Good Luck Kisses From Mia

Last weekend was the Ice Age Trail 50 so I left work a little early to get home and load the truck so that when Paige was off at five o’clock, we could head straight out of town.  Traffic cooperated and we made it to my dad and Andrea’s place by 7:30ish.  We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed my niece Madeline’s cuteness before heading to bed.  I slept great and popped right up when the alarm went off at 4AM.  Despite having prepped most everything the night before and having a short drive to the start, I still managed to get there just as the race was starting and thus lost about ten minutes before I even crossed the start line.  My motto, I’m gonna be out here all day anyway so what is ten minutes, right?!  Kelly and Mia were at the start so got some good luck kisses from Mia, said my goodbyes and headed out.  I felt good and was running well very quickly and soon started catching runners.  The downhills were quick and I was even running most of the uphills - fellow ultrarunners can probably hear the ominous music playing in the background and know exactly what is coming but as far as everyone else is concerned, it is a good day.

I passed Brian and would have missed him had he not grabbed my attention.  After a quick hello, I continued down my path of destruction.  I kept passing runners and was clicking off miles comfortably when I rolled into the start/finish area.  Paige was waiting with bottles ready to go - I had decided not to carry anything with me on the first 8+ mile loop.  I didn’t stick around long before beginning the second portion of the race.  I met Jason and spent the next several miles chatting about everything from running (of course) to group theory (his PHD thesis) - it was good meeting you Jason, the miles really flew by.

Almost Done, Just Seven Miles To Go

Paige was meeting up with me every few miles at the designated crew/aid stations and was typically in the company of several CHUGs.  The day was cool which wasn’t bad for runners but made spectating tough; as always, Paige was a trooper and always had a smile on her face.  I saw her at the Easterly Road Aid Station and was still feeling pretty good but by the time I left the Rice Lake Turn Around, the error of my ways was becoming evident.  I slowed down and immediately began to be passed.  I kept moving forward but it was much less comfortable than before and with the slower pace, I had to fight off the cold.  After Easterly Road on the way back is when the wheels really came off and the next 10 miles would be rough going.  No one likes having a tough day but for some reason, I was actually enjoying it.  My body felt more like I was 80 miles into the run rather than 30.  There is something very rewarding about being that in touch with your body and being so focused on the basic necessities of keeping the body moving.  It simplifies life for a moment.  This is one of the greatest gifts of running long and why I enjoy the hundred mile distance so much - here, I was getting the experience from a fifty mile race and it felt like I was cheating : )

Eventually, I did begin to feel better and the pace improved some.  Right about then, Jack, an old running buddy of mine from Iowa City caught up with me.  I met Jack through a group I ran with on Wednesday nights back when I first started running longer distances.  It didn’t take long hanging out with that group before I decided to train for a marathon and Jack was at the starting line with me for my first Grandma’s Marathon back in 1997.  We spent the next 8-10 miles together, getting caught up on all that’s happened since last we saw each other.  Great to see you Jack!

Ice Age 50 - Finish

After the turnaround at Emma Carlin, I knew I was home free with less than 10 miles to go.  I would experience a short hail storm, get to see Paige one more time, and get some alone time before finishing but soon the day would be over.  Paige, Brelly and several CHUGs were waiting at the finish line when I arrived.  The sun was shining for a brief moment and the post race party had begun.  After a change of clothes, we headed to get some food at the BBQ.  Sarah had won her age division so we hung around for the awards - congrats Sarah!

Lessons I relearned: 1) drink early and often, 2) don’t fall behind on your nutrition, 3) don’t fall behind on your electrolytes, 4) don’t start out too fast, 5) don’t run the uphills too early in the race, 6) don’t run the downhills too hard, 7) respect the distance - lots of good reminders of things I already learned at some point before.

Thanks for all the support out there Paige, it was motivating to know that I’d get to see you at the next aid station… if I could just get there.

