a boston marathon weekend

Well, it's been a month and a half since marathon Monday. I figure it's time I actually record what happened before our feet hit the pavement in Hopkinton and were halted at mile 25.5. 

Ryan and I drove to Boston with the girls on Saturday morning. First stop was the marathon expo. We picked up our bibs and stood in a fantastically long line to get some sweatshirts. Soon after, we met up with Ryan's parents who had flown into Boston the night before. After gobbling up the girls, we wandered a few more aisles of the exhibitor booths, grabbed Leah's medal and got our two strollers outta there. 

We walked walked a few blocks west to the finish line where we took some pictures and a video of Leah running across the yellow paint. Little did we know...

After the finish line, we grabbed some lunch and then headed south to Braintree where we were staying for the weekend. We set up camp in the hotel room, some of us {which means not me} took naps and then we grabbed a late dinner before settling down for the night. 

Sunday morning we drove to the Boston temple to walk around the grounds and slow our pace from an otherwise crowded, busy weekend. 

We grabbed a quick lunch at Panera before we parted ways. Ryan's parents took Kate back to the hotel for a nap and Ryan and I took Leah to our Team Rett gathering at the team organizer's house, the McTernans. They have a 21 year old daughter with Rett syndrome and have been in the forefront for raising funds and awareness for years. Maria was not only hospitable that Sunday afternoon, welcoming probably 50 people into her home with open arms, but was incredible throughout the entire fundraising and training process. She would have bent over backward for any member of our team! 

It was incredible to see some old friends, including Erica {I audibly screamed when she walked into the room} and Zenaida, and meet the rest of the team who we had been conversing with for months online. 

We mingled with team members and their families as well as other local Boston families who we have come to know and love these past two years. We also had the amazing opportunity to meet and listen to Dr. Li, who is spearheading the research at MIT for which we raised $128,104. Dr. Li works daily to find a cure for these girls and boys and had never met anyone with Rett syndrome! There were five or six girls in attendance that afternoon and it was wonderful to see her watch and interact with them, knowing it really brought her research to life. 

We also were gifted a goody bag full of fun things for the race {love my new SPIbelt!}, got our wrist bands, temporary tattoos and the VIP passes that potentially saved our girls' lives. 

After our team gathering, we drove back to Braintree for a pre-race dinner at Cheesecake Factory, dropped the girls off for a sleepover in grandma and grandpa's hotel room and headed to bed early. The weekend really was wonderful. How could it not be with family, friends, funds for a cure, running, good food and Target!?