Ethan and I went early on Wednesday to the track meet. We met my parents in Taylorville and picked up my sister. I was super glad to have her there because it just helps to have another person sometimes. We pulled into the hotel where Josh had reserved us a room. At first I was concerned that the parking lot was so empty, like if it was going to end up being a sketchy place.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover, Mom”, he said, and I thought, “Well, whatever” and went inside. It was actually very nice. Simple but clean and would serve the purpose of getting us acclimated and housing us so we could wake-up nearby. The hotel was only minutes from the stadium, which we found after we had checked in and brought in our stuff. Two of the other boys were at the track.

It was fun to sit and watch in the giant stadium where there were other teams practicing their jumps, running, hand-offs, and blocks. The bleacher section was massive compared to anything we have seen for the other meets. My sister and I just chilled for an hour while the boys stretched and practiced their things. It was nice to watch them and I was glad we had come.

We went to Jimmy John’s afterward. The 6-inch Subway sandwiches are too small but the 8-inch Jimmy Johns ones are just a little too big if you eat the whole thing at once. Ethan got two 8-inch subs and ate them both. My sister ate all of hers as well. The rest of mine I saved and ate for breakfast. We had a good night’s sleep and were up and out the door to find another restaurant.

I didn’t want him to have fast food so we went to this little Family Restaurant place that was less than a block away from the hotel. I told them to order what they wanted and they had a good breakfast. I was already full from my sandwich, yogurt, banana, and granola bar I’d brought along for snacks. A couple of times I said, “You don’t have to eat it all. You can take some home.”

We didn’t have to check out until 11 so after breakfast we went back to the room. Dad and the rest of kids met us right as we had packed up and checked out. We found a free place to park that was further away. Hannah walked with me while everyone else went on ahead. We found a section of small and empty bleachers and watched the meet from there until we all moved again.

I’d found a spot by the 300M curve where there were trees and it seemed like a good place to sit. We camped out there and various people went for various walks to walk around. Eventually me, Hannah, and the boys sat by the tree while Dad and Elianna went up to the main bleachers. Once it was closer, the boys and Hannah also went up there. I stayed put and was fine doing so.

When it was time for the 4×4’s I walked away. Down the sidewalk toward the main part of campus. I could watch the whole thing live on my phone. They were in the last heat of the meet so there were four other relay heats before them. The times kept popping up and I was starting to think that they might actually have a chance at going to finals. My aunt was also staying updated.

She called when it was their turn so I kept her updated on the progress. When it updated the boys were in second place. They stayed in second for the entire heat and ended up placing 12th overall. It wasn’t quite enough to make finals but it was just enough to beat the old school record. We were all very happy they’d been able to do that. I was grateful to God for a special day.