Marco's Race

It has been a little bit of a while since I've posted anything about running, but I have kept it as part of the routine. I still get out and cover a few miles a few days each week and the fall weather has been very invigorating. I will hate to see it end. We had our first taste of things to come the other day when I was greeted with a mixture of big fluffy white snowflakes and drizzly rain. We did get about an inch of accumulation. Today was a bit of a repeat as I took part in

MARCO’S RACE TO CURE HEMOPHILIA
It was a nice little 5k (3miler) which took place just down the road in Bangor, PA. The weather might have been better with snow turning to rain and weighing down my sweat jacket. I think I finished the race 10 pounds heavier, but it was a fun run through and through and for a good cause too.

My Little Abstract Expressionist Artists

I really don't know my art history that well, so the label Abstract Expressionism is probably inaccurate, but this post showcases the photographic artwork of young Aidan and the crayol work of younger Ryan. Featured here, are my little Picasso's two periods. Oh wait I guess for Aidan it may be his early three period, but close enough.

Recently while driving through Princeton we decided to park the van, go for a walk and check out the lovely town and campus. We strolled the grounds and took the opportunity to get some pictures of the boys here and there among the sculptures and pathways of the beautiful campus.

At one point Aidan requested the camera and before you could say "What in Jackson Pollock" are you doing over there he was off photographing everything from a 2 year old, um I mean early 3 year old perspective.
Here is a little montage of just a few of the works from his canon as i am sure they will someday prove ground breaking and most influential.

The followimg are my particular favorites with a water theme along with a portrait of the artist as a young man.

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Here's the younger Ryan's portrait of an artist as a young man hard at work at his craft.

Thankfully he has evolved beyond his wall phase and is expressing himself on paper.

Holidays In The Sun

It's been awhile since I've checked in here and the Summer Sun has flown by.

We've been busy but in a fun way! This has been the beach goingest Summer I can remember with multiple trips to the lake, to the splash park and the ocean. I can tell you right now this post is going to be a big mess as I've been struggling with trying to post some pictures from all of our running around.

I'll start with some Promised Land State Park P.A.

Our trips here usually begin with a 7 mile bike ride around the lake loop road and then cooling off at the beach.

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We also had many trips to Seaside Heights N.J. with Grandma Keller.

Trips to Grandmas' always include fun at the beach and the boardwalk!

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There were many, many trips to our community Splash' Park but surprisingly few pictures.

It's just a few blocks from home and a perfect place to give mommy a break and let the boys use up some of their boundless energy.

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And last but not least, our awsome week with Grandma and Grampa in the Outer Banks of North Carolina!

Here the boys did everything from relaxing by the waves with grandpa, swimming in the pool with grandma, climbing lighthouses, running on the beach and crab hunting with their mom and dad just to name a few things.

The summer is just t00 short! but its not over yet. Hopefully we will have a few more beach trips ahead!

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Oh yeah! one more thing, Somebody else had a birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday Aidan!

Sunny Day! Everythings AOK!

I think I told ya how we got, how we got to Sesame Place. Yeah! your catching on, you are supposed to sing that line! I do think however that I gave undo credit to Garmin in my last post for getting us to Sesame Place. Cari-anne deserves the kudos for organizing this special day. She had been keen on taking the boys there, and for months had been visiting their website, promoting the idea of the trip. I was like, ok, sounds good, whenever. Once she shared her idea with Caitlin they sprang into action, picked the day and I was swept along for the ride. I remember Sesame street as a kid, but since I was about 6 years old when it hit the air, I don't think I got hooked quite the same way kids born after 1970 did. My most vivid memories of the show involve the song for the number of the day. This always ended with the baker guy falling down the steps with that particular days number of coconut custard cream pies or some other cakes. Of course the higher the number the bigger the mess and, em, the more educational.

