Carmel Marathon 2015

April 18th, 2015

After running his first half marathon in October last year, Mckay decided to train for a full 26.2 mile marathon. He found a friend from church, Nick, who was equally as crazy and agreed to run with him. It was probably better that they had each other to be accountable to, otherwise there wouldn't have been much training during the cold winter months.

The marathon was on April 18th in Carmel, a suburb of Indianapolis. We drove down the night before and stayed at a nearby hotel so we didn't have to drive for an hour to get there early the next morning.

We dropped Mckay off at the starting line. My friend Ashley (Nick's wife) took these pictures. I "borrowed" them from her Facebook page. 

Mckay is all the way on the left of this picture, in the red shirt. Nick is in the picture too, he's the third person from the left, with red hair and wearing a blue and white shirt.

There were race photographers along the marathon route taking pictures of the runners. There were a couple pictures of Mckay. Here are screen shots of them: 

Mckay saw the photographer coming and posed.

The three boys and I went to cheer Mckay on at a few points along the route. We made some motivational signs.

I would have taken pictures of the boys holding the signs, but they weren't very interested in holding them up, so it was mostly me doing the sign holding. They did cheer though!

 The Marathon conveniently had a phone app for tracking the runners so I had an idea of were Mckay was at points. One of the spots we planned to see Mckay was at mile 24, almost to the finish line! The way the race route curved around, we were able to park at the finish line and then walk almost a mile to reach the 24 mile marker. I was pushing the two older boys in our double stroller and carrying Bennett strapped to my chest in a baby carrier. We made it to mile 24 with a few minutes to spare before Mckay made his way around the corner.

The boys hugged him and cheered for him as he ran past.

Now we had to hurry to walk the one mile back to the finish line, hoping to get there before Mckay could run 2.2 miles there. I thought that the older boys could run on the sidewalk for a bit and make the stroller I was pushing a little lighter. That lasted about 20 seconds before Connor tripped and fell into some sharp bushes and mulch by the sidewalk. He was all bloody on his legs and had a bloody nose too. So not only did I lose time stopping to clean up and console the poor boy, but now I had to push 75 pounds and carryanother 15 pounds while walking quickly. Did I mention it was the first warm (75 degree) day of the year? I was a little sweaty and out of breath as we approached the finish line. In fact, a man nearby commented, "I can't help but think that you are working harder today than whoever it is you're cheering for." I told him I'd thought the same thing several times that day.

We made it to the finish line just in time to see Mckay crossing. Here are a few more professional screen shots:

I love this one because you can see Nick clapping for Mckay in the background. You can see Nick's face inside the letter "f" of Proof.

And here's the picture that Ashley got of Mckay crossing the finish line.

There was a ton of free food being handed out to the runners at the finish line; chocolate milk, water, pizza, bananas, apples, crackers, chips and trail mix.

The runners also got free massages. (I say free, but when you have to pay to enter the marathon, I don't think it really counts as free.)

When it was Mckay's turn for a massage, he was asked where he needed it the most. Um, legs. Mostly the legs. Dallin and Connor worked on his arms a bit though.

After Mckay was rested enough to begin using his legs again, we went to the van, got some lunch at Chipotle, and then drove by the new Indianapolis temple being built in Carmel.

Looking beautiful and almost complete!

Mckay ran the marathon in 4 hours and 36 minutes. A new personal record!

He also beat his old half marathon time with 1 hour 59 minutes this time around. He is pretty amazing.

Dallin's Birthday Interview

Instead of me telling you all about Dallin at this age, I figured I'd let him tell you. I interviewed Dallin and these are his answers (with my comments in parentheses).

Dallin according to Dallin

Favorite color: black

Favorite game: Lego Star Wars (on Xbox)

Favorite show: Star Wars (no surprise there)

Favorite book: There's Something in my Attic by Mercer Mayer (He also really likes The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, because it's a Halloween-y book and it's a fun read-aloud participation book)

I really like to wear: hoods (hoodies, jackets, any shirt with a hood)

I love: animals.

