Cindy Qualifies for Boston...Again

Just a quick post to let you know how proud I am of our speedy Cindy! We ran the Cleveland Marathon together (in the rain) on Sunday morning and she had a stellar race. I paced her through 20 miles on her way to qualifying for the Boston Marathon for the second time. She finished with an awesome PR of 3:37:44 and ran really well.

I, on the other hand, finished a few minutes behind her at 3:44:04. I wish I could have finished with her, but I account for my slowness by remembering that this was my third marathon in three states in five weeks. I don't have any photos from the actual race because I wouldn't sacrifice a camera to all the rain we had that day, but I do have this snapshot from after the race:



Congratulations, babe!

Attack of the Monster Bugs

A cool new bugs exhibit recently opened at the nearby Morton Arboretum and the kids have already been twice. Instead of tiny little bugs, these are HUGE insect models made mostly out of wood and they're just beautiful. It's a great learning experience for the kids, and a great photo opp for dad!

We started with some nice shots by the tulips.



I was able to get both Katie and Andrew, but Josh just couldn't stand still.



Then we say our first bug, a praying mantis, right by the front entrance:



Next we found these GIANT ants:



There are a total of 12 different bugs on display, including a dragonfly, spiders, and a grasshopper. This damselfly was one of our favorites:



Josh wasn't as interested in the bugs as he was in his own pockets.

Adam Wins Newspaper Photo Contest

I'm still catching my breath from a CRAZY month of work travel, but when I returned home on Sunday there was a special treat waiting for me in our Sunday paper. I recently submitted a vacation photo to our newspaper's monthly photo contest with very low expectations, so I was delighted when their photo editor selected my submission as the winner of the month! Check out the full story.