Boston!

In May of 2016 Katie qualified for the Boston Marathon by running her best ever time at the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon.  I had always told her that if she ever qualified for Boston we would all go out and watch her run.  Lucky for us, she qualified and gave us an excuse to go to Boston in April of 2017!  You can see how excited she was to receive her runners packet in the mail!  Dad skipped out of work at the tax deadline, Mitch was able to miss a few days of school at UMD to join us and John and Jane were able to come as well.  Above is Katie crossing the finish line - Awesome job Katie!

Katie and her friend Nicole ran together nearly the entire race.  Below - Joel and Grandpa john brought back Mike's Pastry for everyone.  We all agreed that Mike's Pastry was a little overrated.  Joel, Grant and I agreed that Bova's Bakery on Salem Street was much better!

Katie picking up her runner's bib

Walking the Freedom Trail in Boston.  We arrived in Boston on Saturday, the marathon was on Monday and we stayed until Wednesday.  The weather was perfect - not too hot and not too cold.  We walked the Freedom Trail over two different days and saw all the sights.  We stayed in the Historic North End of Boston literally a few blocks from the Old North Church.  We were able to jump on freedom trail right outside our apartment.  Truly a lot of fun to see historic Boston.

Crazy knife juggler in Quincy Market

I'm curious to know if everyone at Cheers knew Grandpa John's name!

Katie running by us at mile 25.  The morning of the marathon Katie headed off the starting line and the rest of us went to the Boston Red Sox Game.  We had tickets down the left field line near the Green Monster.  The marathon route literally was blocks away from Fenway Park.  We were tracking Katie the entire way on the GPS.  At the end of the game we walked a few blocks over to the race route, waited 20 minutes and then Katie came running by.  Perfect timing!

Grant signed his name on Pesky Pole down the right field line at Fenway.

Katie and her #1 Super Fan!

Taking the Harbor Ferry to see the USS Constitution.

Taking the Duck Boat Tour through Boston

Sunday before the marathon we had been walking around Boston all day and the boys were getting a little restless - leading to Katie getting getting stressed about getting some rest the night before the big race.  I told Katie to go out to dinner with John and Jane and get to bed early - I'll take care of the boys.  I surprised the boys by taking them to the Boston Celtics v. Chicago Bulls playoff game.  We sat in the upper deck chanting Bull S**t when the refs made bad calls and complaining about Kelly Olynyk like true Boston Rubes!

Grant leaving is mark in Fenway Park at Pesky Pole.

Grant showing off his Fenway Park swag.

Aboard the USS Constitution.

The one thing Joel wanted to do more than anything else was to eat a Triple Cheeseburger at Pauli's Deli in North Boston.  Pauli's was right below the apartment we were renting.  As you can see Joel savored every bite!

Joel goofing around in the Boston Aquarium gift shop.  Between watching Katie run the marathon, going to Fenway Park, staying in Boston's North End, riding the Duck Boats, going to the Aquarium, Mitch and I exploring Boston at night, walking the Freedom Trail, etc., we had a blast!  What a great Trip!