Run For Ben....

My brother Ben and his wife Jena have amazing friends.  They all love Ben and Jena immensely.  To show their love and support of Ben's ALS, they decided to host an event that they called "Run for Ben".  It was a community 5k run/1 mile walk with all proceeds going to help Ben's little family with all the medical expenses.  I wasn't going to miss this event for anything.  I went solo just because it was such a quick trip.  The race was scheduled for Saturday morning.  My parents were staying in the vacation home of some friends in St. George and there was enough room for our immediate family to crash there also.  The night before the race my mom decided to host a little family gathering to feed the extended family coming into town.  And also because it was another chance to get to visit with everyone. 

It was heartwarming to see so much extended family supporting Ben.  Some of these relatives I hadn't seen in 7 years.  It was such a great night!  Don't I have the most handsome brothers on the entire planet?!

I loved every.  Single.  Minute.  Of getting to spend such precious time with this fantastic group of people.  They are all hilarious.  And just happy people.  I come from pretty good stock.  I missed having my kids around to get to meet everyone, but in the same regard it was kind of nice to be able to visit without worrying about anyone but myself.  (Thanks Shawn for allowing me this opportunity!)
The next morning was the actual run.  My siblings and parents met at the Green's house (Jena's parents) to take a few pictures before leaving. 

Ben's friends wanted us all to arrive a little bit after the majority of race people had arrived so Ben could be welcomed in style.  What a welcome it was.  Breathtaking actually.  I've been to quite a few 5k races.  I've even been to a few that are simply just like this one that benefit a specific family.  None of them have been very large.  But this group?  Awe inspiring.  My eyes were filled with tears just witnessing the masses.  Not only had most of our relatives traveled distances to be in attendance, but friends.  Friends from far off that haven't been seen in years.  Ben had friends show from Moses Lake Washington, High School friends, Mission buddies, and old college roommates.  It was incredible.  And meant the world to Ben.  And to all of us.  My good friend Raquel showed up, and so did Shawn's sister Anna.  So.  Much.  Support. 

Massive amounts of photos were taken to capture the event.  Photos before the race:

Photos during the race:

And even photos after the race:

We hung around until every last person headed to their car.  Such a great morning to be a part of.  It was so nice to see all the support Ben and Jena have as they endure this ALS lifestyle.  My immediate family headed back to the house we were staying in to lounge around the pool.  Some friends stopped by every once in awhile to visit and hang out.  Very relaxing afternoon.  My plane left the next afternoon, Sunday.  We spent a little time at the park.  Since I didn't have any kids to monitor, I got to spend some quality time with my dad just visiting.

I then boarded the shuttle to take me back to the Vegas airport where I flew back home.  I'm so very grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to join my family this weekend.  I love them all so much.  It's difficult to see one of my siblings struggling through something like ALS.  It's actually comforting to be around Ben because it reminds me that he is still Ben.  ALS might be taking his body.  But it's definitely not taking his spirit.  His sense of humor.  Or anything else about him.  He'll always be Ben. 

 

Spring Break......

This year for spring break I decided to take my brood to St. Louis.  We had not been for awhile.  Shawn was working.  And Natalie lives there.  Three major reasons to visit a city when on a break from school.  It's only a 3 1/2 hour drive, so we left around 9 am.  We of course needed to stop for lunch.  Places with play places always seem to win out in the end.

We arrived in the city around 1 and planned to visit the Zoo.  Unfortunately, the entire metropolitan area also decided to visit the zoo.  All the free street parking was taken.  Even the paid parking lots were all full.  Luckily Natalie had a back up plan to just play on the grassy hill near the zoo.  It was a perfect day for rolling down a hill and enjoying the afternoon sun.

Notice Presley's dress?  She calls it her "Marena dress" like Marena on The Fresh Beat Band.  And she wears it whenever she can find it.  Even if it's in the dirty clothes basket.  I have to hide it when it's dirty.

A little bit of wrestling.

Max and Landon held some pretty serious conversations.  Probably about Mario Brothers or something as equally important.

A bit of climbing on the statue just before most of the kids had major meltdowns.  Our cue to leave the area before it all broke loose.  We headed to check into our hotel and Natalie headed home.  My plan was to take my kids to Incredible Pizza while Natalie took care of a few things, then they'd come to our hotel to swim before bedtime. 
We headed to our hotel, checked in, and then loaded back in the car to Incredible Pizza Company.  It's pretty much an overpriced pizza buffet (with poor quality food) that is attached to an arcade/go kart/ bowling/ mini golf arena.  It's a kids dream.  And they all loved every minute of it.

 

The kids were free to roam because I kind of knew which area they'd each stick to.  I hung with Presley.  The only snag we hit was that Landon wasn't old enough to ride the go karts without a parent.  So with 15 minutes left on our 90 minute playing cards, I told Ethan he needed to watch Presley so I could take Landon for a quick spin.  After our ride I found Presley crying on Kennedy's lap.  She had found Presley over by the little kids section alone and crying.  Where did I find Ethan?  Finishing his skee ball game.  He told me that he told her to stay right by him, but she wouldn't listen so he just went about his game.  Hmmmm.  Obviously my ten year old daughter has more the makings of a parental figure than my twelve year old son.  After our play time was up we hit the buffet for a second time.  After paying what I did, I was making sure these kids had full bellies before we walked out the door.

It was nearing 8 o'clock by the time we were finished.  But since my kids had been anticipating the pool all afternoon I couldn't disappoint them.  Besides.  Natalie and her crew had plans to meet us for a quick swim.  After we were all ready to head to the pool I called Nat on my cell.  She told me she had just pulled in and would meet us at the back entrance near the pool.  I left my phone in the room not thinking I'd need it, and we headed downstairs.  I checked all the outside doors near the pool and didn't see Natalie anywhere.  I figured maybe someone had let her in and she was in the restroom with her kids.  We went into the pool area and the kids started to swim around.  After about 10 minutes I really started to wonder what had happened.  Was Natalie standing outside irritated that I wasn't letting her in?  Was she locked in somewhere?  Or.  Then it dawned on me that there were two Drury Inn's in the area.  Could she have gone to the wrong one?  I sent one of the kids upstairs to retrieve my phone.  When I called her she said she was already at the pool.  Some nice man had let her in and her kids were having a blast in the water.  I started laughing.  Sad that she was swimming in the wrong hotel, but glad her kids got the chance to enjoy the pool!  Great way to end the evening.
Since the zoo had been a bust the day before, we decided to try it again.  It was such a rainy day, but it wasn't too cold.  It was actually a pretty good zoo visiting day.  I love the St. Louis Zoo.  It has to be the best zoo I've ever been to.  And it's free.  Who wouldn't enjoy it?!

We hung out at the gorilla exhibit for quite a while.  There was a daddy gorilla and a young gorilla.  They were fun to watch.  The big gorilla appeared to be trying to start a fight with Jackson.  He would stare Jack down with a fighting stare, then ram into the glass.  It was very entertaining. 

Presley loved Jonnie.  Any girl that wears pink, sparkles, or tutus is Presley's "best friend". 

For a quick trip we were sure able to cram in a lot of fun.  I'm so glad I decided to venture out with my kids.