Boston Marathon 2010!

In April we went to Boston to see my dad run his first-ever Boston Marathon. My dad is such an inspiration to all of us - even though he is like a hundred years old, he still exercises diligently and eats right. He is an awesome runner, and I seriously wish I was as dedicated as he is. Anyway, this year he and Andrea did a marathon in Connecticut (I know, so random) and he qualified to run Boston. My sibs and I flew out there with him and Joanie to see him run. James was sweet enough to stay home with the kids so that I could have a nice, carefree weekend with my family. It was a short trip, but so fun.

Saturday we saw the sights around Boston. We were staying right downtown so we could walk or take the subway everywhere. I loved all the architecture, history, and flowers. It was all so pretty, and I would love to go back again sometime.

Here's a famous graveyard where Paul Revere and some other famous guys are buried:

After buying some desserts at the famous Mike's Pastry. I think California over-thinks its business names. It made me laugh that in Boston everything is like, "Joe's Diner" and "Bill's Landromat" and "Darla's Restaurant." Short and sweet.

The monument to Paul Revere and his ride to warn that the British were coming.

This is the church right behind that monument. These folks had the right idea - instead of pews, each family had its own little enclosure. All you could see was the preacher, and your kids couldn't escape. Wouldn't that make church more simple? Brilliant!

Boston Commons and some gorgeous tulips. After my trip I decided I'm in love with tulips.

Sunday we went out to see my cousin Melissa in a nearby town. We went to church and went to Melissa's house for lunch. It was great to see her cute kids and get to spend time with her and her husband. We then went back to the hotel, planned out our route to watch the marathon, and had a yummy dinner.

That night we spent the night with Andrea's friend Becky who lives by Harvard, so that the next morning we could wake up bright and early to go see this battle reenactment of the shots fired at Lexington. It was very early and very cold, but that's definitely not something you could ever see here in California, so we wanted to take what might be our only opportunity ever to see a Revolutionary War reenactment. I won't spoil the war for you or anything, but basically the British marched up and shot at the militia, and they all ran away. And then the reenactment was over. But here are some pics:

Some more flowers I liked there in Lexington.

We then went home and slept for a while before heading out to watch my dad. We planned to see him at mile 10 and mile 19. He had been having some problems with his leg and hadn't been running in the week or two before the marathon, so none of us knew how the race would go. When we saw him at mile 10 he was looking great. We almost missed him come by but we saw him at the last second and gave him lots of cheers and high-fives.

At mile 19 he was much later than we had calculated, so we knew things were not going well. He ended up having a pretty tough race and having to walk much of the last 8 miles due to cramping, leg problems, etc. Although I'm sure it was disappointing, he said the race itself was an amazing experience. Even as a spectator, it was unbelieveable. Scott, Andrea, and Brianne kept teasing me because I kept getting teary-eyed all day. Just thinking of all the sacrifice and dedication on the part of all these thousands of runners (and their families) just for one day, that either ended in joy or disappointment, and a lot of physical pain and mental toughness either way. Honestly, I wish I could go watch every year. It was truly an incredible experience.

I am so proud of my dad, for staying active and fit and setting such a good example for us, and in finishing the race even when it was hard, and in having a good attitude the rest of the weekend. I'm sure I would have been in a pouty funk, but he was amazingly upbeat, and we had a fun night that last night, complete with a lot of laughs. It was definitely a trip I will always remember.