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Here's a link to the song of 5 if you are interested!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=2BRDQzfi234&pop_ads=null

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I also have a bit of a warm spot for the old school main characters. You know, Big Bird, Oscar, Bert and Ernie just to name a few. Through osmosis I was vaguely aware of the little red guy from some time in the 90's? when the "Tickle Me Elmo Doll" was all the rage. At that time it never occurred to me he would be such a celebrity in my house someday. And a celebrity he is! Sometimes its seems like round the clock Elmo! with Elmo Potty Time, and Elmo Green, and Elmo Outdoors. Elmo! Elmo! Elmo! I have to admit I happen to like Elmopaloza episode myself. It was pretty exciting to actually meet him in person and he was just as friendly as he is on TV. It was exciting to meet Bort n Owney (as pronounced by Aidan) too.
Just seconds after I snapped this shot Ernie gave Jared a huge High Five that the camera didn't catch. Darn! It wasn't all hobb-knobbing with fuzzy stars though. There were rides, splash pools, giant bed bounces and the dreaded three story Nets and Climbs. From a distance this looked like the most exciting place to be. I couldn't wait to get into it myself, but when you introduce dozens of other little kids, and your own kids disappear down long ropey tunnels, the midafternoon nightmare begins. Just imagine chasing a twoddler who slips easily through a narrow rope tunnel past 13 kids that are coming your way. On top of that you are like 40 feet up in the air. It took Jared and I forever to track them down crawling this way and that without and exit in sight. Of course the whole thing ended in tears with Cari-anne consoling me and her little brother, promising that we never had to enter that maze again if we didn't want to. The boys took the whole think in stride and drifted peacefully off to their afternoon nap, and Yes, Ryan is sound a sleep sipping on his apple juice. Shhh! they may wake up and want to go back into that net thing.

Quietly now, you can sing this next line too.

If you want to find your way around, here's a map of Sesame Place.

http://www.sesameplace.com/sesame2/park-info.aspx?id=interactive-park-map

Can You Tell Me How To Get To...

During our trip to California last fall, Jared and Caitlin introduced us to their GPS which they affectionately call Norma. Cari-anne was quickly enamored with this device as well and Norma became our chief navigator during our vacation. Things weren't quiet as rosy between Norma and I as she continually barked out orders for me to switch lanes, turn here, turn there, and turn around. This little box was driving me crazy! The running joke was that Norma hated me and had I not been out numbered by Norma lovers she might have found herself recalculating in pieces along some stretch of California freeway. Well things may have cooled a bit between Norma and I, but when Cari-anne began pitching the idea of getting a GPS I still wasn't to keen on inviting our own tiny box with a smug British accent into our car to start ordering me around. I resisted for a long time but finally gave in and Garmin (we haven't given him/her/it a name) moved into our automobile. We tried a variety of voices from Australian to Cantonese and settled on the American gal, so I guess that makes Garmin a she. Most of the time I ignore her and drive the ways I always have. After all I fancy myself a pretty good navigator and have found all of my short cuts and ways around using my own internal compass. We don't need to go into how much fossil fuel I may have wasted over the years finding all of these alternate routes. I suppose just out of politeness I have taken Garmin's advice here or there. She does have a much more pleasant speaking voice than Norma, and I have to admit that I have been surprised a time or two on the time saving short cuts she has suggested. Today I even took Garmin out for a Jog. Cari-anne switched the icon from a car to a pair of jogging shoes and Garmin and I ran my 2 mile loop together. For half of the loop she was telling me to turn around and go back. For the second half she told me to proceed along my well worn route. Yeah, this was telling me stuff I already knew but it was pretty cool to see how fast I was running, and she has a little clock, and who doesn’t like a map. The turning point may have been when Garmin answered that age old question that people have been singing about for 30 years or more. “She told us how to get, how to get to Sesame Street.” Ok I suppose you can't hear it but you were supposed to sing that last sentence. Come on you know the song “Sunny days chasing the clouds away.” Doesn’t everybody have these songs going through their heads all of the time? Well Garmin directed us right to the parking lot of Sesame Place which I'll be sure to post about next time. It was a great day with the kids. Jared and Caitlin also met us there. I was very careful that we did not park close together to avoid Norma's bad influence on Garmin. I suppose I might sit down and figure out what other bells and whistles she has after all. Hey, this doesn't make me a late adopter of technology, does it?

