CrossFit Total

I just wanted to elaborate a little on my FitNess post that's usually hanging out in grey over there on the right. I got 3 new personal records (pr), so I'm celebrating with a post in the big column. (Lame...)
Ran easy 4 miles, with the new jogging stroller. It was definitely an easy ride, but alas, not self-propelled.
CrossFit WOD: "CrossFit Total"
Back squat, 1 rep
Shoulder Press, 1 rep
Deadlift, 1 rep
This is a fun workout because you get to try to max out on each of those lifts. My total was 440. My last CFT was 350 (8/13) and the one before that was 325. What a big difference. I guess it has been two months.
Back Squat-155# (pr); Shoulder Press- 75# (pr); Deadlift- 210# (pr)
Personal records for me all around, but I still felt weak on the shoulder press. I wish could break it down a little more and not have to jump in 5# intervals. I guess that's what the CrossFit gym is for.

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Meadow

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Meadow

I had the privilige of photographing beautiful baby Meadow this morning. In exchange for my small services, Natalie watched (and fed) my boys while I went on a long run. What a lovely day. This girl is seriously pretty, it was easy taking photos of her. There are a couple of shots of her super cute big sister Brooke at the end of the slideshow.

Here are two of my favorites that don't fit into the conventional "portrait" category.

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Playgroup at the park

I'm the coordinator for the battalion playgroup. Basically I just set up the when and where we'll meet at a playground and I bring some water and juice. There are several families with kids around the same ages Caleb and Joshua. It is really fun to let them all play together. The pics below aren't my kids, obviously. They're the cute progeny of my friend Danielle. I just like the photos.

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Christian Way Farm trip

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The Pumpkin Patch at Christian Way Farm

Last Monday Kevin and I drove out to Christian Way Farms in Kentucky. It wasn't technically open, but the owner was working in the barn, so he let us play around the farm. His son even fired up some of the tractors to take us on a hayride to the pumpkin patch. We each picked out our own perfect pumpkin. Kevin's, of course, is weird-looking. He likes it because it looks just like a human head. There was also a "tractor train:" a big tractor pulling several old riding lawn mowers that Caleb was convinced were each "little tractors." He loves tractors. Joshua was scared of the pigs at first. But on second viewing he was unfazed. He even started bouncing with one hand up, the way he does when he's dancing, to the beat of the pigs' grunting.
Kevin tried to get the boys to feed the goats some dried corn, but Joshua kept eating it and Caleb threw it at the goats and ran the other way. My favorite part was the bed of an old pick-up filled with dried corn. Joshua is so tolerant of Kevin's shenanigans. Kevin buried him and Joshua was up to his elbows in corn. Joshua didn't protest one bit. I'll soon post some video of the outing.

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Birthday Blintz

Last year Kevin made me a layer cake for my birthday, complete with strawberry filling. Too bad he's away training this week... But he did make us blintzes for breakfast last Sunday. Some were filled with blueberry compote and the others with a sweet cream cheese filling. Caleb loved the blueberry ones and actually cried after tasting the cream ones. Unbelievable, because they were seriously like frosting filled doughnuts. Kevin is such a good cook, when he has the chance. Thanks for my birthday blintzes, Kevin. We miss you!

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Oktoberfest, Bier Run

Seriously, how cute is this dog? It's the Peters' puppy, Scooby.

Last Saturday, we woke the boys up at 5:30, got in the car, picked up our friends Charles and Stacy Peters, and headed for Nashville. I naively thought that the boys would fall asleep on the hour+ car ride. No dice. Oh well. They were well-behaved, considering.

Kevin, Charles, and Stacy ran in the Bier Run 5K in Germantown. Stacy works for Caterpillar (tractors) and they had a corporate team running. She was running for them and suggested we come too. I was nervous about riding to the race with them because I didn't know how the boys would do without a lot of sleep, and what if we wanted/needed to come back early? Anyways it worked out great. It was a lot of fun and I loved hanging out with the Peters.

Stacy at the beginning of the race.

Kevin at the end of the race, and below at the finish line. Kevin won 5th place out of the 1000 runners, and 1st place in his age group. We are so proud of him. His finish time was 18:13 and his pace was 5:53. Wow.

Here are our friends Charles and Stacy at the end, and then at the finish (below). Stacy is seriously amazing. Stacy won the race! She was the first female and finished with a chip time of 19:57. That's a blistering pace of 6:26. Remarkable. And this was only her 3rd 5K. She is so fast. Loved watching Stacy, Charles and Kevin run, and win. :)

Here's Stacy with her the prize. (The mug, not the pup.) It was a huge bier stein. And the most hilarious part was that she went to the bier tent and they filled it up for her. All of the runners got a cup of bier at the end of the race, but this was like 50 cups worth. So funny to see this tiny girl with a ridiculously big cup of brew.

After the race we all walked around the Germantown street festival, which was a lot of fun. The boys loved looking at all of the people. We enjoyed good conversation, some gyros and of course a funnel cake. A full day, and we were home by 1:00 - just in time for a round of afternoon naps.

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Financial Markets

All I have to say is: I'm glad we're not retiring anytime soon. Our savings have tanked! And that's despite our wonderfully diversified portfolio, thanks to Kevin.
As I listen to the radio, I say, "Oh, man!" because Caleb is around. (And what I really want to say sounds terrible coming from the mouths of babes.)

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More Wedding Photos

More pictures from David and Katie's wedding that I shot, nearly a month ago now. I'm done editing all of the digital pictures I have (he's sending me the film I shot to scan and edit). Here are some of my favorite shots. There are a lot of pics, I should have made a slide show. Oh well.

Niece and nephew at the rehearsal dinner.
David and his twin sister taking a picture of his bride, Katie and her twin sister.


Members of the bride's family at the reception. Bride in the background.

Wedding favors were frisbees. They love Ultimate.

The Monday after the wedding the bride and groom drove us (family and friends) up to Sonoma County to tour several vineyards and tasting rooms. The scenery was gorgeous, of course. I like this shot of the statue with grapes in hand, through the grapevines.

The bride and groom on the grounds of one of the vineyards.

And finally, proof that I was indeed there. My self-portrait in David's glasses

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Perfect Morning

We slept in. I thought I'd set my alarm for 6 to get in a long run before the boys woke up, but I guess I forgot.

It was 8:30 by the time Joshua roused us from the bed. I had a yummy breakfast of coffee with a pear-ginger scone I'd made the day before. Delicious. Caleb had one too. Then I made protein pancakes for Kevin while he did yesterday's dishes. We fed the boys and I cut a few flowers from my cutting garden and added them to my little arrangements in bud vases. This is one of my favorite routines each morning.

After a while, I put Joshua down for a nap while Kevin and Caleb started working on the yard and I took Hannah with me. It was one of the best runs I've had in a while. It was beautiful weather, in low 70's, warm but with lots of shade. Hannah's the perfect running partner. Keeping me company, but not goading me to go faster or slowing me down. And I feel pretty safe with her next to me. Anyways it was a good, strong run. My pace was 8:52 for 9 miles. Better pace time than some of my recent short runs.

So that was my perfect morning. Beautiful and quiet, full of my favorite people. But now at least two of them are crying and/or have no pants on. Back to reality.

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