Spring Break 2018

This Spring Break and one that we'll all remember!  Eddie and I took some of our middle school students on a STEM Tour to New York and Boston for 6 days.  We left Friday and came back on Wednesday the week of break.  We had 18 students including Noah.  My nutrition wasn't always the best, but was able to still get some runs in either outside or on the treadmill.  I wasn't too worried about it because we walked at least 7 miles a day and we were up and going from the time we had breakfast until we returned to the hotel at night to sleep!  It was nonstop!  It was very cold and I just wanted to run outside, but we stayed about 15 miles away from the city that there wasn't really anywhere to run while in NYC.  So, I had to run indoors which was fine with me.  I just had to wake up super early in order to make it in time for breakfast before heading out with the students.

Our students who I didn't really know since I don't teach them, I got to really get to know them by the  end of the trip.  We didn't have any discipline issues really and for the most part they followed our instructions and are really great kids.  Eddie didn't have much patience for any type of disrespect and student were quick to listen to him.  I'm glad he went with me as a chaperone.  He was my first responder and made sure we were all accounted for and safe everywhere we went.  We were exhausted at the end of day, but we saw so much and learned so much along with the students.

Noah was so cute and loved hanging with the older students and they were good to him.  He also asked great questions and participated in the hands-on lessons with the students.  He sometimes would get jealous because I would pay attention to the other students and not just him.  He would say, "mommy, I'm your son, pay attention to me"....LOL!  Eddie and I had to explain to him that we are responsible for all our students and that we are the parents for them too during the trip.  He was so cute!

In New York, we went to Central Park and students ate a hot dog from a stand, we showed the the outside skating rink, we went to the Plaza Hotel where they filmed Home Alone, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Time Square (shopping), Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, New York Academy of Science for Bridge Building Workshop and coding lesson next day with engineers, 911 Memorial, saw Alexander Hamilton's grave, subway ride to Grand Central Station, and grand finale was seeing a broadway show "Hello Dolly" with Bernadette Peters and Victor Garner!!

We traveled 4 hours on the bus to Boston and we went to dinner in Chinatown.  Next day, we went to MIT Museum, Quincy Market for shopping/lunch, Boston's Children's Hospital for a tour by engineers describing Simulator Program/Inventor Space, Tour of Fenway Baseball Park.  On day 5, we got hit by a blizzard they call the nor'easter and got 18 inches of snow!  Needless to say, we were stuck indoors and had to come up with STEM activities indoors.  We knew this was coming so the night before we went to Target and Eddie and I bought all the students waterproof gloves.  After our first hands-on indoor lesson, we had them get dressed and play in the snow.  Since we are all from Texas, this was such a treat and we were all happy to see so much snow!  Afterwards, we had them play in the pool before dinner and having our last indoor STEM activity.  Our final day, we went to MIT campus for a tour lead by a college student and went to Harvard for a binary coding lesson with science teachers before heading to the airport to go home.

Yes, it was a trip we'll always remember and so happy I was able to lead our students and open their eyes to these awesome cities!  I'm blessed to have met Nancy and other educators who introduced me EF Tours because I love to travel!  I'm already excited for next year's trip!  I did get a run outside in Boston the day before the winter storm.  I was only able to run 6 miles instead of my 14 scheduled miles due to black ice on the ground and time.  I was able to run hills super slow, but that is better than nothing.  I enjoyed the cold weather in the 30s and 40s and loved seeing the snow :)

It's great to be back home and the weather here is in the 70s!  The first run I did was with my running buddy Dash!  I couldn't wait to see her and run with her again.  I missed her so much!  I introduced her into the "Keller Killer Hills" and she did great.  She pushed me to go faster up the hill and then I slowed her down going down.  We pushed each and she challenged me.  She's so like me as a runner. She starts off too fast, runs in front of me and then toward the end she runs right by me.  She runs the whole time and drinks at the end of the run.

On Saturday, I ran 18 miles my first long run since before I left for our trip.  It was St. Patrick's Day and I was ready to run in my hometown again.  I ran by TCU for some hill work and mixed it with flat terrain.  I was excited with my final pace of 8:07 per mile especially, after not eating as healthy as I did before the trip :).  I really think all the walking really helped me and I did run indoors when I could.  It's time to get back on track!!  No excuses!