Mud, Blood & a Sweet Summer Symphony

It's so hard to find time on the weekends to blog because we seem to always be on "go, go, go" mode and then come Monday I've got so much to recap and I'm often to exhausted to really do it justice - so please allow for thee blogs in one.

1) Sweet Summer Symphony:
Took the girls to their first concert in the park on Friday evening. Turns out it was Gina's first too, despite growing up a mile from where they put them on for the last few decades. My mom used to take my sisters as me when we were kids. Grab a pizza and a picnic blanket, sit out in the waning light, air finally cooling from a hot day and experience something we had never heard before. In between sets the kids run around in the open fields and the adults sneak sips of wine and beer they smuggled in. It was nice to revisit this experience from my past and even better to share it with the girls (Gina included). Although I don't think they really heard the music because we have music going all the time at home so it's kind of normal for them - but I know they liked being outside on the grass and amongst such a large amount of new people. I think we'll make a habit of this and see how many we can get too. And being free, you can't beat the price.

2) Blood
There are some kids who are destined for emergency rooms. No amount of helmets, padding, or bubble wrap is going to prevent them from coming home some new and interesting injury. Most often it's boys who have this gene, and because their boys they push this ability to the limits. However, it springs up in girls as well, and I'm fairly certain that Arianna has this gene. The child can not seem to keep from getting into situations that involve injury. You'll recall the earring incident - that was my fault, but none the less she seems to attract these things because she refuses to sit still. On Friday she was in a wading pool (little one) and she pulled herself up, launched herself out and face planted into an umbrella stand. Before you judge there were three of us watching and with in 8 inches of her and the umbrella stand was further away then any of us. But she moved so quick there was no time to react. Fortunately she ended up with just a bump on the bridge of her nose and a swollen cheek bone under her left eye. Freak out dad that I am had images of her eye being gouged out flying through my head as I saw her go. Then, Saturday (24 hours later) we were getting ready for bed and just after jammies went on, she went number 2. So while I'm changing her for the second time she flips herself over and starts to crawl away. I pull her back towards me and, for who knows what reason, she throws her arms out from under her and plants into the floor. It wasn't a far drop, but the binky was in her mouth. I quickly pick her up to calm her down and realize I'm wet. I walk with her to the bathroom to realize we are both covered in her blood and a nice gash has opened in her upper gums right across where a tooth in waiting is. She was laughing 2 minutes later. I was still sweating the morning after.

3) Mud
In the continued pursuit of making my children in to good people I entered a team in to a Mud Run race benefiting the Boys and Girls Club. My sister Cassie and her boyfriend Arvin joined my four man team which I rounded out with a reluctant Gina. Mud and my wife are not the best of friends. Neither are dirt, grim or ooze. Gina's sister Alkisti also wanted in so we signed her up as a solo runner and she became an honorary member of our team. We did the 5k run with 18 obstacles added in (roughly 3.5 miles total) in just over 40 minutes, putting us toward the top of the teams list, but not quite in the top 10. The important thing though is we had the time of our lives. I've never had so much fun working out (and it was work) and to do it with my wife and family made it even more incredible. We finished with out a clean spot on us and had to be hosed off by a fire hose. Then we met up with the girls, who were being walked around by my mom, for some lunch and a wonderful afternoon by Irvine Lake. Good day, good weekend.

so there you have it. 3 blogs in 1.