Detroit Free Press Marathon Weekend: We Run 4

I know I've talked about I Run 4 on this blog when the boys first got matched more than two years ago, but perhaps this post will capture how much this organization means to our family, specifically the two ladies who are matched with our boys. Teddy was matched a month after his diagnosis, which was a pretty difficult period of time for us as we came to terms with the information the doctors shared. His buddy Heather was a bright spot, with each post making us smile and every care package serving as a ray of sunshine. AJ was matched with Bridget a few months later after two unsuccessful matches that were just God's way of connecting us to Bridget. She's been an incredible buddy to AJ, supporting his interests, encouraging him to work hard and keep trying and filling his bedroom (in the best possible way) with swag from the dozens of races she does.

The runners representing for each of our buddies: AJ, Luke and Teddy.

This weekend we headed to Detroit as a family. We stopped along the way at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on a gloomy, rainy day, but we managed to explore with a short 3/4-mile hike, enough for the boys to earn Junior Ranger badges from a fantastic ranger who offered, multiple times, for Teddy to get the free National Parks lifetime pass that he's entitled to receive. We told him that we appreciated the offer, but we're more than happy to contribute our annual fee to the National Park Service each year as our way to support them. The really cool part was that he included Teddy right along with AJ and gave him a Junior Ranger badge as well.

We finished our drive to Detroit Saturday morning and headed right to the expo center for packet pickup. There was a minor snafu with my passport, so I spent some time with the problems and solutions people to make sure I was set to run my international leg of the relay race the following day. While there, we met up with Heather and her husband Steve, who were a part of our relay team. We continued through the expo and sat down with some snacks when Bridget arrived, walked up behind AJ and surprised him. (Honestly, I think she scared the dickens out of him because she popped right next to him, and he was completely focused on the food he just got.) This was the first time we ever met Bridget, and AJ was so excited to spend time with her. He went through the expo again with Bridget and her friends from her running group, Sole Family. Teddy used that time to thoroughly explore the expo center. He rode the escalators with Dave and I, took Heather to the wine bar and tried to sneak her espresso and showed Steve every single shoe shine station. In other words, he had fun.

Later that afternoon, we met Bridget and her husband Joey, along with Heather and Steve, at a cider mill. Cider mills are apparently Michigan's version of apple orchards. This one had animals to look at, a walking path along a river and delicious cider and donuts. We explored together and just enjoyed the opportunity to get to know each other better. It was a dreary, cold, rainy day, but the time together (and still-warm apple cider donuts if you ask Dave and the boys) was worth the chilliness.

Teddy took a shine to Bridget immediately!

Sunday was our relay race, and Bridget had custom shirts made for our relay team, complete with the number for our leg on the back of the shirts. She included all our running buddies and had the CDG logo for Teddy's diagnosis, along with my buddy's awareness ribbon for Down Syndrome. Since AJ has no logo, Bridget included the Superman one because she sent AJ a Superbrother shirt earlier this year. I chuckled to myself when AJ read the back of the shirt and immediately identified that as Superbrother for him.

Custom shirts for our group, thanks to Bridget.

Since it was cold and windy, not to mention it was downtown Detroit with 15,000+ runners and roads closed for the race, Dave stayed back with the boys. They went shopping and enjoyed the hotel's water park while we did the marathon relay. Bridget kicked us off, running over the bridge into Canada, where she handed off to me. I ran underwater through the tunnel back to the United States, which was extremely cool and just an awesome experience. I spent a portion of my time running thinking of my grandfather, whose memorial service was that day. As much as I felt like I should be there instead, my mom was understanding and supportive of us heading to the race still. I handed off to Steve, who ran the rest of the race, along with Heather, who was our official runner for the last two legs.

All smiles in the warm expo center after our marathon relay, team I Run 4.

Once all the other Sole Family folks got done running, we headed out to meet Dave and the boys for a late lunch. (Oddly enough, these full marathons take about twice as long as the half marathons I usually do.) We ended up at a tiny IHOP, but that didn't matter. It actually worked out perfectly that AJ got a booth to himself with Bridget for 1:1 conversation and attention. Several of Bridget's friends from Sole Family joined us, which was great since I already felt as though I knew them from all her posts and their welcoming us with open arms into their group throughout the race.

Best of buds, in person finally!

We had to say our goodbyes, until next time, to Bridget when we left the restaurant. Since Heather lives only a few miles from where we stayed (which made it convenient for them to graciously get me to the start of the race since I had no idea where I was going), we headed to their house for a little bit longer to visit. Teddy loved meeting their three dogs, cat and bunny, and AJ thought their shuffleboard table was as cool as their Harry Potter LEGOs. I'm pretty sure AJ knows a remarkable amount about Harry Potter from the 50 million questions he asked Steve.

Heather was a good sport with Teddy's odd requests, like playing in her bed together.

All in all, it was just incredible to spend the weekend with these two people, and their family and friends, who provide so much happiness, joy and support for our family. My heart is filled with gratitude.

Weekend Plans

This weekend we're heading to Michigan for a long weekend, pulling the boys from school Friday and Monday. A year ago, AJ's running buddy ran the Detroit marathon, which prompted his buddy, Teddy's buddy and I to decide we should do the marathon together as a relay. Fast forward to this year, and we managed to organize a relay team.