New Year’s Eve has never been a wild and crazy time for me and this year was no different.  Paige and I went out for dinner and then to see a fun movie called Did You Hear About The Morgans? We did stay awake to see the new year but only by a couple of minutes.  New Year’s day, we went to Waterfall Glen to meet up with some CHUGs for a run.  It was single digit cold and as it turned out, only Tony, Ian and one of Ian’s friends (Cathy) showed up.  We had a nice 13+ mile run on packed snow trails - thanks for organizing the run Tony.

After the run, it was off to Clinton for us.  We met up with some of the family for chinese food.  After dinner, it was off to Jim and Brenda’s house for more socializing and some yummy dessert - it was fun to see everyone.  Back at the grandparents’ house, it was movie time.  Four Christmases is what we decided on, unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the end of the movie because the disk stopped playing after an hour and a half - argh!

Saturday morning was a lazy one with Jim stopping by for coffee.  We hit the road around 11:30 AM to make it back to Chicago in time for our scheduled massages, which were glorious!  After a quick stop at the grocery store, we were home for the night.  We had so much fun on Friday, that we headed back to Waterfall Glen for our run on Sunday.  When we got back to the car, we had a message from Brelly about meeting them for dinner.  After a quick call, we decided on meeting at Portillo’s, a personal favorite of mine.  They were fresh off a cruise and getting engaged, so we had a lot to catchup on - it was awesome to see them.  A huge congratulations to the happy couple, we couldn’t be more excited for you two!

Uncle Geof, The Horse

I love it when Christmas falls on a Friday!  With all my vacation time used up for the year, it was wonderful to get off work on Thursday afternoon and have until Monday off.  Thursday, Paige and I headed to Clinton for Christmas Eve with my mom, Kev, and my sister and her family.  We got there just in time for our traditional homemade chicken noodle soup dinner - its the best.  After dinner, the kids were chomping at the bit to open presents - imagine that?!  They passed the gifts out and away we went.  Santa brought lots of good stuff this year.  As the kids checked out their goods, we eased into a comfy spot for post-meal relaxation.  Soon it was time for a little coconut cream pie - it was delicious!  We ended the night by turning off all the lights in the house except the Christmas tree lights, then we sat there listening to holiday music and looking at the tree - it was the perfect ending to a great evening!  Mom and Kevin did a great job, as usual, making a fantastic meal as well as creating holiday cheer.

Christmas morning, we packed up early and headed to Paige’s family Christmas.  Despite getting off a little later than planned, we still managed to get there before Holms and Conan and that was the important thing - wink, wink.  As the house filled with “the kids,” and the smell of coffee brewing mixed with that of bacon cooking.  It was great fun and the eats were quite tasty.  Thanks Sandy, for inviting me into your home and being such a wonderful host!

That night, Paige and I drove back to the city and celebrated our final Christmas by opening our presents to each other.  It was wonderful and each of us got surprised more than once.  To cap off the weekend, we made the short trek up to Lincoln Park Zoo for the annual Zoo Lights Festival. Its been a couple of years since I last went to the festival and I absolutely loved it, even more than I remembered.  They have about 80% of the zoo open and filled with lights.  They have music playing and live bands throughout.  One of the coolest things this year was the synchronized lights which followed the music they were playing - hard to describe but really quite entertaining.

We set out this year to have a full holiday experience and I would say we accomplished that.  Thank you Paige, for helping bring Christmas to life.

This past weekend, my uncle Steve brought my grandparents into Chicago for a visit and it was a chair-bustin’ good time!  I had Monday off so we decided they would come in on Sunday afternoon and stay for the night.  Paige and I got up early and put together a stew in the crockpot - our first experiment with a slow cooker.  We walked over to the Doubletree to check them into their room and on the way back, we bumped into our neighbor Kalina.  We told her what we were up to and she mentioned that she had parking passes that she bought for a discounted rate and offered us one for my grandparents - what a good neighbor.  We did end up paying her what they cost her but it was half of what we would have had to pay otherwise, thanks Kalina!

