birthday weekend + the race that wasn't
I knew going into this weekend that it was going to be a crazy, busy weekend. I had been stressing out all week about getting everything I needed to do before MacKenna's birthday party Saturday afternoon while also getting in everything I wanted to do this weekend, like taking the kids to get a pumpkin, having a special birthday breakfast with MacKenna, and, oh yeah, that race I was supposed to run on Sunday.Everything was going great - I was getting everything I needed to done and my stress level had been slowly decreasing as we got closer to Saturday - until my mother-in-law texted and said that she couldn't pick up my race packet...Cue sudden freak out on Friday afternoon... How the heck was I supposed to finish everything I needed to, spend time with my family, AND drive the 30+ minutes downtown, pay to park, only to take 5 minutes to pick up my race packet, and drive the 30+ minutes back home?! It didn't take much convincing (in my head) to decide not to run the race this weekend. I mean, we all know I haven't really been training for the last month. And quite honestly, I really wanted to spend as much time with my family as possible this weekend. Birthdays are my favorite, and I have tried to make it a point every year to spend as much time as possible with MacKenna on her birthday, even going to the point of taking a day off of work to spend it with her. While we've had 4 birthdays now, this one is no less special, and I didn't want to have to leave before she woke up Sunday morning and not get home until later that morning. It just didn't seem fair to her, and it made my decision to skip the race a little bit easier.Saturday morning, I woke up early to get in a run before our busy weekend officially began. An easy 45 minute run before the sun came up in chilly weather was just what I needed to start my day. By the time I came home, Kenna was already in our bed and ready for her party to start. Instead, we promised her donuts, a trip to the chiropractor, and the pumpkin patch instead. It's technically not a pumpkin patch that we go to, but a realtor's place with FREE pumpkins. So, we get a couple of pumpkins, and take some pictures, and BAM! Childhood memory. Done.
After the pumpkin patch, we got the kids fed and napped, cleaned the house, made a bunch of food, and then it was PARTY TIME! MacKenna had a great time playing with her friends, getting balloon animals made by one of our friends, and her favorite part, jumping in the giant bounce house (that was FOUR HOURS late)!
We had a fabulous time eating and drinking, and by the end of the night, when everything was all cleaned up, Matt + I were exhausted and were in bed by 9PM on a Saturday night. Party animals. Yeah, we're old like that...Sunday was another day all about the birthday girl, since she was officially FOUR! She was in our bed by 6:30, so I set my alarm for 6:42 to officially wish our birthday girl a happy birthday! We had breakfast as a family, went to church, did some shopping at the spice shop and Costco, before getting some soft pretzels and cheese for a special birthday girl lunch. Matt also took Kenna out shopping, where she spent some birthday money to get a Chatster doll, but is also loving all her new princess stuff as well.
My family came over for birthday dinner for both mine and Kenna's birthdays, which included deep dish Chicago-style pizza and an amazing apple pie made by my sister-in-law. Oh, and I finally got myself a Garmin! I'm the proud new owner of a Garmin Vivoactive! I absolutely cannot WAIT for my run this afternoon.So, despite not being able to run in Rock 'n' Roll St. Louis this weekend, it was still a wonderful birthday weekend. And I'm looking forward to an even better birthday week!