Haha...riiight...the most exercise I have done since Ben's birth has been swimming laps at the Y for 30 minutes max. The most challenging part is having to be seen in a swimming suit! However, like I mentioned on Friday, I knew a few participants including my mom, sister and brother in law who all ran the half marathon (my mom has done quite a few now and it was Andrea's second and Kirk's first). They all finished and did fine. My mom has done better but was happy with her performance. Andrea finished in a little over 2 hours and Kirk finished in under 2 hours which is quite good. Sadly, I never saw any of them in action because we kept missing them everywhere we looked. This weekend turns Fargo into a cluster F of chaos, crowds, traffic jams and road closings and getting anywhere is a fiasco. At the Fargodome there are people everywhere all looking for other people which makes the phone signals go crazy so it is hard to get ahold of anyone.
And then there was my dad. He has been training for the full marathon for months and he has succeeded! Holy crap, I can't imagine it. Justin and Ben and I were able to catch a glimpse of him running downtown at mile 23, which was conveniently located in front of our favorite Chinese restaurant. Yes, we chowed down on Chinese food while thousands of people were running. He was able to see the sign I so painstakingly made from printed word documents and clipart and Ben was there shrieking to encourage him on!
We caught his finish back at the dome...he is the big guy near the pillar. The guy in the red is his co-worker and training partner. They ran the whole race together. He had done a marathon before.
DONE!
Ben was a very good baby this weekend. First, he behaved himself all day while we dragged him around town to watch the race. On Sunday I attended my hometown high school graduation for the first time in years because a boy I used to babysit regularly for five years graduated. This event never seems to change. Every year, the same arrangement of "Pomp and Circumstance" is played and I remember how it looks on the sheet music because I played it at every graduation starting when I was in 7th grade. I played trumpet and the trumpet part is really fun because of the fanfare at the beginning! Twenty-three seniors paraded in and got weepy and the full gym got hot and it was just like every other time I have sat in that hot and crowded gym.
After the ceremony we had 8 graduation parties to attend. Well, there were 7 parties because there were cousins that had a joint party. Ben was held, fussed over and passed around to many interested friends and neighbors as we enjoyed the parties in tents and garages and ate all the delicious party foods. He was fed bottles by people he had never met and had his diaper changed in strange living rooms and was in a perfectly good mood all day. It made the day very enjoyable. He is such a good boy!
In addition to the graduation excitement, the high school baseball team made it to the state tournament last night. I wish it were in Bismarck but sadly it is not...Ben is wearing one of his several baseball themed outfits to celebrate today.
Wow! A large class of 23. Our town only had 16.
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