Grandma Giving That Treadmill A Workout

They rolled into town and we got them up to the apartment, which they hadn’t seen before and gave them the “full” tour.  Dinner turned out great and Paige fixed some biscuits which were a nice touch.  We finished with brownie al a mode thanks to Paige’s baking prowess.  Then we watched a movie called Holiday Inn, it was perfect for the night.  By that time, everyone was getting tired (as evidenced by the snoring coming from the couch, I won’t name names).  We walked my grandparents back to the hotel and got them situated, Steve stayed with us.

Paige had to work Monday morning, so we got up and sent her off.  After some lounging around, Steve and I walked over to pick up G&G for a little breakfast.  Back at the apartment, we had a combination of cereal, bagels and smoothies - delicious!  Then grandpa held down the fort while grandma, Steve and I went to the gym.  We all got on the treadmill, side-by-side, it was awesome!  Grandma split her time between there and the bike and when Steve and I were done, we played a little ping pong.  Not one to miss out on the fun, grandma grabbed a paddle for a little action too.

After a quick shower, we were off to get lunch.  We ate at the new Whole Foods where we were completely overwhelmed with all the options.  Then we made a quick stop at REI.  They dropped me off at home and then headed back to Iowa.  What a fun visit, thanks Dunmores for making the trip!

Me And Paige With Our Mugs

A few months ago, I was looking for a race that would serve as my last long run before Javelina Jundred on October 31; I came across Glacial Trail 50 Mile - it was three weeks out and close to home, perfect!  Paige decided that she wanted in on the action and signed up for the 50k race.  We got a cheap hotel room in Sheboygan and it was set, we were going to Wisconsin.

Paige and I headed north on Friday after work.  We met up with my dad and Andrea for a Brooks Williams concert and then hung out at their place until mid-afternoon on Saturday.  It was a relaxing morning of cup after cup of Andrea’s delicious coffee, followed by meeting my niece Madeline for the first time, and hanging out.  Casey is getting married next weekend so she, her friend and Andrea were putting together some treat bags for the tables - Paige did a little taste testing but I refrained, somehow.  It was fun to see everyone and Madeline was great but eventually we got on the road and headed for Greenbush.

The drive over was very relaxing.  It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and we made leisurely stops along the way for lunch and coffee.  We made it to the hotel and checked in, then we got our things together for the morning.  The forecasted temperature for the start was 30 degrees, warming to 45 through the day.  That’s not a bad temperature but its about 15 degrees colder than anything I’ve run in for nearly 8 months so I couldn’t quite remember what it felt like and thus how much clothing I would need.  I quickly decided that I was wearing shorts regardless but then the decision making process slowed.  We recently got our new CHUG shirts and I wanted to wear one in the worst way, but they are short sleeve and I was having a hard time putting together a combination that would be appropriate for the temperature.  Paige laughed at me as I struggled with one of life’s tough decisions.  Eventually, I cut loose the idea of wearing the CHUG shirt and went with the right choice all along.  Next, we went to find some grub.  The hotel recommended a place called Nino’s Steak & Seafood, I wouldn’t.  It was the worst steak I’ve ever had, on the upside, they had one of my favorite beers, Spotted Cow.  I vowed to Paige that we would get a good steak soon to erase the unfortunate experience.

We got to bed around 10:30PM with a 3:45AM alarm set, morning came all too soon.  We suited up and headed for the race start at the fire station/community hall in Greenbush, WI.  The air was cool but didn’t feel all that bad.  When we got to the start, it was a buzz with hearty looking folks.  I immediately saw Sylvan.  Sylvan is from Iowa City and one of the first ultrarunners I ever met.  I had seen his name on the list of registered runners and was looking forward to saying hello.  We checked in, talked to a few others and readied ourselves for the day ahead.