Favorite animal: lion (I think he was just throwing an answer out here. I've never noticed a preference for lions.)

Favorite stuffed animal: R2-D2 (The one he got for his birthday last year from his friend)

Favorite breakfast: pancakes

Favorite lunch: cantaloupe (he usually eats other things with it too...)

Favorite dinner: pizza! (Pizza, burritos and mac and cheese are about the only dinners he likes)

Food you don't like: ...um... grass. (He thought his answer was pretty funny.)

What are you really good at: writing (This answer made me happy. I'm glad to hear that he has a positive experience with learning to write and that he feels it is one of his strengths. His writing is definitely improving.)

Best friend: Kendal (his friend with WS who is also in his Kidnergarten class)

Are you going to get married when you grow up? Yes. To whom? Bennett. Maybe mom. (He clearly still has a lot to learn on this subject.)

What do you love to do with mom? make pizza, do art projects

What do you love to do with dad? play Lego Star Wars, do homework

What do you love to do with Connor? Play outside

I would describe myself as: making pizza (I think I was starting to lose him at this point.)

What do you want to be when you grow up: Spiderman! (He's been asked this question a few times at school as a writing prompt and he always answers "Spiderman." We've tried suggesting other realistic professions, but he still wants to be Spiderman. He probably thinks this question is the same as asking "What do you want to be for Halloween?")

Dallin turns 6

Dallin's birthday started with lots of balloons. While the boys were sleeping the night before, we blew up about 100 balloons and put them into their bedroom to surprise Dallin when he woke up on his birthday. We had visions of the room being entirely filled several feet deep. We were not even close to that but we at least covered most of the ground with balloons.

Dallin was really excited so I guess that's what matters. He kept asking all day if he could go play with the balloons. Him and Connor would just run back and forth across the room while the balloons scattered and bounced around them. These balloons have given the kids hours of entertainment.

Bennett likes them too.

I realize he looks less than impressed in this picture.

Mckay and I took Dallin out of school during his lunch break and we took him out to lunch. We went to Stake and Shake because Dallin wanted grilled cheese. We left Connor with a friend and it was kind of fun to have some alone time to spend with just Dallin.

Since we had just celebrated his birthday at Legoland the weekend before, we didn't do a whole lot on his actual birthday. He took Star Wars cupcakes to school to share with his class, so I didn't make a cake at home for him. I think we were all OK with that. 

Dallin got lots of fun presents. 

I made him some new PJ pants from Star Wars fabric. I also made him a black hooded cape and a Darth Vader mask.

I was rushing to finish Dallin's cape before he got home from school that day. As a result, it's not my best sewing work, but he is pretty happy with it.

He also got a scooter and helmet from Grandma and Grandpa Crapo. 

Now that it's finally getting warmer outside, he's been able to play with the scooter more. He's starting to get the hang of it.

The stats from his 6 year check up: 

Weight 33 lbs

height: 40.75 inches

Blood pressure: 92/60 (He's still on a blood pressure medication to lower his blood pressure to a normal range, so I'm always happy to see that it's working!)

He's still tiny and Connor has passed him in weight. But Dallin is still taller. Tall and skinny.

I still can't believe how quickly he's growing up! Happy 6th Birthday Dallin!

Birthday at Legoland

Spring break always happens right around Dallin's birthday. So this year we decided to take a short weekend trip to Chicago to take the boys to the Legoland Discovery Center. On the drive up there, Dallin got to open his first birthday present from his Easton grandparents: The Lego Movie.

They were silently glued to the screen for the rest of trip.

When we arrived, Dallin could see the Lego logo on the building and got very excited because he thought we were going to a Lego store. It was a little bit cooler than that.

