Pat's Run

Coco left on Tuesday, April 21, and we left for our annual Pat's Run trip to Arizona the following day. We rented a house in Avondale again. It was a really good deal, and the owner let us heat the pool as high as we wanted. That was key. Jim had it up to 92 degrees at one point. No water activities for me, as Dr. Stucky wanted me to wait another week until stitches dissolved. I was secretly glad Jim had to do pool duty, but I would have enjoyed the hot tub. Swimming was definitely the highlight of the trip for the kids. We had just bought Ever a swim vest (flotation thing), and she got comfortable enough to swim around alone. It appears I took no pictures of the house or pool.

In keeping with what has become tradition, on Thursday we had lunch with the Eagars at Chick Fil-A (Wade was Jim's mission companion) and an enjoyable but slightly rushed dinner at the Latteiers' (Mike was Jim's roommate during med school). The Eagars told us about Mesa Riverview Park, and we hit that between meal dates. The girlies were asleep when we got to the park. We left the car idling with the A/C on, and Jim and I also napped. We didn't end up with much time to play at the park, which was a bummer because it was amazing. Definitely the coolest park I've ever seen. Jim spotted Ever on the giant rope structure:

The Karners were at the house by the time we got back Thursday evening. This year it was Mel and Derrick and kids and Derrick's brother Chris's whole family, too.

Friday was mainly a pool day. I napped some. (Thank you, ear plugs!) We were up in the night with Wren, of course, seeing as how she was only four weeks old. I was tired. I was also still pumping a little as I wound down the milk supply. I would have liked to get out and do more, as in prior years when we did family runs in the morning, etc. Little babies make that tough.

We all went out to dinner at an Italian place Friday night. Ever and Alina entertained themselves during the long outing by shaking their heads back and forth really quickly. It looked like a fun game.

It was way too late, but we all went to the Mesa Riverview Park after dinner. Everybody enjoyed the park - except maybe Kara. Mel and I climbed to the top of the giant rope structure, and Kara cried because she was scared for Melanie. It's 50 feet tall, so it is a little freaky. I stole this pic of it from the Web:

Then we went to the little zip line. Kara cried because she was too scared to do it, although she eventually mustered up the courage. Jim and I watched another dad push his son at take-off as hard as he could. The kid was going so fast that the zip line stopped abruptly at the end of the line, and the seat flew up into the air. The kid almost hit the pole that was holding up the end of the line and barely managed to hang on. He fell off just after the seat came back down but didn't seem to mind. The dad looked a little sheepish. Shortly after that, Mel pushed Christian. She ran along side him, pushing him as she went. Jim said, "What is she doing?" right before she flung Christian as hard as she could at the very end. The line jerked to a stop, and Christian flew up into the air. Somehow he didn't collide with the pole, and he hung on really well, avoiding a bad fall. In fact, he thought it was great and wanted to do it again. Melanie, however, was mortified. Jim and I were so confused about why she did that, particularly after the other dad's display. Turns out she hadn't seen that. We all had a really good laugh. Chris Karner had his camera on Christian during the incident. I was devastated to learn he had just been taking pictures, as I was really hoping we had video footage. It was hilarious. All I got are these poor pics of Jim pushing Ever:

Saturday morning was the race. We intentionally go late now so we don't have to wait around so long till the stroller group. Ever and I before the race:

I promised Melanie that we Kringels would be walking, but Jim just can't help himself. He began running as soon as we started, forcing everyone else to run, too. It only took a matter of minutes for the road to get really crowded and for my knee to start hurting, so the running didn't last too long. I was pleased that besides my knee, I felt really good. Derrick and Jim pushing the double-wides:

Ever got out and ran a bit. She and Jim heading for the finish line:

I felt bad that Wren wasn't being featured in any pictures, so I took this of her in the stroller. The car seat piece that's supposed to hold her head up was missing and doesn't work anyway. Hence the rolled-up towel and blanket:

We went back down around the stadium to where the kids' race started. Jim, Christian, and Ever had a hug fest:

Wren got a brief break from the stroller:

The kids' race was really crowded, largely because there were way more adults accompanying kids than there were kids. We were as much to blame as anybody for that. Christian and Ever were our only racers; Kara bailed that morning and stayed home with her cousins. Mel, Derrick, Chris, Avery (Chris's daughter), Jim, and I all accompanied our two racers, and we had the babies (Alina and Wren) in our giant strollers.

When we crossed the start line, I said, "That's it! That's the start line! Let's go! Run!" Christian and Ever were just walking with Jim:

Then all of a sudden, Christian took off, and Ever followed. I wanted pictures of them running, but they were a blur. This is Ever running in front of Jim:

I was pushing our stroller with Wren. Pretty much right off the bat, people got in front of me, and I couldn't maneuver the giant stroller through the crowds to keep up. I was really bummed I didn't get to see Christian and Ever race. Jim said they ran pretty much the whole way (.42 mile). I was so glad Ever had Christian to motivate her. We hung out on the field afterward and took some pictures.

Derrick, Melanie, Chris, Avery, Alina, Christian (in stroller), Ever, and Jim

Family photo:

Wrenzo and watashi:

Wrenzo got some grub and cuddles:

Christian and Ever still had enough energy left to run some races on the grass. Ever:

Ever gave Wrenzo sweet lovin' . . .

. . . but Wren punched her in the nose anyway:

 The champion:

We went straight from the race to meet up with Kristen and Mike Brinton and keiki at Freddy's for delicious burgers and shakes/ice cream. The Brintons used to be in our ward but moved to Chandler (or somewhere in the vicinity) a year ago. Kristen was surprised when we walked in with a baby. We figured I must have found out I was pregnant right around when they left. Derrick made the arrangements for the meet-up. We were friendly with the Brintons but weren't super-close. It was fun to see them, though. Ever downed every last drop of her ice cream:

Saturday afternoon was more pool time, and then we enjoyed pizza leftovers and a steak dinner prepared by the Karners. We drove home Sunday. The girls were amazing in the car both ways. Wren mostly slept. Ever just sat quietly most of the time. It was a nice trip.