At 6AM, I was off.  Paige’s race started at 7AM so she had a little time to kill.  It was dark and the trail was tough.  The leaves had started to change colors and fall to the ground which covered up the trail including the obstacles and there were plenty of obstacles.  I had nearly left my headlamp at home thinking I could piggy back on someone else’s light for the hour that we would be running in the dark but boy was I glad I had grabbed it at the last minute.  I ran with Dominic for the first couple of miles and then lost him somewhere in the dark.  The first aid station was at 7 miles and came up fast.  I had been so focused on trying to keep my feet out of trouble that I hadn’t even taken a sip from my water bottles, so I blew through the aid station and took a drink from my handhelds.  Cool temps can lull you into a thinking you need to drink less, I was going to need to pay attention to make sure I drank enough.  The next 6+ miles went by fairly quickly and I rolled into the Butler Lake AS (mile 13.3) feeling pretty good.  I quickly filled my bottles and headed out.

The course was a steady supply of hills and single track trail.  The sun was up now and it revealed the beauty of the area we were running through.  The trees were brightly colored and the views from the tops of the hills were awesome.  I started to feel a bit rough, not horrible but just a little off.  I lost sight of the two guys in front of me and by the time I got to the next AS at mile 20.5, I got passed by two more.  It was too early to worry about time or place but it still didn’t feel good.  I ran with a guy named Brian on-and-off until we got to the turnaround point.  The day had warmed up some but the wind was beginning to pickup so it still felt cool.  As I left the AS at 4 hours and 29 minutes into the race, I felt good and decided to push it a little.  I quickly passed the two guys I’d been running with early and then the racing juices started flowing.  My previous “whisper goal” was to finish in 10 hours or less which I thought was reasonable considering the tough course (10,555 ft of elevation gain and tricky footing) but now my sights were shifting.  I decided I wanted to improve my personal best of 9:05:58 set at Ice Age 50 Trail Run back in May.  To do this, I was going to have to stay focused and not linger at the aid stations.  I slowly reeled in runners who were feeling the effects of the late stages of the race.  Other than my ankles, I was feeling pretty good.  I had twisted both of my ankles more than once and it was taking its toll on not just my ankles but all the small muscles/tendons in the lower leg.  I moved quickly through the aid stations, stopping just long enough to fill my water bottles.  Based on the times I was hitting the aid stations, I could tell it was going to be close if I was going to finish ahead of my goal time.

I ran nearly the entire return trip by myself crossing other runners only at the sparsely placed aid stations.  When I hit the last AS, the guy who was taking our race numbers announced that I was in seventh place.  Even though it was a small race (39 runners), it felt kind of fun to be in the single digits.  It probably wouldn’t have felt as good except that I felt I was having a good race which made it seem a little more legitimate.  With seven miles to go, I was confident I was going to finish beating my new time goal.  What I had forgotten was how tough the next section was.  The whole trail was littered with softball-sized rocks and tree roots - not unlike most of the day but for some reason, I remembered it differently from the morning.  I twisted each ankle one more time before hitting the pavement of town.  The last half mile through town was fast.  As I crossed the finish line in just under 9:04, I felt quite happy about the day.  I had run nearly even splits for each halves of the race.

Glacial Trail 50 Race Swag

The race director, Robert, walked over and congratulated me on the finish and gave me my finisher’s medal.  He also had mugs for the first ten finishers so he gave me my seventh place finisher’s mug - it was totally awesome!  He told me Paige had finished 5th in her race (BAM!) and that she was inside the firestation; she wasn’t expecting me to finish so soon and looked completely shocked to see me.  It was good to see her and hear about her race (she set a PR by over 45 minutes!!).

I got some food and then changed into dry clothes as we waited for some of our friends to show up.  Senator Brett had a whole clan there to cheer him on and he was not about to disappoint them.  Soon enough, he came striding down the road to finish his first 50 miler in style.  The next person we were expecting was Dominic, I’d seen him shortly after the turnaround and he had looked good.  Brett mentioned seeing him later on and that he wasn’t feeling too great at that point.  We checked with race officials and they reassured us that he had left the last AS in plenty of time to make the cutoff.  It wasn’t long before he joined us at the finish line.

