Honky Tonk Half Marathon Weekend

Saturday, October 26, 2013

I meant to write this post earlier, but life got in the way. This week was busy! Aren’t they all?

Well, I had a great time hanging out with my great friend, Erica Husted, in Wisconsin Dells this past weekend. We met there to run the Honky Tonk Half Marathon. It was small, but not too small and very hilly! Eek! We found ourselves declaring names over the hills as we ran them: “I hereby name you, ‘sucky hill’!” Boy o  boy, were they tough, but in the end, we finished.  Woohoo! Our time wasn’t great, but our real reason for taking the trip wasn’t only to run the race, but to have a fin time together.

It was a particularly cold day, but as we got going, it felt nice. We were happy that it was overcast so the sun wasn't in our eyes and we could take in all the beautiful, scenic views. The trees were beautiful and we saw some gorgeous lakes. 

And so, the fun began on Friday! We went out for some drinks and pizza that a local guy recommended to us.  It was fun and the crowd was….interesting and diverse.

 

The last picture taken with my phone before it decided to die.  I love big chairs but I love Erica more! 

Saturday was the best, though. We spent the majority of the day at the indoor waterpark and rode all of the slides.  My favorite one was the creepy “clown slide” which isn’t actually what it was named, but it reminded me of a carnival. The waterpark was definitely the highlight of the trip! We finished the day at a haunted house, which really terrified me with it’s man-eating rat machine and the puffs of air that randomly blew into your face.  The sad thing is, I’m not being sarcastic here…. I screamed a lot throughout the haunted house. Later, Erica realized that she had dropped her credit card inside the attraction, though, so we went back again the next day. I am such a wuss that, even though I knew what to expect when walking through the house the second time around with a flashlight, I still screamed. Haha! I’m such a baby. 

 

AHHHHHHH!!!!

We finished the weekend with our tradition of running around town with our medals and finding fun things to take pictures in front of.  I always have so much fun with Erica!

 

We did it! This is my favorite picture from the whole weekend. I can't believe we could get that high in the air after running 13.1 miles! 

The drive home was awful due to the construction and traffic.  All I wanted to do was get home to see Phil and Maddie; I missed them so much! My phone broke over the weekend, so I barely spoke to them at all. This was my first time being away from Mads overnight, so the cars in front of me couldn’t move fast enough. I finally made it home and Phil surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of congratulatory flowers. 

 

Phil = best husband EVER

Maddie and Daddy had some fun bonding time over the weekend. They played with grandma on Friday and Saturday, did lots of snuggling and even more playing.  But, according to Phil, Maddie wasn’t quite herself and had a few awful nights.  Phil was exhausted and I wish that I could have been there to help him (kinda). 

"Get this off of my head!" 

Maddie checking out my medal. 

But Maddie is back to being all smiles and wonderful. I suspect that her tummy was bothering her because she didn’t want to eat and later in the week, Phil and I both came down with the stomach flu.  Welcome home, Nikki! But, we are cleared up and good to go! I’m really looking forward to this weekend and spending time with my family. As much fun as I had on the trip, there’s no place better than home.

Home Sweet Home.