Sunday, July 20, 2008

Marathon Man

So, I mentioned before that my brother Matt is nutso. That he is one of the most driven, high-energy people I know. As an 18-year-old. Well, the other weekend he ran his first marathon!! As an 18-year-old. I'm pretty proud of him, because a marathon is a crazy hard thing to do.

I mean, you don't just wake up one morning and say to yourself, "hmm, I think I'll run a marathon, what about next Saturday?" Cause its 26.2 miles, people. 26.2!!! (And don't you dare leave out the "point two" in front of a marathon runner- scary things will happen to those who try!).

It takes weeks, months, of training- running at least 5 miles a day, doing 18-mile runs once a week. No, running a marathon is not for the weak-hearted.

So, I am pretty proud of him.

My mom, Abby and I went down to Boone, NC to cheer him on. This particular marathon was not a very spectator-friendly one- the runners ran along a mountain road (and when I say mountain, I really mean mountain- many of the runners said this is one of the hardest and hilliest ones they have ever run!!), and you couldn't really drive ahead to cheer for them at milemarkers. So, the only pics I have of Matt are right before the race, at the finish line, and when he was recovering.

And by recovering, I mean limping to the shuttle, almost puking, moaning, eating enough lunch for 3 people......


All ready to go! 30 minutes to race time!!

The start

Go runners go!

Riding the shuttle up to watch the finish

Way to go Matt! He finished so strong! 3 hours, 47 minutes!

And now we start to feel the effects of running for 26.2 miles. uphill.

Just. Need. Water.

No, Mom, I'm alright.

So proud!

After just eating enough lunch for all three of us, Matt is satisfied. And ready for a nap.

And so is Abby!!!

Friday, July 18, 2008

One more week... ak!!

My brother gets married in a week. DAN. MARRIED!!

I am going to be a complete basket-case the minute I see Katie start to walk down the aisle, until they leave together, as the new Mr. and Mrs.Berlin. I have purchased a tube of industrial-strength waterproof mascara to get me through it.

In the meantime, I am working on a slideshow of the two of them for the rehearsal dinner. It has been SO FUN looking through all the photos of them growing up. And remembering how crazy Dan was.

Wait, he's still crazy. Some things never change.





Monday, July 14, 2008

July 4th, VaBeach style!!

We had a blast celebrating the fourth at Andy's parents place in VaBeach!! A parade, a boat ride, a cookout, visiting family, yummy food... we didn't want to leave!

THe first thing we did on Friday (the fourth), was to walk to the end of their street and watch the neighborhood parade. Andy used to ride his bike in this very parade when he was little- how cute!! It was fun picturing him as a little guy, and getting a glimpse into his world.


These little guys were my favorite.... does it get any cuter??


Grandpa knows how to make Abby laugh!!

Abby loves to sit and play with toys now- she is completely un-interested in trying to crawl or roll or scoot, but is content to just sit and play. It's great!!



Spending time with family at a yummy cookout on the water- so fun!!


Taking a bath in the sink


Watching cartoons with Grandma


On Saturday we took Abby out on the boat for the first time. Here she is in her life vest- hiLARious!!! I love how it just swallows her whole!!






We got Bruiser in the water- her normally HATES the water, though he can swim really well. He loved it here because the water was so shallow- he RACED through the water, hopping and leaping, it was so funny!! Needless to say, he was exHAUsted that evening!!





We had a great weekend, THANKS mom and dad Benson!!