Easter Weekend

I've missed my friends in bloggy land, but I've just been so busy the last 5 days. I've had so much to talk about but even when I had time, I just didn't have the energy to sit down at the computer and type. I usually try to write at the end of the day as I'm winding down, but I've just been collapsing and passing out right away.

I decided I needed to run my 6.2 miles for Run w/ Jess's Jelly Bean virtual race on Wednesday (I used my first 3.1 miles from Sunday for the 5k) and since it was gorgeous out, I went over to Farnsworth and the canal path for a nice change of scenery. Plus, I figured I couldn't wimp out on the mileage part-way through if I still ahd to make it back to the car. Just like my last long(er) run, the run OUT felt great, but it fell apart when I turned around. I kept pushing myself, though, and finished with a time of 1:09:51. And, of course, I needed to get a picture with my race bib, so I gathered my "gear" from the car and made the trek down into the flood plain to my favorite little place I know of at the park ...

The visual edge of that grass is the ACTUAL edge of the "cliff".
Directly below is one of the coolest places I know.

Yes, this IS the trail.

Ignore the fact that my bib is upside down.
Don't I get brownie points for hauling jelly beans around with me to get this picture?
They're the best kind too ... Starburst! lol

Sugarland. Jennifer singing "Stay"

My uncle, aunt, and their 2 youngest (freshmen in high school) got here Thursday afternoon (they stay with us when they're in town from Illinois) and that night was the Sugarland concert we've been waiting weeks for. My aunt is a big Sugarland fan but she'd never seen them live and my cousins had never even been to a concert before. It's so cool that Jennifer and Christian chose to kick off their "In Your Hands" Tour in Toledo. My mom took advantage of the email presale so we had AMAZING seats -  2nd row of the balcony, directly behind the sound booth, looking straight-on at the stage. It was so great! We had an absolute blast and I was so glad we were able to give my family that experience. Basically, on this tour, they have a general idea of what they're going to play, but they get input from the fans through texts and the website, live, on what they want to hear and the exact set list! And there was a TON of audience interaction. Sugarland has a reputation of really appreciating and loving their fans, and just being amazing appreciative people, but this is absolutely amazing. There was a girl in the Sugar Pit with a sign that said "Call my daddy when you sing Baby Girl" ... and they did. She came up on stage, called her dad, and Jennifer talked to him on the girls phone beofre they started singing. I hope nobody in my group say it, but I definitely teared up. That song was a lot of meaning for me so I was really touched. I loved it, though. I'll admit, I'm an even bigger Sugarland fan than my aunt and I probably drove my poor cousin crazy with my screaming and singing along. There might have been one song I didn't know ALL the words to, and I think I was the only one who knew the song they started with, "Wide Open". It's the one they recorded for the Olympics and I loved it the second I heard it. We surprised my aunt again right after the show and bought her a concert shirt. So, her, mom, and I are technically twinkies since we all loved the same shirt. :)

Early friday was the closest thing to boring we got all weekend. I worked most of the day on writing, but I stayed home in case mom needed me for something (which she did several times). Friday evening, some more family came over to visit. I don't know what made my stomach hurt more, all the food or how hard I was laughing at the stories and antics. Alcohol may have been involved for some of us.

Saturday was the crazy busy day. I got up and went to Boot Camp. By the time I got home, everyone else was awake and eating breakfast. After I had a chance to get cleaned up, we headed to the zoo. The twins haven't been to a zoo since they were babies and my dad, uncle, and aunt haven't seen the zoo since the new exhibits on the one side have opened or the new elephants! I drove separately from everyone else because I knew I'd have to leave early. My cousin, Jake's little boy is turning 1 and his birthday party was that afternoon at his grandparents' in the next little town over from us. I was glad to spend the afternoon with that part of my family. I'm really going to miss Rach (Jake's older sis) when her family moves to South Carolina in a couple weeks. This was the first time her little girl really remembered who I was and was excited to see me. Little miss is growing up before my eyes and she's the spitting image of both her mother and her great grandmother (who passed away only days after she was born). Pam (Rach & Jake's mom) mentioned the possibility of coming down to visit, since she's moving with Rach's family, in July for little miss's birthday. Did I forget to mention Little miss and I share a birthday? Yea, Jake called me at 3am while I was camping for my birthday to tell me Little miss had been born. lol. Anyway, since the birthday boy wasn't going to oblige us with smashing up his cake, we just had our delicious little cupcakes (I'll discuss at another time. Thanks, Ann for giving me the recipe!) and sat around talking and watching the kids play with the presents.

Saturday night would have been a nice quiet night if it had been anyone but my family. We were loud, obnoxious, crazy, and just plain goofy. The fart jokes, occasional interesting episode of American Pickers and other stunts (*coughcough*fakemouse*coughcough*) kept us entertained long into the night. Again, we over-ate (picking up a theme here?).

This morning was a lot quieter. We all slept in longer than usual. While my uncle's family packed up their stuff and loaded the car, we were getting Easter dinner ready. More shenanigans ensued during dinner, but we were MOSTLY behaved. After we ate and everything was cleaned up, my uncle's family headed home to Illinois (about a 6 hour drive depending on a laundry list of things) and we all COLLAPSED. I absolutely adore my family, and I love that they stay with us when they're in town, but BOY am I glad when everyone leaves. I came upstairs to my room and collapsed on my bed with my tv remote and laptop. It took 3 episodes of Mythbusters and the Making Of Frozen Planet to feel up to starting to write this. I know I need to get some work done tomorrow, but I'm probably still going to be exhausted.

I need a couple days of extra sleep and healthy eating to get me back on track, but I'm glad I had this weekend with all the different parts of my family. :)