Every Day with Eli: October 2

I'm still having a hard time believing it's October. But today Chris ran his half marathon, so that means it must really be October.

It was perfect running weather - sunny, clear, and mid-fifties. We dropped Chris off at the starting point, and the kids were in great spirits as we set out to cheer for Chris as he demolished those 13.1 miles.

Caleb and I stopped for some high-quality nourishment to fuel our cheering.

He waved his breakfast in the air and shouted, "Old MacDonald! Old MacDonald!" Somehow, on his own, he made the connection between McDonald's and Old MacDonald. Now they are one and the same.

We waited for a while, and then the runners came.

It was a small race - only about 1,500 runners - in a rural area, so there weren't too many people cheering. This was at mile 3.5. The race was called the Mo' Cowbell, though, and before the runners came, a truck drove by with cowbells for us. So though there weren't too many cheering fans, it was noisy there! In addition to our cowbells, we also shook the jingle bells that GREAT Aunt Maggie brought to the soccer game last week.

After a few minutes, we found the man we were looking for: DADDY!

Chris was thrilled to see his family!

Caleb was really excited that Daddy stopped his run to come say hi to him. Then Chris ran on, and we headed back to the car to hit mile 9.

We got to mile 9 with time to spare, so I found a soft spot on the side of a (closed) road and changed diapers, then nursed Daisy. She was the best race companion - she never once complained about anything! (The same cannot be said for a certain nameless two-year-old who fussed and whined for his Daddy every five minutes.)

Daisy, with a pinwheel.

Also, cheering with a pinwheel is now officially a half-marathon tradition for us. See?

Nine-month-old Caleb, cheering for me at the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon, April 2010.

Cheering for Chris as he ran the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon in April, 2011. I was 38 weeks pregnant with Daisy, and it was our first trip out in the shiny new double-BOB!

We even made it from mile 9 to the finish line in time to see Chris finish with a personal-best time: 1:49:21!

Way to go, Chris!

Caleb was pretty proud of his Daddy.

Another perk of this race? It had one of the best post-race food spreads we've ever seen! I think it ranked right up there with the Memphis St. Jude Half Marathon, which featured chicken noodle soup and chocolate milk. The nice lady at the food tent even gave Caleb his very own donut!

Later, Caleb (finally) napped, and Daisy got to spend some happy time with Daddy.