Trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin

This past weekend our family of four traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin for a very exciting event! Ed ran his very first marathon! Yes, that is 26.2 miles! He trained and trained for this very moment for months and time had finally come. Natalee experienced her first plane ride and Nico was able to rack up another flight to the many he has had in his short little life. I have to say I was so happy Ed scheduled our flight in the afternoon. It gave us time to exercise, and finish packing before heading to the airport and once arriving have time to hang out and have lunch in the Admirals Club.

The plane ride itself was great. Both of the kids were very well behaved. It always feels nice when total strangers compliment your kids on how good they were on the flight! My favorite part of the flight was holding our precious sleeping daughter for two hours straight.

After arriving to our destination, we checked into the our hotel, or "hot-tal," and then had a bite to eat before hitting the sack! I think Nico fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.

The next day Ed and I drove the kids up to the Jelly Belly Factory for a tour of the warehouse. We were handed paper Jelly Belly cook hats that we had to wear during the tour, which was a train ride through the actual packing warehouse where we learned how Jelly Bellies are made.

Before the actual race day we took some time and drove the race course to determine where the kids and I would be waiting to see Ed along the way and to cheer him on with our "Go Daddy Go" signs and hand him his beans and Gatorade to help give him a boost. Once race day arrived, Ed left much earlier than the rest of us did in order to warm up and get in place with plenty of time. The kids and I bundled up as much as we could, since it was in the 50s and raining that morning. I think Natalee must have been the warmest out of everyone since she was snug in her car seat with blankets, while poor Nico was probably the coldest, but he was certainly a trooper. We did pack jackets, but did not think to bring hats or gloves! Thankfully one of Ed's old friends from high school who lived nearby, Katrina, (who was injured and unable to run) brought us extra blankets, gloves and a hat for Nico. Nico, Natalee and I caught up to Katrina and Louie (Ed's other friend from high school who was currently injured and unable to run the full marathon) around mile 11, and after Ed made his appearance, we all jumped in our rental and drove out to Lake Michigan where mile marker 15 and 22 were. Since we were so close to the water the air got much cooler and poor Nico got much colder. While waiting for Ed at mile 22 I decided to move the car closer and let Nico watch a movie and try to warm up. The little guy was much happier at this point.

Ed waving hi at mile 1 of the race! 1 down...25 to go!

Giving high 5s to Nico as he sat on Louie's neck at mile 11!

Nico hanging out on Ed's friend Louie!

Mile 15! Still going strong!

Snug as a bug! The only picture taken of Natalee that day! It was just too cold!

Mile 22...the cold wind is taking its affect, but still trucking along at a good pace!

He finished! So proud of my sweet hard working hubby!

Not the best picture...after 5 hours on the race course, Nico was pretty much done! He was still a great little guy and stayed in really good spirits!

John, Ed, Andre and Terry...the 4 friends to completed the 2012 Wisconsin Marathon.

Uncle Louie ran the half marathon that day as well and stuck around long enough to see Ed complete his first marathon and say hi to Nico and myself!

Ed with his cross country friends from high school. Terry, Ed, Katrina, John, and Louie (Andre had already scampered off).

Kisses to the best Daddy ever!