When it storms...

Beirut hosted it’s marathon this weekend. posters advertised for weeks all over the city...i had already made the mental note that this would be a great family outing when i found out that our one and only’s :rem and Val would be running in the 10k. who hoo!!!

   of course for 3 days before it stormed. and stormed. and stormed. like rain  pelting and swirling all around you. and since parking is sort of an issue in this grand city- it means dashing from car to place. roads flooding. it means this mamma is still trying to tow the balance of buddled, warm, dry with stylish. can be a very confusing configuration. 

   leading up to sunday morning, i had already partaken in my fair share of dashing..dashing from car to meeting at a University here with some of my nurse friends...dashing from car to place with Drew on  a date night...dashing to grab eggs and milk cause we were out...and when Sunday morning rolled in...we just were not sure we could pack out littles and take them to watch the races. 

   but as the rain pelted down, we saw promise of clear skies on the horizen and decided to risk it. 

  we were so glad we did. we tumbled out of our car into bright sunshine on a fresh world. thousands of people milling around. the hustle and bustle of runners, walkers, family members present to cheer, strollers, warm up suits, music playing, and beautiful and insane beirut hosting an epic marathon through its historical streets. 

  we cheered like crazy for Rem and Val as they ran by, so excited to be there for them. so excited, that as i was taking a picture to capture the atmosphere minutes before we saw them, Sophia all cuddled in the stroller started rolling backwards and Sarah caught it. it hopefully would have just run into me. but sarah and i laughed at my exburance that resulted in a stroller not secured. 

  The Johnsons came out...the Molls did amazing... Val won the 10k being the first woman by a long shot...Rem beat Val which was pretty awesome...just a few years ago we were praying almost every meeting for Rem in a boot, that he would be able to walk without pain...the kids were full of joy and cheer. it was sunshine and sparkles. 

  Kopkes, Johnsons, Molls, Caldwells were just enjoying the races, cheering in marathon runners..when the storm started to brew. at first we sat under the bleachers and thought it would pass.

then the kiddos wanted to watch the race...

 but when it became evident that it was going to only get more intense...

 we had to do it. we had to get to our car. a 15 minute or so walk. nothing to do but just run. we had the double stroller..we had an umbrella, but as i tried to put it in front of the stroller to somehow sheild some of the rain...drew would sort of yell- now i can’t see!

  so we ran...and joined with the chaos of thousands of people running...dashing to shelter. shrieking. screaming. laughing. when we finally arrived to store front that had shelter from the rain...we were soaked. me less than drew as i had the umbrella. 

  I loved it. i loved every second of the adrenaline rush. how running in the rain just feels so intense and like you are in a movie. i love that an fun family outing just shaken into a really wild, memorable moment.  

  next day we went searching for puddles to splash in and we had a fun time! loving this toddler stage.