Glacial Trail is a small “old-school” event and I loved it.  The race director was awesome and was clearly passionate about his race.  His passion could be seen in the little touches - a great sweatshirt, the finisher medals, and the cool handmade mugs.  It was a fun weekend and this is definitely a race that will be on my radar come next fall.  A huge congrats to Paige on an awesome race and PR!

Our Very Cool Mugs!

Last night, Paige and I met up with my dad and Andrea for a Brooks Williams concert and it was AWESOME!  The venue was Cafe Carpe which is a cozy little place that makes you feel right at home as soon as you walk in the door.  Paige loved the mismatched furniture and random artwork which reminded her of Portland, Maine - probably her least favorite place on the planet (joking, of course).  We got there a few minutes after the opening act, Ann Hills, got started and promptly ordered a couple of Spotted Cow beers which they offer on tap.  Ann was a lot of fun and great in her own right but when Brooks got started, that’s when the concert really got going.  Both my dad and brother had mentioned how much they like him but I had never heard his music before - I was absolutely loved it!  Normally, it takes me hearing music a few times before I really get into it but this was instantaneous!  We were all rocking out!  If you haven’t had the chance to hear him, below is a link to a YouTube video, it is definitely worth taking a listen.

Jay And Matthew In Millennium Park

It has been a busy summer with lots of social plans, all of which have been loads of fun and last week was no exception.  I got a call a couple of weeks ago from my friend Jay.  I met Jay through my uncle Steve, they played college tennis together and he was going to be in town on Thursday.  We worked out the plan to meet up for dinner at the Gage, a restaurant designed by one of Jay’s clients - double cool.  Jay’s oldest son, Matthew, joined him for the trip to see the Cubs, he’s grown into a fine young man.  After a delicious dinner, we headed over to Millennium Park to walk around a bit.  It was a gorgeous night and, as usual, the park was filled with people and a festive spirit.  Kids were playing in the fountain, people were playing frisbee, and “the Bean” was swarmed with people - it felt great to be there.  It was good to see you fellas!

On Friday, my brother and his family rolled into town for a long weekend visit.  On Saturday, my dad and Andrea drove my grandparents in and we had a little family get together.  I had a tough run on Saturday and it took me a little longer to finish and way longer to recover afterwards so I was a little late getting to the party but Paige and I caught up with the group at Edwardo’s pizza for dinner.  The food was delicious but the service, well, that was another thing all together.  Fortunately, we had Willem to entertain us.  After dinner, Paige and I went over to pick up tickets for the bicycle film festival which was in town and happening at Columbia College just a few blocks away.  Matt, dad and Andrea joined for the movies.  I’ve been to the festival many times before and always had a blast but this year, the “energy” of the evening was a bit different and I didn’t really enjoy it.  The films were pretty good but the vibe didn’t feel so good.

Sunday morning, we had a loose plan to meet for brunch.  It took a little while and an amended plan or two before we actually sat down at the Lockwood in the Palmer House but it was worth the wait.  The food was great and the service was at least 8 million times better than the night before, that might be a little exaggerated but not much.  After brunch, Paige, Matt and I headed over to over to check out the view from the Sears Tower (I know they are trying to rename it but I refuse to accept it, it will always be the Sears Tower to me).

Paige On The Ledge

The thing about visiting touristy areas is that you have to be prepared to wait in unthinkable lines for what invariably is not worth the wait.  We get in line, which is actually just the first of five separate lines all leading us to the top.  We are told that for twice the price, we can skip one of the lines - tempting but we opt against it.  One fun thing was the people watching, it takes all types.  By the time we finally get the right to pay our $15 and enter our final (or so we think) line to get to the top, it has been well over an hour.  We do finally make it to the top and it was pretty amazing despite the haze in the sky.  We could see the airshow going on over the lakefront and quickly identified all the familiar buildings around town.  We also checked out the The Ledge which is a glass box that hangs out suspended from the building - standing in it was an odd but awesome feeling.  We get in our final line and then head back down to ground level.

