CONGRATULATIONS GG! WAY TO GO ON YOUR HALF-MARATHON!!
The whole family traveled to Virginia Beach this past weekend to cheer on our GG in the Yuengling Shamrock half-marathon. It was grand fun!
We moseyed there mid-day on Saturday, arrived early, and dropped GG and the two middle boys off to pick up GG's race packet at the expo. We got our first dose of goodness when as I was waiting, a first row spot opened and I got it! Thank you, Lord! Sometimes it really is all about the little things for me. The boys were soon back and away we went! We checked into the hotel and quickly changed into bathing suits. GG and the two older boys were quick to the water, while I stayed on the side of the pool with the little ones in my lap. J was really scared (he had been expecting a baby pool), so he was really happy to stay dry and close. Little MG knew nothing different and enjoyed watching her big brothers in the pool.
Time was running short, so we ran up to the room, changed, and headed off to Mass at a church down the way. After Mass we jetted back to the hotel to meet our friends, K, B, and baby C, who were also in town for the race. We all ate dinner together and enjoyed each other's company. Dinner was uneventful aside from a near choking episode (MG chewing on a french fry) quickly resolved and a frisbee thrown in the restaurant (T--thankfully he hasn't learned to throw well yet! :). Yes, that's our version of uneventful.
We lingered a bit over dinner before heading up to our rooms. We jammied and read stories before assigning M and T one double bed, J and Daddy the other, MG to the sink area, and B-mama to the sofa bed (lucky me! I insisted since GG had his race) GG put on some Gregorian chant music (via my iPad) and the boys quieted and went to sleep easily. MG was out and GG and I spent a little time reading before hitting the hay. As we went to bed, little did we know neither he nor I would sleep much in the hours that followed...
Cue a loud chainsaw-like noise every time someone above us flushed the toilet or used the shower/sink. We'd fall asleep... REEEE... get the baby back to sleep... REEE... get the baby back to sleep... REEEEEE... You get the picture. To say it was infuriating is a complete understatement!!! I was so angry, I went bleary-eyed down to the front desk at 2am, demanding a full refund on our room! For those of you who know me know it takes a lot to get me to this point... but I was SO there!!! The situation was pretty miserable.
The man at the desk offered us a new room, but I wasn't about to move our entire family and luggage to new digs at 2am. Instead, he promised to pass the issue to the manager at the next shift...
Alas, we "slept" through the rest of the night rather fitfully. At 3:30am GG and I moved MG's crib into another area of the room that was less noisy. Thankfully the boys slept through it all. GG and I were able to catch a few winks until it was time for GG to wake up for his race. Poor guy. I just felt so bad for him--on top of not sleeping well, he had a weird stomach/vertigo thing going on, so I knew it was a lot asking his body to run 13.1 miles! But he did it!! And he did great!!
G-Ville cheering section--thank goodness for our blanket borrowed from the hotel! They totally owed us!
7am cheering sweetness
Friend K and snuggly C
We missed cheering him at 3 miles by a nanosecond (I was getting the last of the kids out of the car as he zoomed by!), but caught him at mile 9 to offer some much needed encouragement. He was apparently hurting a bunch, but from our perspective looked really strong!
Here he comes!! Shedding pants and shirt that were tied around his waist!
Heading off toward the finish line. Go Daddy!
>We stuck around to cheer on K's hubby and then headed toward the finish line, which took a good 45 minutes or so... *Finally* we were able to link up with our guy and give him the hugs he deserved! He needed them and was feeling pretty lousy, so we all headed back to the car and went back to the hotel.
The awesome finishers, looking happier than they feel!
Back at the hotel, we gathered our things and checked out. I managed to get 50% off the room rate and a complimentary future stay. I was satisfied. We ended our time with a romp on the beach for the boys to enjoy some sand and surf.
Congratulations to our wonderful GG! We're so proud of you.We'd follow you anywhere to be your biggest, loudest cheering section!
Hugs,
4 comments:
An family adventure, for sure!! Way to go GG; you are THE MAN!! I hope you got to have your Yuengling later!!!
We are so admiring and impressed! Way to go GG!
T & B
G~ Way to go, my son. I am throughly impressed. And, B, way to go with the consumer advocacy. I'd say you did very well! The kids all look adorable, as usual.
Mimi
Congrats GG!! Didn't it feel great to cross the finish line? I'm very impressed that with your schedule you were able to git r done! lol!
What a nightmare of a night in the hotel. I think I would have gone down to the desk teary eyed, instead of bleary eyed!
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