So we're heading to Michigan, with a stop Friday at Indiana Dunes National Seashore to explore, stretch our legs and get Junior Ranger badges. Then we'll head the rest of the way Saturday to meet our team for packet pickup. AJ's running buddy, Ms. Bridget, is going to run the first leg. I'm taking the second leg, followed by Teddy's running buddy's husband Steve. Teddy's buddy Heather will finish our marathon team.

AJ's super excited to meet his running buddy for the first time, and I'm excited for the whole weekend. We'll get to spend time with both buddies, outside of the race, and have some fun time together as a family after a week of work travel for Dave. It's a weekend spent with people who enrich our lives and are two of the biggest supporters of our children.

The only downside is that my running buddy, who lives in the area, is out of town. Guess we'll have to try again next year, right?

An Incredible Weekend

A couple weekends ago we spent a short weekend in Chicago. The boys and I met Dave in Fond du lac at 11 Saturday morning and headed south. We checked out a donut place in Milwaukee, which was nothing too remarkable aside from serving vegan donuts. We also snagged some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory for the adults' treat. (Let's just say it was a rough week at work, and I was finally to the point that I was eating my emotions.)

Our first stop in Illinois was Legoland, which had lost a bit of its magic for Dave since we first visited two years ago. I think Teddy enjoyed it more this visit. We rode the few rides together, and AJ watched two 4-D mini movies. Teddy soaked himself with the water area, and AJ could barely leave the store with all the enticing LEGO products. Amazingly, though, he left without purchasing anything despite more than $100 burning a hole in his pocket.

From there we headed to visit Sammie and her family. Sammie is an 11-year-old girl with CDG-PIGN, the same diagnosis as Teddy. We first met Sammie, her brothers and parents two years ago at Legoland, and it was such a blessing to actually meet another CDG-PIGN kiddo for the first time. When we reached out to them a week before this short trip, we were able to make plans for dinner together, so we headed to their house.

Spending time with Sammie, her older brother and parents was the best part of this weekend for me because it's just so incredible to see someone else with this diagnosis and all the similarities. In a world where Teddy is just so rare, moments where you see another child and think, "Wow, that's so much like Teddy!" don't happen. Sure, there might be kids with braces like Teddy or charming smiles, but it's different to see someone with similar (of course, more advanced) communication styles, gestures, attention spans and personalities.

They have a ball pit. It was awesome.

I loved watching AJ play with Sammie, falling right in step with games of hide-n-seek to help her find her older brother. He understood Sammie so well that he only once or twice asked for help understanding her, despite her not using her talker, because he's so accustomed to Teddy's methods of communication that he could piece together between that background and Sammie's limited vocabulary. That's a pretty incredible skill for a soon-to-be 7-year-old child.

We enjoyed our favorite deep-dish pizza with them and watched the children run around while we conversed as much as we could. I wouldn't say their house was completely Teddy proof, but they understand the art of physically blocking spaces and redirecting children who want to be elsewhere. It was so comfortable to just let Teddy be Teddy with minimal efforts to keep him contained or any need to apologize for his lack of social skills or appropriate behavior. They just get it because they've lived it.

So hard to get both Sammie and Teddy still for a picture, much less looking at the camera.

I hope they get something out of our visits because we spend so much time asking questions to understand when Sammie reached milestones or what challenges still exist and what things have gotten easier over time. It's like a window into the future of what could be, and it gives me so much hope.

After several hours of fun together, we left to catch a quick dip in the hotel pool before bed. We hit the jackpot of hotel pools with a warm pool for once! We didn't stay in it long because it was late, and we had more adventures the next day.

AJ was slightly afraid of sting rays. Teddy wanted to go in their pool.

Sunday's plans were the real reason for our short trip to Chicago. We headed downtown to the Shedd Aquarium to meet Teddy's running buddy from I Run 4, Heather, and her husband Steve. This was our second time meeting them, as they came over last summer to spend a weekend with us and run with Teddy. We met somewhat in the middle since they live near Detroit to hang out for a while. We've never been to the Shedd, and it was a really neat place to visit. There were interesting displays of art made out of garbage from the oceans and more sea and water creatures than you could imagine. The boys both pet sting rays and sea stars. Teddy and AJ had fun on the submarine for children to explore as well as the penguin play area, and AJ got to see a few penguins up close and personal as they were being transported behind the scenes by the elevators. It's a pricey place to visit, but it was definitely worth seeing, particularly with the company we had.

AJ's highlight was his close penguin encounter.

Heather has been such a fantastic running buddy for Teddy, sending him posts via Facebook, cheering him on with all his milestones and simply being part of our extended family. The time they spent with us last year was incredibly comfortable, and this was the same. I love that Teddy gets to spend time in person with his running buddy because that is what connects for him, so then he recognizes Heather's pictures when I show him her posts.

Somehow we got everyone looking! This was before Teddy discovered the Segways.

We grabbed lunch at the aquarium and then headed toward home with one more stop at the LEGO store in Milwaukee and Barnes and Noble for some escalator rides, which is Teddy's jam. AJ finally managed to score some LEGOs at Barnes and Noble that were on clearance to boot. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend full of fun, friends and positive memories.