The Belmar Five

The Belmar Five took place this past weekend on Saturday July 11. It's a nice flat five mile race at the New Jersey Shore. There's a shot with me right in the middle of the pack at some point along the route. I've been out running a few days a week lately but by the finish of this one I realized that I may not be doing it enough. The days after found me pretty sore. It was a fun race on a beautiful morning and summer days at the Jersey shore are the best! One of the greatest things about these organized races is the turn out of people to support the runners along the route. People with signs and noise makers cheering everyone on gives the whole event a festive atmosphere not to mention a little pep in your step. There were boom boxes and stereo's playing music all along the way. Yes! You can be sure that the Boss and Born to Run were heard on many of those sound systems. There were also people with garden hoses offering any runner who was interested a shower as they ran by. At one of the watering stations a little boy politely asked me if he could splash me with a cup of water. It was impossible to say no to such a well mannered kid and I said Sure! The next thing I heard was oohh! me too! Me Too! from all of the other kids and was soon soaked. My goal was to finish under an hour and I met that with about 7 minutes to spare. Jared also joined me on this run and here are shots of each of us crossing the finish line. Unknown to us at the time, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was in the race as well. Here is a picture of him responding to questions from reporters about how he felt about coming in behind me in the race. Rather than comment he handed them a Corzine 09 flyer. No that's not true! Had he actually been asked this, he would have not been incorrect to mention that I was only about 50 seconds ahead of him and that I didn't stop to shake any hands along the route. Not to mention our age difference which really isn't as great as I might like it to be and the fact that he has a bum knee due to his much publicized car accident a few years ago.

He also has an entire state to manage where let's face it, my responsibilities are on a bit of a smaller scale.

Here's to all the runners in the Belmar Five!

April, May, June Showers bring July Showers?

Wow! It really has been one of the wetest Springs, beginning of Summers, I can remember. For weeks it has seemed like it rained non-stop! Lately however, we seem to have settled into the Big, Big, Big Downpour every other day or so, and even that has tapered off. The boys, No, make that all of us, love the big lightning shows and loud rumbles of thunder! We kinda look forward to these displays of nature at it's loudest and flashiest. We are also seeing the positive effects on all vegetation. I almost feel like we live in a tropical rainforest. Another benefit is that we have only had to turn the air conditioner on once! Out for a jog this afternoon the temperature was a mild 71 degrees. In past years we had the AC going full force since early May to keep the house cool. I should zip it now, lest I jinx myself. I'll find some wood to knock on since I don't want to bring on the hot, hot, hot weather. We have had some beautiful days in the mix. On the weekend of June 27 we put our yard on the map and participated in the Great American Backyard Campout.

http://www.nwf.org/BackyardCampout/about.cfm

We pitched our tent for the boys first out of doors overnight camping experience. They were all about staying up as late as they could, watching and pointing out every lightning bug and gleefully screaming along with every cricket and bird chirping in the woods. With home just a few steps away, this was our test to see how they may handle some further away from home outings. Eventually they did fall asleep and I'd say they are seasoned and ready to camp and hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Cari-anne agrees scaling my plans back just a little bit to simply visiting a local campground for the night. For Christmas the boys had gotten me a Wee-Ride to attach to my bicycle. Yes! They researched the online, read all of the reviews and technical aspects and when they finally found the right product, at the right price, convinced their mom to submit the order. I think they worked as Elves at the mall for a few weeks to pay for it. At least that is the story I got. Well they couldn't have picked a better gift. The box did sit in the garage unopened for 6 months, but once a sunny warmer day arrived, the day after camping actually, I broke out my gift, put it on my bike and was off taking turns with the boys touring on 2 wheels. It really is an awesome device / seat that attaches between my seat and the handle bars where a boy sits comfortably pointing and

