The Bridge Run Weekend in Charleston

We took a fantastic trip back to our old hometown of Charleston, SC, this weekend so Matt could run the Cooper River Bridge Run along with lots of our friends. We had to make the rounds of all of our favorite restaurants. Matt and our friend Josh arrived together on Thursday night and ate dinner at Wild Wing. Then Megan, Josh's gfd, Millie and I drove down on Friday morning and met the crew for lunch at Poe's on Sullivan's Island. Poe's is the place where we celebrated the night we won $10000. So the nostalgia was therapeutic. We met up with Aunt Meg and friends from our old neighborhood and small group (now the current leaders), Paul, Michelle and their boy Brayden. Then, we had to take a walk on the beach. Almost the exact location where my maternity photos were taken about 14 months earlier. Millie loved the water and nearly went swimming in the ocean as she kept creeping her way deeper and deeper.

After the beach we met up with our fabulous weekend hosts- Josh and Lisa and their boy, Miles. For some reason I have no pictures of them or anything else except for those from the bridge run. So here is their little boy enjoying some double stroller time with Millie. Friday evening included a delicious Mexican dinner at Uno Mas and the unforgettable play, The Thorn, at Seacoast. If you live in or near Charleston you must/need to go see this play. It was incredible and will pull at your heartstrings like it did mine.

Friday night was interesting as Millie shared a room with us and woke up with every creaking movement from us in our bed next to hers. Because I didn't want her to wake Miles in the room next door, we put her in our bed. She slept really well for a couple of hours and then we would switch her back to her pack and play. We played that game about 4-5 times that night. I remember Matt waking up on Saturday morning and saying to me... I don't think I can race after the craziness and lack of sleep last night. But, he did it.

We got up on Saturday morning and loaded up the car to meet up with our runners at the finish line on King Street. When Matt was 19 years old he ran the race in 39 minutes. 11 years later, he finished the 10k in just under 50 minutes. He did really well though and exceeded his personal goal so we were happy. After the race, Millie and I tried to get some rest time in while Matt enjoyed more eats at California Dreaming. He brought me back a bowl of their famous baked potato soup and won lots of points with me :).

That evening Lisa and I went on a shopping outing and took silly pics in very expensive and extravagant ladies' Easter hats. Lisa's got those photos but I'm pretty sure she's saving them to blackmail me someday because they are quite hilarious.

While we were away Matt and Josh watched the kids. During that time, Millie dropped a toy on her left toe and Matt thought it was surely broken, which it is not. On top of that, she got a slight sunburn from the day even though spf 50 sunscreen lathered on her all day. She burns easily, good to know. She was not a happy camper. Of course when I find all this out on the phone I immediately freaked out thinking the worse. I came storming in the door with aloe in hand, ready to rescue, to find Millie passed out in Daddy's arms on the couch buck-naked with the basketball finals playing on the tv. I thought for sure she was going to pee on him but she didn't. And, she didn't even move when I applied the aloe lotion, diapered her and put on her pjs. She was exhausted. Needless to say, we slept on the couches that night to make sure we all had a good night's sleep. That night, Lisa recreated Outback steaks at home. My steak was delicious!

Finally to Sunday, we went to church service, ate (again!) at the local McAlister's, then on the road back home to Ft. Bragg.

Woo, I'm exhausted from my story telling, err, writing. Wish I would have taken more pictures. I'll remember that next time.