Miserable... but worth it

This morning was the Seattle Marathon. Weather was less than desirable. When we got to the Seattle area, we were greeted by wet snow. The snow wasn't sticking, however. The snow soon became rain and as we were getting out of the car and walking to the start of the race, we were immediately drenched. Robbie was a trooper. I insisted on bringing him along so he could see his daddy do start and finish his first marathon. When I first got there, I was sure I made a mistake. Robbie, on the other hand, was thrilled to be there and kept me from turning around and bringing him home.

The boys (Kasey and his brother Corey) walked the half marathon and Lori (Corey's other half) ran the half marathon. Robbie and I tried to do our best to see them off... but the large crowd and the chilly weather caused me to put my foot down and get Robbie inside to warm up.

We passed about an hour and a half by eating muffins, drinking hot apple cider and chocolate milk and drawing pictures. Then we packed up, walked around a bit (they had a train exhibit in the Center House there are the Seattle Center), stopped for a pit stop and bundled back up to weather the icy conditions outside. Lori mentioned earlier that she normally comes in around two and half hours, so I wanted to be sure to be there to cheer her in... and to get some pictures. I figured, it would be great for Robbie to see how it works, so that when his daddy came in... he'd be all the more experienced and excited.

By the time we got back out to the arena, it was coming down pretty heavily - temperature was still probably around 40 degrees. Add to that a very slow walking 4 year old and you can imagine how much fun I was having. But cow bell in hand, Robbie weathered the storm and patiently waited for Lori to pass under the tunnel and into the arena. The next ten minutes were full of questions such as "what color is she wearing?", "Does she have a hat on?", "What number is Lori again?" and so on. Then, just as it's nearing the time that she should have been coming, Robbie tells me he has to go "pee-pee". I'm really determined to get a picture... or at the very least yell "go Lori!", so for the first time, I tell my son he needs to hold it. Needless to say, he tells me he can't and I'm forced to leave our prime spot, lead him up the stairs, through the back of the bleachers, out the other side, down the very steep and treacherous stairs to the honey buckets.

I was fairly certain while he was doing his business, I heard Lori's name over the speaker. Once we returned to the race and stood at the finish line, I called and confirmed... we missed her by about five minutes. Kasey was still about an hour and a half out so I tried to convince Robbie that we needed to take cover and get him warm again. He, on the other hand was poutty and determined to find Lori. In a crowd such as the one at the end of the marathon, your chances of finding one person are slim... in the cold rain, I figured our chances were nil. So I insisted we go inside. (See picture of his pout).

We did meet up with Lori eventually and all cheered Kasey and Corey over the finish line. I was very proud of my husband and Robbie was excited to see his daddy. Of course, I think he rang the cow bell for everyone but his daddy and uncle, but oh well.

All in all, it was a great day. Kasey finished the marathon, Robbie was a champ and got to see his daddy accomplish a fairly big feat... and I think it even inspired him a bit. As we were all walking back to the car, Robbie grabbed my hand confided that he wanted to do a marathon too. I'm always saying that I want to expose Robbie to everything... and I think this counts. Congratulations Kasey! We are very proud of your accomplishment.