Fri/Sat in Illinois

Friday afternoon, Aiden and I went over to Chrissie and Jordan's so Aiden could take a nap. Chrissie got home soon after and the boys were there shortly after her. Here's Audrey making her funny face with Mom.

I can't get this photo to turn sideways, but I really wanted to show it. Chrissie and Jordan have this ridiculously huge bean bag in their living room that's called a LoveSac. For some reason, it's not large enough for someone (not sure who, because that thing is large and in charge) to lay in, so they bought a matching ottoman to go with it. Audrey was keeping Aiden company while he drank his bottle after his nap.



That night, the boys grilled out while Chrissie and I did our best to catch up. After dinner, we played a card game called Golf.


Our time together was too short! In the morning, we left for Travis' grandparents' house so we could visit with his dad's side of the family. Aiden quickly took to Sean, Travis' brother (9 years his junior). Travis' grandma Joyce kept fake punching Sean with Aiden's hand and he thought it was The Funniest Thing in the World.

I am doubtful that you will be able to tell, but I noticed on this trip that all the Ward boys have bright blue eyes. I truely had not realized this. Beautiful blues!

Curt, Sean, Travis and Aiden Ward

We ate lunch in the tiki bar that the grandparents made. They made it entirely on their own and it is amazing! It is reminiscent of a Margaritaville cafe, if you know what those are like. After the BBQ we ran across town to see my brother's track meet. This was the first time (and probably last time) that I ever saw Alex run competitively. His running skills are insane. I do not comprehend why anyone would ever run by choice. Alex does it at least five days a week.

The race we saw was the 1-mile. My brother was disappointed to hear he ran it in 4 minutes and 43 seconds. ... ... ... WHAT?! I don't understand what is disappointing about that. That is INSANE. I'm lucky if I can get through a mile in 11 minutes. And Alex can do it in less than half that time. !!! It looked horribly painful though. All the guys had these twisted faces, every muscle in their body tensed. My dad pointed out that Alex had his head slightly lilted to the right. I guess that means he was tired. He had already run 400 meters that morning in a relay. Alex' personal record is 4:37, which doesn't sound that far from the 4:43 he got that afternoon. Apparently in running time, seconds can mean the world.

Alex is the one in the center of the photo wearing the maroon uniform. This was just the practice start.


Papa G kept Aiden busy with this book so I could take the opportunity to see Alex' race.

Here are the runners as they came around the track the first time. You can sort of see Alex' head tilted to the right. Funny how my dad picks up on those things.

He ended up 8th out of something like 17 runners. I was impressed, even if Alex wasn't!