Grandma And Grandpa With Willem

After a little more time hanging out at the hotel, Paige and I head home for a little downtime before the weekend comes to a close.  My brother mentioned having thai food for dinner and soon enough we get a confirmation text that provides the time and location, we can’t refuse.  We walk over to meet Matt, Erin, Sarah, John, Avaleen (I hope I spelled that correctly) and Willem at the Star of Siam - yum, thanks for the invite!

It was a good week and it was fun to see everyone!

Paige and I left Chicago on Friday under sunny skies, by the time we got to the western suburbs, it started to sprinkle.  Soon it was raining and my grandma called to let us know that some heavy storms were coming our direction.  We took this as normal grandma worrying and kept our westwardly travel plans.  Before 10 minutes had passed we were in the middle of the worst thunderstorm I’ve seen in years!  It was raining so hard that the highway was flooded and cars were pulling off the road.  The rain was now coming down sideways because the winds were so strong.  We called my dad to do a weather check - he said there were tornado warnings but nothing conclusive.  We decided to continue on and soon, it passed and we were back to more modest rain.  Even though we made it through unscathed, it definitely slowed our progress.

Heading Out For A Long Run

We rolled into town around 10:15 PM and spent a little time with mom and Kev before calling it quits for the night.  Saturday morning was a leisurely one with coffee and chatting before heading out for a long run.

At Eagle Point park

Paige was brave enough to ride along with me so I gave her a tour of my childhood stomping grounds.  She got to see where I first went to kindergarten, where I flipped over my handlebars, the woods where I used to build forts, where I used to go sledding, and every other “landmark” I could think of… 30 miles covers a lot of landmarks.  The run felt amazingly long and I didn’t feel all that great but I was glad to push through and finish.  When we got back to my mom’s house, they were waiting with tacos - yum!  I had quite few, man were they good!  Then, finished lunch with a bowl of homemade maple nut ice cream - double yum!

After lunch, we were off to grandma’s house.  We met Jim, Brenda, and Danny for dinner at Vitale’s for some of the world’s best pizza.  After dinner, we hung out with the grandparents for a while before departing back to Chicago - this time with much better traveling weather.  We were both tired and working to keep each other awake but we did eventually make it back home and promptly went to bed.

With no alarm set, it was nearly 11:00 before I woke up.  A lazy morning put me behind for the day but the rest was much needed and greatly appreciated.  I left for my run in 80+ degrees but it actually felt pretty good.  I ran 10 miles with several laps around the 2nd annual Chicago Criterium.  The race was awesome and the run was good too.  Eventually, I headed back home and cleaned up before heading to see The Ugly Truth which is a pretty decent movie and was good for a few laughs.  After a little grocery shopping and dinner, the weekend has come to an end.

Its been a rough couple of weeks at work but as of tonight, I am officially off for the next 5 days and excited to be heading to Vermont!  Paige and I leave early tomorrow for the east coast and I feel more than ecstatic!  I finished my packing last night (that’s never been done before) and tonight was a very relaxing evening despite having a hard time unwinding after work.  We fly into Burlington and stay there for a day, then we’re off to Windsor, VT for the race.  They have had a ton of rain over the past month so the trails will likely be quite muddy (one of us is looking forward to that and it isn’t me).  We have also heard that it could be unseasonably cool - good running weather.  Best of luck to you Paige, I hope that your first 100 mile experience is as wonderful as mine.  And, I hope I can be half the support crew that Andrea, my dad, Torey and Gary were for me.

Another bit of “fun” is that I got approval on some upcoming time off including time off to: 1) go with Gary to Utah to help pace him through Wasatch 100 in September and then stick around to see the Utah gang for a few days, 2) go to Phoenix in October to run Javelina Jundred with Brian (and Paige and Kelly), and 3) go to California in November to see Rob, Rina, Ben, Wyn, Tom, uncle Steve, …. anyone else want to come???  Having these items on the calendar definitely helps the mood.

Off to bed for a few hours of sleep.

