Ten on Tuesday

1.  First up - Happy Birthday to our oldest nephew, John, whose 7th Birthday is today!  We love him so much and loved getting to spend some of the weekend with him and his family.  Happy birthday also today to Aunt Suzi -- the chef of the Rouse family!  (Our family has tons of birthdays from Jan 20-March 9 so several birthday buddies). 

Photo credit goes to State Senator David Holt

 2.  We also celebrated George Washington's 283rd Birthday on Friday evening at Dust Bowl with the GW Oklahoma Alumni network (these are the kids of the alumni, obviously).  It was probably our best GW alumni event so far.  We had lots of fun, food, and great conversations.  All of the alumni present are lawyers which probably helps us find things to talk about rather easily :)

 3.  Then, after attempting and failing to go to sleep early, Brent and I woke the kids up just before 5am on Saturday for the drive to TX.  We banned electronics, books, and really anything for the first two hours in hope they would go back to sleep.  I even played their lullabye CD.  I think they got some sleep, but not enough.  Come 7am, E got to have some video for the first time and was very confused that it wasn't a touch screen. We dropped Brent off at a summer camp fair by 8:30am and were off to visit the Joneses.

 4. I really like looking down from the second story at Jamie's house.  It is beautiful and this little guy is so very curious.  He had an awesome time with his cousins and all the toys, but had to be banned from the kids sleeping room for keeping everyone awake way past bedtime (we did return him to his air mattress after he fell asleep in our bed).

 5. I had no idea we were going to John's basketball game while we were there, but it was great fun.  It was pretty fancy as grade school games go complete with a run in through a tunnel into a mostly dark gym when their name was called with pulsing music in the background!  John played a great game and the other kids behaved pretty well as spectators!

 6.  After lunch, M & B went to John's birthday party at the climbing gym.  E took a nap in the car while I went to pick up Brent and then we met them there.  Climbing was kind of hard for the kids, but they gave it a try and seemed to have a good time anyway.

 7.  This guy ate his Italian Ice in tiny bites like this for about 45 minutes.........

 8.  We made it back the next day in time for Ro's 2nd birthday party.  It was a woof woof themed party and full of fun, big dogs and little dogs, black and white dogs, etc.... It was also nice to see my siblings who I have seen very little this month!

9.  Monday, everyone went to school and then an unexpected amount of snow arrived.  These two loved playing in it and helped me clear off the driveway.  B joined them when he came home and they all rejoiced about having a snow day today.

10.  For the first time in this training cycle I missed a run --- shocking I know given how busy and exhausting my weekend was.  I was back on schedule today, but it is shocking how much I do feel it when there is a gap in my training.  Sigh.  It is going OK.  As usual, running is a largely psychological game for me.  That said, last Thursday's run was totally awesome so there will be good days.

This weekend I am celebrating my birthday with family and friends.  Thanks to all you readers who follow our journey and encourage us in this crazy life.  Love you!