speaking directions on where he would like to ride to. Seeing how much they enjoyed themselves made me realize they are actually quite sneaky getting a gift that allows them to be chauffeured around the neighborhood. Aidan repeatedly requests "Daddy go by the ungumbellas" which is short for can we please ride past the splash park with the many colorful umbrellas that around it. We rode by here at least nine times and he still didn't want to stop. This was such a hit that it was not long before we went out and bought a 2nd WeeRide to attach to Cari-anne's bike. Now we can all ride past the ungumbellas together. We've taken senic rides down by the Deleware River as well. My poor bike had been suffering from lack of attention as of late but I do believe this problem has been remedied. It's hard to believe but Ryan's 2nd birthday arrived and our baby boy is growing fast. He even blew out all of his candles by himself! and while keeping in step with a tradition that will range far, far, far into the future we caught a shot of Ryan as he passed the mile 2 mark on his journey.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Now I did just catch myself after the 3rd time repeating words in triplicate. I know the boys pick up a lot of our speech and mannerisms and this is an instance where I've picked up one of theirs. They usually talk about being able to do things when they are Bigger, Bigger, Bigger (which is happening way to quick if you ask me) Now I've fallen into emphasising things in their speak. In future post I'll try, try, try to limit myself to the use of an adjective one time for each sentence. Anyway, We also Celebrated the 4th of July with all of the fanfare and fireworks. The boys talked about it all day before and then for days afterward. It was a blast! Summer is the best! ooops! What about running? Well there has been a little of it in between all the other stuff, but probably not nearly enough! I do feel a bit guilty about that, but haven't you heard about all this rain we have been having!

May-hem, Mammoths & Moxie, Mixed with Maine Mooses, oh and a day in Canada too.

Ok, so there was no mayhem, no more than usual at least. I just wanted to see how many mmmm's I could stick in the title of this post to wrap up the Merry Month of May. There was a Mammoth! Or as the boys would call it, an Elf-phant. The boys, Grandma and my Sister all got their first ever ride. Scott was a vetran elephant driver. Janis and Scott can be thanked for the Packaderms, Clowns, Trapeezers and all that comes with the three rings since they treated all of us to a day at the circus. It's hard to say what the boys were most interested in. Inspite of all of the amazing action, I often caught them staring more intently at the vendors hawking shiny toys and glow sticks. My mom was giggling like crazy at the dancing bears. Cari-anne favored the monkeys because I guess she doesn't get enough of little ones running and climing over everything at home. Personally I think the human cannonnball was the coolest. For most part during May there was the usual, yardwork, housework, work, squeezing my jogs in here and there, and then toward the end, Vacation! That's where the mooses came in. Actually it's just moose, no matter how many you are talking about and we did talk about this a lot. All of the tourist did, speculating on whether it is Mooses or Meeses or Meese or ... The locals would all confirm its Moose, just Moose. Local was Jackman, Maine where Cari-anne, the kids and I, along with Jared and Caitlin, spent the last week of May in a very comfortable cabin. It was kind of obvious we weren't from around there as our enthusiasm to see one of these Moose creatures resembled a hunt for Sasquatch. Our carload may have seemed as silly to the local population, as I imagine seeing a car load of people stoping to look at a deer might look in my neighborhood. Then again aren't I a snob. You might not see deer every day where your from, and if I really have to admit it, it is nice to see some dear once and a while! I don't know if I would take a Deer Cruise though. Call it a Moose Cruise and sign me up. Thank goodness for the blankets and Thank goodness we had Jared and Caitlin with us to help keep the boys on the boat. Well, our guide didn't really guarantee that we'd spot any moose in the wild, and aside from a very sceanic and very chilly ride, we came up mooseless. So Moose Cruise / Deer Cruise, call it what you may, it was a fun voyage all the same. Then on the way back to the cabin this guy was standing right in the middle of the road. Ultimately we spotted eight moose on the trip. Not to bad considering I've been to Maine about twenty times and never spotted one before. We also took a day trip to Quebec. It was about a two hour drive to Quebec City. Ryan was very polite to the customes agent and upon crossing the border the boys began their first international journey. I've been to many places in Canada on my travels but this was my first visit to primarily French speaking Quebec. I've become accustom to trying to figure out kilometers but it was a little surprising to encounter such a language barrier just over the U.S. border. I figured out that I already knew Bon Jour and Merci and since all the street signs had Rue on them this may mean street. After that I was lost. Our recent college grad Caitlin handled the bulk of our translations and Jared offered his assistance by speaking in a somewhat convincing British accent. Cari-anne and I did the best we could and luckily everyone we met did there best to speak to us in English. Traveling with small children invites all sorts of conversation and several times a kind hearted Québécoise would rattle off some conversation with Aidan & Ryan. The boys would smile and nod, seemingly understanding all that was said to them. I adopted this tact and it seemed to work well for me too. It was a very nice day trip and we were greeted by two of our eight moose just as we returned to the U.S.A.

