Marathon Man

Over this past weekend our family headed out to Death Valley, CA, so that Todd and his dad could run a marathon together. I had never been to Death Valley and was kinda worried about what Luke and I would do while Todd was running all day, but it turned out to be really awesome!

The hotel that we stayed at was like a little village with a general store, restaurants, horse stables, a playground, and even the Borax Museum, which had old buggies, wagons, stagecoaches and trains. This was soooo perfect for Luke as he is obsessed with anything with wheels on it.

 Luke was so lucky to get to spend the whole day with his awesome Grandma Bibi, or "Grandma Baby" as he calls her. She ran around with Luke all day! Luke absolutely loved it, and it was nice that I could take a break from chasing after him!

 About an hour before Todd and his Dad crossed the finish line Luke, "Grandma Baby", and I camped out at the finish line to wait for our boys. We got the opportunity to cheer on the runners that crossed the finish line before Todd came. It was such an amazingly inspiring experience. We watched at least three 70+ year old men finish their marathons and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't get a little lump in my throat every time I watched those men cross the finish line.

 I was so proud to see Todd and his Dad finish the marathon. They did great! Look at that semi-smirk on Todd's face. I know that after 26.2 miles I would not be able to muster any kind of a facial expression.

Luke and I got to give Todd his medal!

We had such a nice, relaxing dinner when the runners were all done, and I can only imagine how good it must have felt for those boys to sit down and eat after the day they had. 

This is the gorgeous sunset we caught on the way home:

I know Death Valley doesn't sound like an ideal vacation spot, but I actually came away quite smitten with it. I am putting it on my list of getaway destinations when Todd and I get the chance to take a little vacation together.