MS Walk San Antonio: March 7, 2009

After a few months of preparing for the MS Walk to support Multiple Sclerosis, we had raised a little over $300. We didn't reach our goal, but we did have a late start. Next year, we hope to do better. Mom designed our shirts and we headed off to the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Nate couldn't go because he had to work, so we missed him there with us.

Before the walk started, we got to meet the Coyote from the San Antonio Spurs. Many people also brought their 4-legged creatures for the walk, so the kids (including Marty) had to pet as many as they could find.

Finally, the walk started. We hadn't been walking more than a minute, when Marshel spotted the port-o-potties, and had to visit them. With that done, we were off. Marshel and Kellee didn't want to walk, they wanted to run, so we gave them destinations to run to, where they would wait for us and then be off again.

We had to make a decision after about a half a mile walk. There was a short cut to do just a mile walk instead of the 5K (2.2. miles). We decided to do the whole thing. We knew Marshel and Kellee would have a rough time, but decided we would help them get there. There were snack stops and drinks along the way to keep everyone hydrated and happy.

We were steadily falling further back in the crowd because we had a 6 and 4 year old, but as long as we finished, that's all that was important. Unfortunately, the ice cream ran out before we got to it, but we still got a picture with the ice cream guy, Scoopy!

As far as Marshel and Kellee, we encouraged, dragged and carried them part of the way, but they really walked most of it themselves. We saw other kids on the route, but they were all in wagons or strollers. I didn't see any just walking like ours. We were really proud of them. Hopefully it will always be a good memory for them. We reminded them that it was a long way, but that they can walk and that there are a lot of people out there who can't and that's why we were doing this.

We were some of the last people to cross the finish line, but we did it and that's what's important. We walked across together, jumping that finish line. We then headed off to lunch. On our way there, we had to wait for the train to pass, so we sat at the crossing for about 15 minutes. When the train was gone, the guy in the car next to us had run out of gas, so we helped him push his car over the hill and into a parking lot. Finally, we made it to the Spaghetti Warehouse and had a good lunch. When we got home, we all collapsed for a few hours. It was a good day!