Fantastic Four Things Friday – Week Recap No. 17

22 June, 2012 Alex 0 Comments

I would call this a fun-busy week! Running, time with friends and family, progress on many aspects of life, birthday parties, going to camp … phew! Here are 4 highlighted …

1. Father’s Day
As I have the past 2 years, I spent all day traveling to camp to drop off kids for a few days. This year we had a large group going so we chartered a bus. The kids thought that was quite cool! They chatted with friends and watched Kung Fu Panda 2 … which I think the adults found just as entertaining.

The night before the family presented me with a few presents. One was a coffee mug (I drink a lot of coffee) and inside were 100 little strips of paper. On each paper were reasons that my family loves me … one for each of the miles that I will travel during the Leadville 100 Mile Trail Run. Here are some highlights of those reasons:

– You take care of us each time the smoke detector goes off. (seems to only happen at 2am)
– You’re funny Daddy because “life’s too short to be serious.
– You clean up non-moving animals from our yard.
– You give us hugs when we are sad.
– You make the best pancakes.
– You take the training wheels off our bikes, and then put them back on if we’re not ready.
– You pick up my poop. (from the dog)
– You drive a LOT of miles so we can see Grandma and Granddad.
– You make sure the donut fairy comes for everyone’s birthday.

My wife being the clever teacher she is, put together the story in the photo using candy bars to fill-in some of the words:

2. Introducing someone to trail running
Do I talk a lot about running? My wife unequivocally say yes. Do I pressure anyone into running? No way. If someone accepts an offer to go for a run though, I make sure it happens. Such was the occasion this week when Jim said he would venture out on his first trail run with me. In the photo below he’s the orange dot coming down the mountain. 6.5 miles roundtrip with 2,000 feet of climbing. Hardly a route for a beginner!

I also introduced my dog to trail running. He had been on 5 mile road runs with me, so the climbing and maneuvering was new to him. He gave me some dirty looks at times, but later in the day he told me he wanted to go again.

3. Youngest’s Cat in the Hat birthday party
My wife goes all out when making the cakes and decorations for our kids parties … and they know it! This go round, she made Cat in the Hat themed cupcakes. Chocolate cupcake with frosting, marshmellos, and cotton candy … what’s not to love?

4. Kids to camp
This year my oldest son went to camp for the week and oldest daughter to camp for 3 days. Neither have separation anxiety as they know they’re in for a good time at this camp. The parents know they are in good hands. It is a lot of miles on the van, but driving 7 hours in a day is effective mental training. You get bored staring at the road and feel like you have heard every song on the radion twice. By the end of the trip to camp, I could tell you all the stats needed for the final game of the NBA playoff! Having only 2 kids in the house for a few days was strangely quiet. Much easier to get out the door quickly, find things, and think clearly. After bringing our daughter home from camp, could already see the change … her art projects in every room, blankets, clothes … the list goes on. I think she slept for almost a full day due to all the excitement she had. They will have stories for years about camp and can’t wait to hear them all!