So what is Moxie? Is it as soft drink? Is it a waterfall? Your are right if you said yes to either or both. If you want to learn more about the soda and all things moxie, go to: http://www.moxie.info/

Moxie the Falls is one of the highest waterfalls in Maine. The main drop is over 90 feet and the trail leading from the parking area is a plesant and beautiful walk. Cari-anne particularly like the stump steps through the muddy parts. At the falls Jared and I debated the best ways to attempt to scale up and down the falls from the comfortable and secure observation deck. I can't quite remember if he was breaking out his British accent to emphasize his climbing trajectory or not.

So as to not leave running out entirely, I did get out twice. It was a very busy week afterall. Jared and I ran a few miles (a loop) down around the muddiest and hilliest snowmobile trail. He tends to run a bit faster than I do so it was a bit more of a challenge. It was also a challenge to remain standing as each of us nearly wiped out in the mud puddles. My only other outing was a run through downtown Jackman and back. The local sherrif clocked me at a mean five miles per hour. I confirmed with the van that it was 2.6 miles straight out to the B & R Moosemart (my turn around point) making this roughly a five mile trip. So by and large that is the month of May, although there is not enough room to put all of the pictures and fun stuff here. With some vacations you can tell when its time to go home. It was only the calendar demanding our departure this time. So here we are at the beginning of June. Let's see what we can get into this month.

Round and Round vs. There and Back

There's an age old question in my mind when it comes to running or hiking or biking or even driving for that matter. Is it better to go in a big loop or back and forth along the same route? I think I prefer the loop but even that gets tiring and I need to switch it up from time to time. Sometimes it hard to choose but the option of not doing anything is far worse.
Here are my usual running routes. The Red Loop is exactly 2 miles and the Yellow Stretch is 1 mile out and 1 mile back. They both offer plenty of hills and scenery through wooded areas and past lakes to keep my mind off of just running back and forth or in circles. In preparation for the Mount Desert Marathon I would do a combination of both and also incorporate many of the carefully measured offshoot roads and trails to meet whatever my goal was on any given day. There was a big difference there too since I had a goal to reach in October. These days I'm usually only running one or the other of these routes at a time with no big plans. I'm happy to be out and running 2 miles most days and with time constraints what they are, will settle for that for now. On each outing I'll start out down the driveway and up to the end of the block where if I haven’t already made up my mind it’s time to make my decision. Go to the left and do the loop or to the right for the straight out and back. Each track has its pros and cons and I often battle with my lazy side as it makes every mental suggestion to take the day off. Come on Gar! It's only 2 miles! The loop with its steep, steep uphill and then steep downhill often finds my mind looking for ways to convince me to just walk up the slope. I generally avoid this temptation on the way up but need to fight it again when I get down to lake level and start back up the gentle rise toward the house. Haven't I run far enough today already? On the There and Back Stretch I am usually ok until the turn around point. It’s that second part that becomes a battle. Do I really have to run this way all over? Once again It's Only 2 Miles Gar! and its all in my head too. I'm not tired, just lazy or worse, I haven't set a goal. In both instances I have to break out my best Captian Kirk/William Shatner "Must Not Stop!" Wasn't there an episode where he dramatically battled some unseen force? Anyway, lately I have been feeling like I need to set another goal to put a little more purpose in my stride. I started with running to do something positive in remembrance Joshua and that continues to be a big motivation anytime I get out and run. An important benefit is that it keeps me in shape for my family as well. I’ve been resisting the idea but thoughts of another marathon have been creeping back into my consciousness. But like which route to choose i've been having a hard time making a decision. I dread the idea of committing to long runs but that comes with the territory. I do have a couple of short organized runs for charity on my radar for the summer just to keep active. I’m not going to be soliciting donations on these although if anyone is inspired to give to any charity that’s great! Be sure to post a comment too! On that note I’m off on a jog, the loop this time, I think.

