Dan Rocks!

Dan had his Half Marathon on Saturday. He had requested that at least I make the trip out with him to cheer him on. I admit to being unenthusiastic about getting out of bed at 5am to drive 2 hours jut to see him run. However, he is such a fantastic husband, that I thought I ought to be more supportive, since he is always wonderful to me. So, rather than finding a babysitter, we hauled all the kids out to the car in the dark of morning and off we went. We just rolled them out of bed and into clothes and buckled them in. The littlest girls slept for the drive, as did I. I put in ponytails once we arrived, as we waited for Dan to finish his checking in process.

Here he is, all ready to go. It was a nice day, but the wind.... ooooh, the wind! We watched the race start and hooped and hollered for Dan as he went past.

Joshua is a great brother and indulged Delaney. We meandered to the van and I found a map of the race route and we set off to find a good cheering spot. We did get to a good location, around the 5 1/2 mile mark and we waited for the runners to go by. Dan was pretty close to the front of the pack- somewhere around the 15th runner, maybe.

As he ran past, the kids dashed out to give high 5's to Dan and we shouted and cheered. It was fun.

We had some time to kill till Dan reached the turn around point and came back by, so the kids hung out and looked for trouble. Oh, yes, that is water in a ditch! And yes, Callie did get her feet all wet and had only shorts to change into.

The kids were even more excited to high 5 Dan on the way back! Do you see all the runners still heading out?! I told you Dan was running fast! He's a good mile ahead of these guys here. And I love how thrilled Marian seems to be in this shot. The kids were so cute!

They snacked on donuts and played in the ditch. This is when Callie doused her shoes and pants and needed to change her britches.

The donuts were the biggest hit. Not the usual breakfast for them!

Rylee found a new favorite spot.

I had to corral the kids and we drove back to the YMCA to wait for Dan's triumphant finish. It was really windy. It would have been a lovely day, all sunny and warm, but the wind was a killer. It was really chilly at the finish line, with nothing to break the wind.

Here are the kids, huddling for warmth. They were tuckered out from running around and they got cold. The wind was pretty brutal.

Hooray! Here's Dan! I think he was about the 10th person in. Here he is, starting his glorious sprint to the finish!

I could not get the camera to focus and get a shot of the time clock for a few seconds. I think he was around 10 seconds faster than this clock. He was 8 minutes faster than his time last year.

The kids were delighted to help themselves to the post-race grub. It was an impressive spread.

I think Callie had a good 10 orange slices.

Marian was good about eating the food she put on her plate... unlike some others!

This kid was just awesome!

And Delaney was an airplane. She does keep me laughing!! We did hang out for a bit, and Dan showered and changed. I think he was waiting to hear what the fastest time was.

Isn't he wonderful? A 13.1 mile race and he still is happy to hold Rylee and put her to sleep!

Check it out! My man just took 3rd place in his age division! I was so proud of him! He got a certificate and a plant. Oh, and a medal. I love that he got this plant! Something that is actually useful and has a purpose. I was really impressed with Dan. He did a great job. And when we got home, he took a little nap and then let me take one too. He is the best ever!