Eva's First Race

While I was off on an unplanned trip to the US -> to appease an unhappy customer -> Eva took advantage of the nice weather and went hiking with some friends...and found a great, kid friendly spot.

 Emily, our Party Grrl, was also present ;-)

The day after I came back home, Eva was off to hear long planned 6km race - a sort of Corporate Challenge with some 15,000 other good corporate citizens.  The original plan was that I was to stay at home and put the kiddoes to bed, since the whole thing started at 7pm.  But, in a rare stroke of Fatherhood Genius, I decided to screw the bedtime rules, and we went on a field trip...and surprise Eva.

Nina was still at our place when I finally decided on the field trip, and was a huge help getting the kiddoes ready.  Like the perfect father that I am ;-) , I packed a full set of clothes, food, snacks, emergency underwear for Emily, water, and all sorts of other stuff in our Camelback (which is now a Salewa backback...but he name of our original Camelback surviews)...and we hopped in the car to the train station.

 I had a few spare minutes, so I also bought mini pizzas for the kids.  I ended up rushing to the platform.  About the time we boarded the train for the few stops to the event, I realized that I left the backpack in the car.  All I had with us were the two pizzas for the kids and my wallet.  Not even a napkin.  Now this event took on another meaning, as there was no room for failure (or a bathroom accident).  At least I had money for food and drinks.

 After getting off the train, we hurried to the event.  Since I left the backpack in the car, I didn't even have the course directions, which I had actually remembered to print out.  So, I had to follow my previous racing instincts and headed to the people.  Thankfully, with a few minutes to spare, we saw Eva pass...at around the 1km mark.  Emily was on my shoulders and saw Eva first (or Eva saw her first).

As I had expected, Eva's face went bright red...and she about broke out the tears of joy and surprise.

The kids had a blast, and even though we got home WAY past their bedtime, it was all worth it.  Even with the huge crowd, the kids listened really well and didn't run off.  They really loved cheering for their Mama.  I was also very happy to finally support Eva in a sporting event (After all, she supported me through 2 Ironman Triathlons and a Half Marathon).

The look on Eva's face made it all worth it!