The Three Stooges in Austin

We headed to Austin for the weekend for the Austin Half Marathon. Little did Josh know, we had a full weekend of fun planned for him as well... Austin style.

It's no secret that Josh loves his Austin buddies. When it was time to load in the car and head to Austin last Friday, he spent about 2 hours talking about all the things he wanted to tell Matthewjones and Ava.

Like any other, these kids love to make silly faces for the camera. Matthewjones can't help but look sweet, even when he is trying to be goofy.

Things overheard at the table included:

"You're a pickle pants."

"Banana-toot your order is ready!! Banana-toot your order is ready!"

"I would like vanilla chocolate ice cream with sprinkles and vitamins on top, please."

For their backyard dinner, they enjoyed the sunset over a nice plate of Aunt Pickles' baked ziti.

Things seen at the table:

Josh standing on the table- pre-meal, thankfully.

Ava eating only the purple leafs from her salad. But, impressively eating salad.

Matthew eating a few bites of Josh's pasta, no doubt so they could hurry up and be done with dinner to go play.

Making volcanoes in the sandbox on a sunny afternoon at Waterloo Ice House.

Just two awesome dads taking their sons on a nice little canoe ride down Town Lake.

The grown-ups know how to have fun too! Where do you think these kids get their goofy personalities from? Pickles and Tricia put together a fabulous pre-race dinner for us to enjoy.

After a delightfully quiet and kid-free night in a hotel room, my half-marathon buddy, Joy and I walked out the hotel door which landed us pretty much right at the start line (and State Capital) of the race. I'll tell you what, that is the way to do a race. No parking. No walking 3 miles to the start. No port-a-potties. We were pretty fancy.

Thankfully, we also had the BEST looking group of fans along the entire race route! Seriously, look at these people. Aren't they cute? Joy and I got to see them during the first mile and again right as we finished the race. I will speak for myself when I say, I was much smilier during that first mile than the last.

The Austin Half was a VERY difficult run. At the top of this particular hill (at mile 12, might I add), I almost passed out. I didn't have to walk up the hill, I just almost passed out instead. You know that heartbeat in your throat, full body goose bumps, spinning-feeling... yah, I got that a few times during this run. And, yes, I took this picture on my phone while I was "running" up the hill, that is how "fast" I was "running." It was so hilly that in the race brochure handed out to the runners at the expo, they had a special paragraph devoted to this hill and others like it. It told spectators what to say and what not to say during the hills. It apologized to the runners for including such hills. You know it's not good news when they apologize before hand. It went a little something like this...

"Sorry, we are trying to kill you out there on the course with all these steep hills. But, you are the one who signed up for the torture and are even paying money to run today... suckers!!!!"

Okay, so I paraphrased, just a bit.

And, this sums up how I felt at the end of the race.

Oh, okay... I was feeling like this after the third hill at mile 8, but details, details.

When the nice lady at the finish line handed me my medal, I just about tore it out of her hands and said, "I earned this medal today."

Things I loved about the Austin Half Marathon.

1. Our fan club!
2. Running in my favorite city.
3. Having a fun race buddy, my friend Joy! She is too humble to talk about how awesome she is to have trained for and completed a half marathon after having a baby this past year, so I will do it for her... Joy you are AMAZING!!!!
4. Window shopping as we ran up S. Congress.
5. Running along Town Lake.
6. Seeing all the Cancer Survivors and supporters running for their family and friends.
7. The swag. They gave us an awesome messenger bag with the marathon logo, a pretty medal, and a great running top
8. Hearing my mother-in-law and father-in-law screaming for me at the top of the last hill.
9. The cool live bands along the course, Austin-style.
10. The finish line, because it meant it was over.

Things I didn't love about the Austin Marathon.

1. The hill on South Congress.
2. The hill on Burnet.
3. The hill on Mopac.
4. The hill on Enfield and the OTHER hill on Enfield.
5. The hill on San Jacinto.
6. Seeing 3 people puking along the course (I may be a nurse, but I don't do puke).
7. Not getting to run on campus. I would have had to do the full marathon for that experience, which will NEVER happen.
8. Passing all the trailer taco stands on 1st Street and not being able to stop and get one.
9. Sucking air for oxygen at the finish.
10. Living with the knowledge that I PAID to do this and I would most likely do it all over again. In other words, "Alison is a sucker."

Thanks to my two favorite boys, who once again, joined my awesome friends to cheer me to the finish. Waking up at 5:30am on a Sunday is no small feat, especially when it involves wrangling 5 kids under five around downtown Austin!

Thank you Chris, Josh, Pickles, Tricia, Steven Matthewjones, William, Ava, Henry, and Zack for all the screams and hollers! Y'all are the best!