Our Trip To Boston

Almost 1.5 years after my hubby qualified for the Boston Marathon, we all headed to Boston this past weekend so he could make his goal of actually running one of the world’s most famous marathons a reality.  Words can’t express how proud of I am of him for how hard he trained and how dedicated he was to reaching his goals for the race.  More on that later though!

We headed to Boston on the Friday before Race Monday.  Caleb actually did great on the flights and traveling, even when we got totally lost on our way to the house from the airport and took almost an hour and a half to get home.  We were so grateful to stay with the parents of my college friend Annie.  Not only did it save us a TON of money on a hotel, their house was conveniently located to the train and they spoiled us with all sorts of delicious Italian food.  We shared a basement room with Caleb and even though I didn’t love hearing his every move in the middle of the night, I sure did giggle waking up to this little face staring and squawking at me in the morning.

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day and we spent it exploring the city.  We took the train downtown and spent the morning walking around Boston Common, the beautiful park in the middle of the city with all sorts of pretty fountains, ponds, paths, and even a cute little playground where Caleb climbed around with some big kids.

After wandering around some side streets with gorgeous row homes that will always make me think of New England, we had some yummy pizza at a local pizza shop.  While we were walking back through the park, we stumbled upon maybe the most delicious thing we ate the entire trip – homemade ice cream sandwiches from a food truck!

Oh my heavens, y’all, they were TOO good.  I had one with double chocolate cookies and coffee Oreo ice cream and I about died.  Caleb tried some and was quite a fan of his first taste of ice cream!

After a quick break so the kiddo could nap, we headed back downtown for more exploring and dinner.  We didn’t spring the money for the apparently awesome aquarium but we loved walking around the harbor and soaking in the pretty weather and people watching.  Even if Caleb was a stinker and refused to take a family photo with us!

I’d grown up going to Quincy Market with my family when we’d stop in Boston on our way to a family lake trip in New Hampshire, so that was our dinner destination of choice! Annie and I both got some delicious clam chowder in huge bread bowls (because…Boston) and then we had a blast watching some of the funniest street performers I’ve ever seen.  All in all, it was a great first day in a fun city!

Sunday was a bit different because it was Easter (weird timing, unfortunately).  Annie’s mom was so sweet to buy a little Easter basket and some eggs for Caleb and it only took him about 10 seconds to realize that mom had filled the eggs with little yogurt melts (sorry, still no candy, dude).  He also loved playing with a few random little toys we brought for him!

After that, we spent the morning mapping out where Jordan needed to be on race day.  We took the train to where he’d go to get shuttled out to the start, walked the finish line course, and then spent some time exploring the expo with all the fun Boston gear.

Once we got back to the house, we enjoyed a yummy Easter dinner with Annie’s family and some friends.  Annie’s stepfather is a butcher, so we had some delicious lamb and ham and all the other fixins! Unfortunately Caleb was exhausted and just about done by that point, so we spent much of the meal switching off who was eating and who was chasing him around outside or walking up and down their street with him.  Such is life with a toddler, I suppose!

And finally, after all the exploring and preparing, it was RACE DAY! Jordan woke up super early to get downtown in time for the race.  The race actually starts in Hopkinton, a town 26 miles outside Boston, so all the runners are shuttled there from the finish line to wait until their start time.  While Jordan waited, Annie and I packed up the bubba and found a spot at mile 16 to camp out and cheer on all the runners.

There’s something so inspiring about watching all these people run a race and we all loved cheering on everyone.  The whole city comes out to cheer along the entire race and everyone was so excited and friendly, especially when I told them my husband was running. Caleb loves clapping so he was happy to yell and clap for all the runners as they ran by! It was a beautiful, sunny day, even if it was a bit hot, and our spot was perfect.

After an hour or so of cheering, we finally spotted Daddy! Y’all, my heart just about exploded watching this guy run by.  In the months before the race he put in long hours of running, sometimes waking up long before the sun so he could squeeze in a “quick” 20 mile run and still be around to help me with Caleb later that day.  He was careful to eat foods that would fuel his body well for his training (the occasional donut is definitely necessary fuel!) and put so much time and thought into his running and training plans.  As I watched him run by, I thought about all that work he’d put into it and my heart just about exploded with joy and pride.  What a man I’m married to! All the heart eyes.

And to top it all off, not only did he finish the race and get a new P.R., he was just really stinking fast! He ran the race in 2 hours 49 minutes, placing 489th overall.

To give you some perspective, over 32,000 people ran this race, and a good number of the ones that beat him are professional runners.  Like Olympian status.  So basically, Jordan did AMAZING and I am so, so proud of him for how he has transformed into such a talented runner over these last few years!  He put in so many long hours of training, waking up super early to run so he could still spend time with me and Caleb.  He ate well and took care of himself so he would be in peak condition before the race.  I so admire his passion and dedication for running and watching him run this race made me feel like I was about to burst with pride!

We met up with Jordan after the race on Saturday evening to celebrate an amazing race.  We had a yummy dinner at a restaurant right on the harbor and then enjoyed some delicious and oh so messy ice cream before heading home.  It was so fun walking around with Jordan in his finisher shirt because people would cheer and congratulate him on the race. I love how the whole city gets excited for the runners!

It was such a fun trip with my little family and I’m grateful we got to enjoy this adventure together.  Traveling with a toddler is definitely a lot more complicated than traveling just the two of us, but it was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to do more trips soon!