Spring Cleaning task No3.

The weather continues to warm up as we move into the month of May. Here in the Northeast we have been getting our dose of April and May showers and the rewards for all of this precipitation, the May flowers and green leaves are evident everywhere you look. With all of this springing out around us it’s hard to remember that we even had a winter at all. Just so I don’t forget about it entirely, I’d like to jump back to perhaps the coldest and the coolest days of the past winter. In February, Cari-anne and I had a very rare opportunity to get away on our own. The boys took their vacation from us at Grandma and Grandpa’s and we split for the weekend. Our escape took us north about 5 hours into the heart of winter and to a little town called Saranac Lake NY. We had caught word of a Winter Carnival and for weeks had been eager to get up there to check it out. Each year since 1898 there has been a celebration to break the monotony of the long cold winter. What started out way back then as a one-day event has grown into a 2 week festival that includes parades, dances, stage productions, concerts, sporting events including a 4 mile fun run which is one of the things that caught my eye to begin with. There was also hatchet throwing and even more interesting the cast iron frying pan toss. You really needed to keep your eyes open because more than once these projectiles went off course and toward the spectators. Each year the carnival is given a theme and 2009's theme was "Pirates Of The Adirondacks." So you can be sure there were plenty of people walking around dressed as pirates. Don’t ask me why with all of the real pirates about we got our picture with a cardboard cut-out of Jack Sparrow but we did. There is a genuine Adirondack pirate there too though. I might as well admit to it now and get it out of the way. Even though I packed my cold weather running gear, I just couldn’t resist sleeping late and skipped the 4 mile fun run event. With my 2 little alarm clocks hours away and having no doubt woken the grandparents much much earlier, I was just opening my eyes at the 9am start time. I can’t remember the last time I slept that late! From there it was out to breakfast and delicious hot hot coffee at a local eatery. I did feel a little guilty seeing the runners jogging through the snow in this winter wonderland and then comming into the resturant for a late breakfast. After this we spent the day exploring the town. The main attraction is of course the Ice Palace. It was just a short walk across the lake from our hotel. The entire castle and other items are made from ice blocks cut out of the lake. If you examine them carefully, every now and then you might see a fish frozen in the walls. I noticed a baby bottle in one block as well. When we arrived the night before It was 2 degrees out! Immediately after checking into our room we where off to see this magical structure. So here are a bunch of pictures starting with the view from our hotel the next day and us standing and shivering at the gates of the palace the night we arrived. How could you not be cold the whole place was made of ice right down to the throne, cannons and adirondack chairs. I love things like this and we spent a frigid long time crawling through passages, wandering through the ice block maze and climing on the pirate ship (also made of ice.) There were just to many cool things about this place and to many pictures to add all of them here. We planned our stay to coicide with the opening ceremony for the Ice Palace and our hotel had one of the best views for the festivities. This included the lighting of the Ice Palace and then a tremendous fireworks display. Yeah! who doesn't enjoy a good fireworks display. So here are a few more shots.

This last photo is pretty much the view from our room. It was cool to see it right out the window throughout the night. When we woke up in the morning we could still see the palace glowing. We had to pack up and hit the road again. A quick stop for some more delicious coffee and then back to home. This is a place I know we will return to with the boys when they get a bit older. Next time I'll be sure to do the run too.

If you would like a little more information about the Winter Carnival, it can be obtained by contacting the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, 39 Main St., Saranac Lake, NY 12983, or at 1-800-347-1992, (518) 891-1990 or http://www.saranaclake.com/