well, we survived the busy weekend. our participation in the marathon to benefit non-public education,(click for pics) went off well despite several small hitches. the first hitch was that there was no room in our vehicle for my bike (which wasn't really mine at all but one i had borrowed). i had thought that this might become an issue so i really wasn't that surprised. i opted to go it on foot, which as it turns out worked out fairly well. secondly, amid the chaos and confusion surrounding getting 3 kids and their repective gear in the car saturday morning, i forgot to bring the girls bike helmets. (so much for my father of the year nomination!) it was a cool morning so their winter hats sort of sort of obstructed the fact that they were helmetless...until it got warmer anyway. my best guess is that we went somewhere between 4-5 miles, which doesn't seem too far unless your walking with a weighted down backpack. the girls did great and had a good time despite tiring toward the end. maybe next year we'll go a little further? more later...