Now, I've never been to Legoland in California or a similar place before, but I knew that this Discovery Center wouldn't be on quite the same grand scale as the theme park. I DID think it would be a little bigger though for the money we paid and have more than two rides. I forget that things cost a lot more in big cities and that we are so used to not spending our money. Every time Mckay or I felt a little underwhelmed by the experience, we reminded each other that this was for the kids. And our kids had a wonderful time.

There was a replica of the Chicago skyline made from Legos.

And a rainforest filled with lego animals.

They liked the hippo.

Dallin was VERY excited to see Darth Vader.

 And R2-D2.

We watched the short 4D movie (the boys were not impressed with the 3D glasses and kept taking them off) and went on the two rides.

There was a big play area with tunnels/slides and big foam bricks for building with. There were tables for building with duplo blocks and tables for building with regular Lego bricks.

We built several different models of cars and then put them to the test on the track.

Most of them crashed into pieces at the bottom of the ramp but Mckay managed to build a pretty sturdy car.

We ate lunch at the cafe there. The website said that outside food would not be allowed and that we could buy sandwiches there for $3.

This is how big a $3 sandwich is. One piece of bread folded in half with a slice of turkey on it.... No cheese, just turkey. They did have closer to normal-sized sandwiches for purchase at $8-$10 each. 

*sigh* "This is for the kids. This is for the kids..."

We bought a few sandwiches and shared a tiny snack size bag of chips for $1.

We were pretty hungry by dinnertime. We left Legoland and drove to the nearby hotel we had booked for the night. Then we picked up our dinner: a 30 inch pizza.

I don't remember how exactly this idea came to us a few weeks before the trip. We were talking about how we should get pizza in Chicago because Dallin loves pizza and Chicago has great deep dish pizza. Then we thought about how some places sell really big pizzas, so we did some searching to find the biggest pizza available in Chicago. Bacci Pizzeria won with 30 inches. That's almost as tall as Connor.

And this was GOOD pizza too. Good sauce, good cheese, nice crust, better than most chain delivery pizza places. It cost $35 and we had leftovers for a week, but it was totally worth it.

We spent the night at our Homewood Suites hotel. (Suites are the way to go when you have kids at a hotel. The kids slept in the living room on the sofa bed and we got our own space in a separate bedroom, with Bennett in the pack 'n play.) We ate a big breakfast at the hotel, had a relaxing morning and went to the nearby mall to walk around/play before driving home. We all had a really fun time. And now we'll have to go to the real Legoland sometime. 

Spring Break

We did a few fun things during Dallin's spring break this year. One day, we went to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. It was just me and the three boys, which is quite an amazing feat of endurance for a parent, if you ask me.

We saw the Chihuly glass sculpture.

If there is ever anything related to Star Wars in a room, the boys know how to find it.

We played at the water table.

And then the sand table.

That's the best way to do it: get the kids wet first and then let them get sand all over their bodies. They managed to keep pretty clean, surprisingly.

Connor played some drums.

Really fast.

We had fun and despite being there on a very crowded day, each boy only wandered away from me once for 30 seconds. (Except for Bennett. I had him tied down pretty well.)

Before we go into a busy public place like this where it's easy to get lost, I remind the boys of what to do if they got lost: I tell them to find someone with a name badge who works there and ask for help. Or I tell them to find a mom with kids because she'll know how to help. In fact both times one of them wandered away (like when Connor wandered out of the bathroom while the rest of us were still in there changing Bennett's diaper), he was brought right back to me by a mom who saw the boy looking around scared. The other important safety step we go over is to make sure both boys know my name. No one is going to know how to help a lost kid if he's looking for "Mom." So I make sure they know to say, "My mom's name is Sheri Easton." We should probably eventually teach our kids my phone number too, but it's a little harder to remember 10 digits for area code AND phone number instead of just 7 digits. Any tips on teaching phone numbers to kids?

Anyway, we all survived and had fun.

Later in the week, I thought I'd be really cool and let them do a fun art project by gluing ripped up scraps of colored tissue paper.

