Wow! We can't believe almost a month has passed since we
posted an update. And man, what a month it's been! Today
we dedicate this post to the weekend of the Rock 'n' Roll
Seattle Marathon, which occurred on Saturday, June 27.
Tracy and her running buddies Christin and Alicia visited to
run the inaugural race, and Dennis joined in as well. Tam was the
Queen Sherpa and Pit Crew Manager for the group. :-)
It was so wonderful to have them in town, and boy did we
have some unseasonably amazing weather!
We started their visit by going underground...on Seattle's
Underground Tour, that is! It's an amazing way to learn
about Seattle's history. Our whole city (streets and buildings)
used to be one floor lower than what we see today! That means
there's an underground world ripe for exploring. Here's Tam
stopping along the tour.
No, Christin, Tam and Tracy didn't get thrown in the
slammer! Here they are posing behind what used to be
a bank vault door, now underground of course.
We then resurfaced and headed to the marathon expo
to collect their race packets. Here Tracy is carrying Tam
and her growing belly over the finish line in record time!
(Okay, yes, this was just a fun photo opportunity.)
Bright and early the morning of the race, the four
runners posed for a shot taken on our back deck.
Notice how fresh they appear!
During the race, Tam zipped around (by car) to see
Tracy and Dennis along various parts of the 26.2-mile
course. Here they are at mile 5, looking like they just
started! (The course was stunning...this shot was
snapped right after Tracy and Dennis spotted a bald
eagle cheering along the 25,000 race participants.)
Dennis ran alongside Tracy for the first half (13.1 miles)
and finished with the rest of the half marathoners. Then he
joined up with Tracy again at mile 21 to give her much needed
encouragement and finish the rest of the race with her. Here
they are coming across the marathon finish line. What an
awesome accomplishment, and a relief!
Tracy, Alicia and Christin pose with their marathon finishers'
medals after the race. Look at those hot and strong
Marathon Mamas!
The following day (Sunday), Tracy teamed up with a
couple of Tam's friends to throw her a baby shower.
Here's a shot taken on our upper back deck just before
the shower.
Tam just finished opening gifts, during which she met
Max, the new monkey who will help raise Hills Baby #2.
Here's Tam relaxing after the shower with friend
(and shower co-host) Sara.
Dad and Benton also stopped by the shower and relaxed
with us. Look at that big boy sitting up all on his own! He
sat for 30 continuous minutes that day and hasn't looked back.
Since then, he's sat up unassisted for up to an hour at a time!
After the shower, Tam introduced Christin, Tracy and
Alicia to the only-known-by-locals Troll Under the
Bridge. It's a large sculpture beneath the Aurora (I-99)
Bridge, which the marathoners traversed during their
run the day before. Yes, that's an actual VW Bug under
the Troll's hand, and a hubcap for an eye!
The next day, Benton had to show Aunt Deeky how
much he loves the piano she gave him earlier this year.
He had so much fun serenading her with his original
arrangements!
Later Tracy logged some final snuggletime with B
before leaving town. It was tough to say good-bye, but
at least Aunt Deeky will return soon to see Benton's
little brother enter the world. What a fun visit!!!
