Jayden and I had so much fun in Phoenix with the Wagner family!  Jayden did great on the airplane rides.  Somebody recommended this stuff called Calm Forte that they use with their kids when they fly to New York, so I thought I’d bring it along just in case.  And it seemed to work great.  On the flight to Phoenix, Jayden was in dire need of a nap, but he was obviously too excited about being on an airplane, so when he started getting a little too wild (too wild being trying to fling himself over the backside of the seat, instead of just jumping around on it), I gave him a couple of the calm pills.  They worked pretty good, it didn’t make him all drugged out, it just took him down a notch so he stopped trying to pat the sleeping guys head in front of us, or fluff up the grandma’s hair sitting next to us, he could keep his hands to himself and be okay about it.  On the flight home, Jayden kept laying his head down on the seat headrest, while talking to the baby who was sitting behind us, and he needed a nap, so I thought I’d give the calm pills another try.  I gave him a couple and a few minutes later, he sits on the seat, asks for his blanky, then lays down on his back with his head on my legs, we sing a couple songs, and he’s out for the count!  Hallelujia!  It was a great last hour of the flight!

For the most part, we hung out at the house with Kaylee, Brendan, and Wyatt.  All 3 boys got along pretty darn well.  Wyatt and Jayden had a bit of a rivalry going, but by the end of the trip Jayden was pushing Wyatt back and learning how to steal his toys back.  He did come home with a very distinct knowledge of the word ‘mine’.  Last time he was with the Wagner boys, they taught him how to growl, so Jayden growled around the house for a week or so.  Now, Jayden insists of showing me everything thing that is his (’mine!’)

The half marathon went great (at least for me!).  I finished in around the time I thought I would, but my legs felt really good afterwards, so obviously I could of run it faster.  Oh well, next time!   I met up with Teresa and Teddy Wenner right before the race and ran with them almost the entire way.  It was fun to get to talk with someone while I was running.  I’ve done all my training for the last couple races alone, and sometimes those long runs get lonely.  Jayden usually doesn’t provide much conversation from his stroller, other than demanding, ‘water!’ and ’mo’ pretzels!’  I actually credit Jayden for why my legs felt better after this race than any other.  Nothing like training while pushing a stroller to make 13 miles without one seem easy!  Kaylee walked the half marathon, and did pretty good despite the fact that she hardley trained for it.  She ended up turning one pinky toe into an entire blister, and managed to lift off a different toe’s toenail.   Our mom, didn’t fair so well.  She didn’t train for it at all, and decided the day before the race that she was going to do it.  She finished, but then ended up in the medic’s tent right after she crossed the finish line, and sat down, which might have been a big mistake.  Her legs couldn’t help her heart pump her blood around her body, and since a big part of her blood was now down in her legs, there was none getting to her head.  So, she pretty much wanted to pass out.  She laid in the medic’s tent for 45mins, while they kept checking her heart-rate.  It was good while she laid down, but as soon as she stood up, it dropped and she wanted to pass out.  So, they ended up calling an ambulance and taking her to the ER.  Kaylee and I stayed with her until they loaded her up, and then we had to try and find our car to call people to let them know what happened and try and find the hospital.  Well, we couldn’t figure out where our parking garage was.  (this was a race, where you parked near the finish line and then took a shuttle to the start line, so we were trying to guess what direction the parking garage was)  Finally, after walking around a mile and a half, talking to 1 rude cop who sent us in the wrong direction, and 1 nice cop who understood we didn’t want to walk anymore and told us right where to go, we found our car.   Once we got some food to eat and got into the hospital, we discovered the waiting room and ER was full of marathoners.  We went back to mom’s room to tell her, she wasn’t the only one that ended up there, there was a whole handful of people with their finishing medals around their necks, laying in hospital beds, hooked up to IVs.  A few hours later, they finally released mom and we made it home.  We left the house around 6:30 that morning and came back around 7:00 that night.  That was one long day.

We did lots of other things while we were down there, maybe I’ll get around to posting about them one of these days…  Going to Chuck E Cheese, visiting with Greg and Linda, visiting with Uncle Dan and Auntie Pam, going swimming in the pool at my parent’s RV park which was warm one day and freezing cold another, obsession and utter domination of Diner Dash, bon fires in the middle of winter, troubles with sleeping in the same room as Jayden, it just goes on and on.  But for right now, I’m going to go turn the heat up because it’s freezing here!!!

I’ve posted lots of pictures from the trip on the website.  You can find them here.