As usual, 10 minutes of preparation bought me 5 minutes of craft time. And don't be mislead by their happy angelic faces in that picture above. They were laughing AT me for getting angry because I was trying to take a good picture and I growled at them when they did the wrong thing or made the wrong face. Whatever... I got my picture.

We kept dinners simple during spring break and I let the boys choose most nights. That means we had quesadillas, pizza and macaroni and cheese.

Dallin saw this Star Wars Mac and cheese at the store so we had to buy it.

 It made his day.

Bennett at 4 months

This little guy is 4 months old now.

(As you can tell by his blurry limbs, he never stops squirming.)

He is a great baby, although I still haven't decided if he is actually easier than the other two were, or if my perspective as a parent has changed. For instance, he eats every two hours and sometimes he'll stretch to three hours. As a first time parent, feeding a baby every two hours sounded exhausting. This time around, I know that babies are supposed to eat that often so I expect it. And when he does go longer between feedings, it's a happy surprise.

(I've actually noticed that literature about feeding babies has changed in this regard. When Dallin was born, the pamphlets and handouts the hospital gave me said babies nurse every 2.5-3 hours. When Bennett was born, all the handouts said babies nurse every 1.5-3 hours. I don't think babies have changed, just that experts are trying to show a wider range of normal. Some babies will happily go 3 hours between feedings and that is normal. Some babies eat more often and that is ok too.)

Another way my perspective has changed is with sleeping. I remember when Dallin was a newborn and we were talking with another young family at church. They said their baby started sleeping through the night when he was 6 months old. Six months straight without a full night of sleep sounded awful to me! Now, I'm used to not sleeping at night. I haven't slept through the night more than a handful of times in 6 years. And I actually feel quite rested most days. Bennett will sleep from about 9pm-4am most nights. Then he'll eat and sleep again until 7 or 8am. Because I have no expectations about his sleeping, every time he sleeps for a long stretch feels wonderful.

At 4 months old, here is what Bennett is up to:

He is spitting up far less than he used to as a newborn. A burp cloth can last into a second feeding now before getting soaked, which is a vast improvement from needing three burp cloths for each feeding.

He smiles all the time and at anyone who will look at him, but most often he smiles for his brothers.

He is starting to babble, giggle and laugh. Baby laughs are one of the best sounds in the world. I haven't gotten a good video of the laughing yet, but here is some babbling. In true Easton baby fashion, he spits up at the end of the video..... but what can you do?

He is an efficient eater. Each feeding is about 10-15 minutes long. Sometimes I want him to take longer so that I have an excuse to sit and rest for a bit.

He will fall asleep on his own, without any sleep training. This one still baffles me. Dallin and Connor both needed to be rocked to sleep until we did some sleep training around 6 months old. Because of that, I never even tried to lay Bennett down awake because I was sure it wouldn't work. I decided to try it out one day and he fell asleep on his own. He didn't even cry! He kind of grunted for about 30 seconds and then just laid there until he fell asleep a few minutes later. It's been working like that for almost two weeks now. He is awesome.

Connor likes to sing him songs before bed.

This one is called, "Go to sleep little baby."

Bennett has rolled from belly to back. He doesn't do it very often. That's probably because I don't give him enough tummy time, but I'd much rather look at his cute face that his butt. Just sayin'...

Right after he rolled over for the first time, at 3 months.

He is a very content baby. He is happy to lay on the floor on his own for a while, taking in the surroundings. I think it helps that his big brothers are always running around him. Laying around doesn't get so boring when there's always someone to watch.


He'll sit happily in the bouncy chair or the bumbo while I make dinner or do dishes. I'm sure it sounds like I never hold him, but I promise he gets plenty of time with me. The wrap and carrier I have help with that a lot.

(At the park on the one warm day we've had this year.)

We haven't had his 4 month check-up yet, but at 3 months old, he weighed 13 lbs 12 oz. I don't know what percentile that is and I confess that it is liberating to not care what percentile he is in. He is eating well and healthy; that's all I need to know.