O Atlanta

We did it! Jill and I finished the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on the fourth of July. It was a sight to see. 50,000 runners crowding the streets of downtown Atlanta. I was impressed with how easy it was to get down there (on Marta, the train) and how the organizers managed to get 50,000 runners from point A to point B with relative ease. It was a great morning for it - not too hot or sticky, surprisingly. We ran the whole race without stopping to walk, but there were times when I wish I could have. Jill and I took turns having stomach cramps. We took turns cheering each other on, 'Go Jill! Go Laura!' (People looked at us a little funny when we did that). And we took turns trying to take each other's picture during the race on a little disposable camera (don't think those will turn out too well). But we did it! My time was 1:02:44. I finished 15201. Jill finished 1 second behind me and was 15220!

Our little race was part of a larger road trip with Payton, Ian, Jill, and her two children, Samuel and Sarah. We rented a mini-van and headed down to Atlanta on Thursday. We stayed at Jill's parent's home which is about a 5 hour trip from our house and about 45 minutes from downtown Atlanta. The kids were super excited to go on a road trip with their friends. Naps were utterly non-existent. Emotions were running high, and no one wanted to look at the camera at the same time. But, they all behaved pretty well considering all the excitement and change of scenery and situation. As soon as we got to Jill's parents house, Samuel was ready to play in the kiddie pool. His grandma readily obliged and the kids had a great time expending some energy.

On Friday, we went to the Georgia State Aquarium, which was a really nice aquarium. The kids were in awe of all the fish - especially the ocean exhibit. When you walk into the ocean exhibit you go through a tunnel in the middle of this massive aquarium with tons of fish. There were sand tiger sharks (Payton's favorite), manta rays, whale sharks, giant groupers, sawtooth sharks - just to name a few of the more impressive ones. As soon as they stepped into the tunnel, the kids eyes got huge and their jaws dropped. OK, the adults did the same thing, but it was sooooo cool! Ian's favorite thing was the crabs in the cold water part of the aquarium. The kids lasted about 2 hours and then we had a picnic lunch outside. Jill's parents and mother-in-law went with us and helped which made the trip so much more pleasant. Each kid had an adult to hang on to and I didn't have to worry so much about losing a child. It was a very nice trip. The kids were tired, so we were hoping that everyone would take a nap on the way back to the house.... um, no such luck. Only Ian gave up the ghost - sleep was very difficult for most of the children on this trip.

Jill and I had to get up at 5 am on Saturday morning to get down to the race. Again, Jill's parents and mother-in-law took care of the kids. The kids had so much fun with them, They took a walk around the block, they made signs for the mommy's saying, 'Yea Mommy! Love, child's name here', they ran their own little race in honor of our race. When Jill and I got back, the kids had eaten their lunch and were playing outside in the little pool again having a grand ole time. It was so nice.

Jill and I were worn out from the race, but I asked if Jill wouldn't mind coming back on Saturday because the kids still haven't seen Daddy much since he's gotten back from Phoenix. She was very obliging, so we made the trek home yesterday afternoon. It was a very long day, but it was so nice to be home.