Busy, Busy,Busy!

Our summer break has been off to a busy start (which our lack of blogging has been a testament to!). Here are some pictures to catch you up on what we've been doing.

G-ram did "Preschool Swimming" lessons at the local pool...

G-ram has been doing "Blast Ball" through the local parks and rec department on Saturdays...
And G-ram participated in a "Mini Tennis" clinic...

The boys play outside now that the weather is nice...

And I took the boys to a nearby berry farm to pick fresh strawberries. Yum!

Fun Fun Fun at the Supper Time!

When G-Ram was first learning to eat, we had problems getting him to eat the main course. Chicken, pork, beef - nothing was working. So we incorporated various dips (ranch, ketchup, BBQ sauce, etc.) in to the meal, and I came up with a sing-song rhyme, "Fork. Dip. Mouth." to make it fun. It worked, and so we've incorporated it with CTR as well.

Today, we grilled some marinated chicken, and while eating, H and I simultaneously became aware of a little voice singing "Fork. Dip. Mouth." It wasn't quite clear, but it was clearly the same rhyme. So naturally, I grabbed the camera...

My First 3.1 Miles

So what is significant about 3.1 miles? It equals 5 kilometers. And yesterday, I ran my first 5K race. Ever.

I was inspired by H's brother, who started running about 1.5 years ago and has made amazing progress (he ran the 20K, almost 12.5 miles, in the same race). So I started running. Progress was slow at first, but from that first 14 minute/mile pace I had, I've been steadily improving, both distance and pace.

So early this year, I made up my mind to run some races. The natural place to start is the 5K. Few notes about accomplishing this goal (or really, any goal).

1) Tell people about it - the more people you tell, the more people that will remind you, the more you'll stick to it.

2) Involve someone else - As I told people about it, my friend DG indicated he had some interest, so he trained with me and ran it as well. I'll tell you, if not for him, I wouldn't have trained as well - he pushed me almost every time we ran. And it paid off.

3) Celebrate! - My boss has a saying about this that I can't quite remember, but it has to do with the fact that we are becoming a more and more negative world. So when something good happens, recognize it; vocalize it; appreciate it; celebrate it!

We did point three with the Photographer Family and DG. The Photo Fam hosted an impromptu barbeque last night, which was a great time. Great weather, good food, and time with some special people in our lives. The weather was perfect and we ate, talked, and just sat there simply enjoying a wonderful Iowa spring night.

So the nitty-gritty is that I ran 5 kilometers in 27 minutes, 41 seconds - an 8:55 per mile pace (faster than any of our practice runs). That was good for 300th place out of 746 males (2,021 runners total, I finished 428th overall). I finished 42nd out of 107 runners in the Men's 30-34 age group.

I'm celebrating again tonight with a T-Bone (I haven't had one since the Wednesday before our wedding). Meanwhile, plans have been hatched for another 5K, a 10K (possibly), and a 5-person marathon relay. Never would've guessed it since I hadn't run (or really done a lot of exercise) in the last 15 or so years, but I am really digging it. The side benefit (losing 30 pounds) doesn't hurt either! :)