Conner's first Shamrock weekend

In what has become a yearly tradition for us during the third full weekend of March, we spent this past weekend at Virginia Beach. It's the third straight year I have taken part in the Shamrock Half Marathon, but this year's trip was initially spurred because of a Mary Kay conference Christina wanted to go to. It's almost hard to believe, but a year ago on this trip, we pretty much knew we were expecting, but we were still keeping it top secret.

My mom and step-dad also made the trip - they love Virginia Beach too, but Keith actually had a conference to go to there that started mid-day Sunday and runs through Tuesday. So Conner's first trip to the beach turned into a family affair. He got to take several rides in his stroller along the Boardwalk; he took in a good glimpse of the bright sun rising over the ocean; he slept through me crossing the finish line; he got to touch sand; and he spontaneously started playing peek-a-boo with me and his Grandma Angel Sunday afternoon and then easily showed Christina his new skill - a skill he tried to do again a couple of hours later when it was bedtime.

All in all, Conner did great this weekend, ending in sleep an hour after getting home (that's the photo at the end) after sleeping for much of the ride home. For a few "scene" photos of our trip, click here for my photo blog post.

In a little more than 5 months Conner will be making his second trip to the beach on Labor Day weekend. (I'm running in the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon then.) We're looking forward to seeing how he'll change between now and then, and we're looking forward to what will hopefully be warmer weather so he can play more.

This is the first in a series of big weekends for Conner. Grandma and Grandpa Palm and Uncle Steven will be visiting this coming weekend; for Easter in a few weeks we'll be making a trip to Ohio - Conner's second visit to the Buckeye State.