State #40, Sunburst Half Marathon, South Bend, IN, 6/2/18, Part 1

Half marathon in state #40 brings me Indiana. I chose the Sunburst Half Marathon in South Bend due to its finish inside the Notre Dame football stadium. My husband graduated from Notre Dame, so I knew this would be a special place to visit again and experience as a half marathon location.

As far back as my children can remember, they’ve been hearing about dad’s time at Notre Dame. In fact, someone gave our first born a board book of Notre Dame landmarks: the dome, touchdown Jesus, the grotto, the leprechaun, etc. Both of our kids knew all about that stuff, so we thought it would be great to make this a family race trip. Also, my husband’s cousin and uncle live not too far from there, so we wanted our kids to get out and get to know their family from the midwest a little better.

The golden dome on campus at the University of Notre Dame.

We flew out after school on Thursday and eventually made it to South Bend after a flight delay. We all crashed in to bed when we arrived and woke up the next morning ready for a day of visiting with family. My husband’s cousin, Stephanie, and her husband Scott live about an hour and half or so from South Bend on a large farm. We arrived to find Stephanie waiting to greet us with her daughters, Anna & Emelia, there as well to meet their cousins. Our kids met many years ago when they came to Connecticut for a visit, but our kids were so young, they don’t really remember much about that visit. 

We said our hellos and then promptly got a tour of their home and barn. They have three horses and several goats, some of which were new baby goats! It was so fun to see these little goats and have some petting time with them! The horses were beautuful, named Indy, Solo and Mocha. Steph even gave our girls miniature toy horses as gifts to match. We walked all through the barn to see the horse stalls and hay area. We saw their bunnies and their new baby chicks, too! Oh what fun we had seeing how the farm works!

Meeting the horses and goats.

So fun watching the little goats!

Learning about the horses.

Getting a tour of the barn. 

Meeting the bunny.

Hanging out with the baby chicks.

So many baby chicks!

Next, Anna drove us in their golf cart out to the pond on their land. They own about 80 acres, so we took a nice scenic drive along the grassy path that leads around the land. We passed by their woods and fruit trees out to the pond area. The pond is a man-made feature they created by damming part of the area. They have a small sandy patch and a little dock. They have it stocked with fish and also use it as a swimming hole. It was fun to check it out. 

Playing outside at the farm.

We returned back to the house where the kids played on the playscape while my husband and I chatted with Steph about their garden beds. She harvested a bit of asparagus while we talked. Scott returned home about then, and we greeted him with warm wishes and hugs. We all piled back inside the house to enjoy an amazing smorgasbord of antipasti for lunch: cheeses, meats, olives, crackers, chickpeas, fruit, sweets and best of all Steph’s homemade goat cheese from their own goat milk on the farm. OMG! The best! It was the perfect way to lunch for our large group. 

We chatted for a bit about school for our kids, family history, my race in South Bend and lots of other stuff. Then we piled in our cars for the next big treat on this special family day…a visit to the lake!

Steph’s dad (my husband’s Uncle Steve) lives a little over an hour from the farm in the lakes region of Indiana on a lake called Sawmill Lake. We enjoyed a drive out there and a stop at the local grocery store en route. When my husband was in college at ND, he would often visit Uncle Steve and Aunt Sandy at the lake to help them with their house. They were renovating it for full-time residency. It helped him tremendously with the loneliness of being far away from home, and they loved seeing him and having his help. 

As we pulled up to the house, Steve came out and was all smiles. It was so good to see him! I hadn’t seen him since Steph and Scott got married (17 years ago!), and sadly, Aunt Sandy passed about 7 years ago. Big hugs ensued, and as an added surprise bonus, Steph’s brother Tony and his wife Lynn and their daughter Jessica were all there, too! It was so wonderful to see them all. The girls all played together down by the water as the adults had some time for chatting.

My little ones checking out the lake scene.

Cousins together at the lake.

Although I remembered the house as it looked, I couldn’t really remember the lake very well. After some much needed family visiting time and fun game playing and a fab cookout, Steve gave us a boat tour of 4 of the connected lakes: Sawmill, Irish, Sechrist and Little Barbee. It was a gorgeous evening, and a scenic ride around the lake was the perfect way to spend the time after dinner. 

Uncle Steve, our captain.

Family boat ride on the lake. 

After the boat ride, we had to be mindful of time. Race morning was the next day which would mean a very early wake up time for us. Despite wanting to stay longer, we said our goodbyes until next time, which we vowed would be sooner rather than later. 

Cousins, new friends. 

Our drive back to South Bend was fine, and after a quick stop for some race necessities, we got back and went straight to bed.