Me and Paige with Mr. and Mrs. America

What a fun weekend!  Friday, the Moffetts had their “annual” July 4th party and this year it was at their new condo which was awesome!  They also threw in the twist of having it be a “show your American pride” costume party.  So, always looking for an opportunity to wear my boots, I hatched the idea to go in a red, white and blue cowboy outfit.  After all, what is more American than the West and what says West more than cowboys?!  Lucky for me, Paige was on board with the idea.  After a trip to Old Navy, our “costumes” were complete - simple items that we could use practically as well.  The Moffetts are gracious hosts and never request anyone to bring anything to their gatherings but we decided to stop and pick up a couple of small things so as to not show up empty handed.  In the spirit of the theme, we picked up some PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) at the store, one of my favorites!  Paige was skeptical but she came around pretty quick.

Taking Lower Wacker (a.k.a. Lower 5th for those fans of the latest Batman movie), we made good time right up until we got to Polk and Financial and then it was slow as molasses.  We did eventually make it and Moffett was estatic that we actually dressed up since they were the only other ones in costume.  He was dressed as the most patriotic Uncle Sam I’ve ever seen complete with a white goatie.  Chelsea made a very cute Statue of Liberty.  Their new place was awesome and the perfect space for a fireworks extraveganza.  From the rooftop of their building, we overlooked Soldier Field, Shedd Aquarium, the Planitarium, and the Monroe Harbor which is where the fireworks display was taking place.  It was a just a tad cool for July but otherwise a gorgeous night.  The fireworks started right on schedule (maybe even a few minutes early).  After the show, we headed back downstairs for more snacks.  It was a good group and a lot of fun.  Thanks for having us over Moffetts, already looking forward to next year!

Danny, The Birthday Boy!

Saturday, I was off to Clinton to see my family.  My uncle Steve was visiting and it was my cousin Danny’s birthday.  The afternoon was rainy and we lounged around grandma and grandpa’s house wondering if the rain would interfere with the fireworks scheduled for tonight, time would tell.  First, we had a birthday to celebrate!  Danny was nine and it was only fitting that we would celebrate at Happy Joe’s, home of the Taco Pizza.  I had been lobbying all day for this venue and eventually convinced everyone.  We played games and Danny won an unthinkable number of “tickets” which he cashed in for a frisbee and other goodies.  Our waiter also sang him happy birthday and had the light and sirens going - he was quite the showman.  The party was a success and I had more than my fill of pizza - yum!  Back at the house, we had ice cream and birthday cake which the birthday boy had baked himself, nice job Danny, it was delicious!

Grandpa Dominating Skee Ball

As the afternoon wore on, the skies cleared and we were on for fireworks!  Last year, we went to the public fireworks display down near the river.  The show got started an hour and a half late and then was a bit of a disappointment to boot.  So… this year, my uncle Jim took matters into his own hands.  He bought a huge supply of fireworks and we lit them off from their house; I couldn’t believe how great they were!  Jim was in charge of the order and my cousin Nathan was in charge of getting them lit.   As for the rest of us, all we had to do was watch.  I am happy to report that no one lost any fingers and no one got an eye put out.  Danny was a little distracted by the sparklers and snaps and I can totally understand why.  As a little boy, I had played with snaps many times but these were like snaps on steriods, they were so loud that when I left for the night, my ears were ringing.  It was fun to see everyone, happy birthday Danny!

Sunday morning, I did a long run through Clinton; I had a nice run on a warm morning.  When I returned to my grandparents, everyone was up and Steve was readying himself to return back to California.  After saying our good-byes, I was off to mom and Kevin’s for lunch.  Their garden was already starting to produce yummy, well, produce so Kevin had prepared a stir-fry with snow peas they had grown.  Somehow, things always taste better when they are “home grown.”  For desert, it was homemade blueberry ice cream.  Man, that stuff was unbelievably good; thank you for such a delicious lunch!  My visit was far too short but it always feels good to connect with the family.

My final stop of the weekend was in Batavia to pick up Paige and I got to meet her mom.  Ms. Lowry, you are a hoot!