her alone while she enjoyed her basket.

Hayze enjoyed our Easter Bunny tradition.  At our house the Easter Bunny leaves a little bit of bunny poop around the house for us to enjoy.  We do, as always, have to clarify that we can only eat Easter Bunny poop.  Not all bunny poop.  We were busy talking in the kitchen and we heard Hayzer from the fireplace saying, "Mmmmmmm.  Mmmmmmm"  He'd found some Easter Bunny poop and was quite pleased with himself.

Our attempt at some Easter photos before church.

We did what we could.  It was a valiant effort.

I was so impressed with Aubry, once again, as she got all of her kids ready for church and then kept them all quiet and reverent during sacrament meeting all by herself right in the middle of Hayze's naptime.  The woman is a saint and a super hero.  I can't keep my two boys quiet and reverent and I always have Glenn around to help me!

After church Aub made us a delicious dinner and Dad and Aubry's two brothers came to join us.  They were very sweet with her kids and my boys too.  We loved having some adopted uncles around for the day.  After dinner the men hid some eggs and then the kiddos got to go hunting in the yard.

Finn might have been a little slower than the others this time but he sure enjoyed himself.

Sweet Mya helping Finny find some eggs.

Sassy Sadie is such a little doll.  

Grandpa and Hayzer, pleased as punch with his one pink egg.

And here are all the kiddos with their Easter loot.  What a fun day.  I'm so glad we were able to spend an extra day so we could spend Easter with some cousins for once!  I sure wish we could make it an annual tradition.  It's so much more fun to spend holidays with family.  

Thanks again Aub for hosting us for a busy weekend, especially when you were not feeling well for a good chunk of it!  It was such a great time and I hope we can do it again soon.