Soccer Day

Today Kim and I spent sometime with the family enjoying some friendly soccer. Carley's team coached by her dad was defeated 5-2 but played very well. Carley had several shots on goal and appeared to have had a blast. We then trekked to the other side of the county to watch Bailey fine tune his skills. After all the soccer we rushed home to entertain the Simei family with Kim's good cooking and my Wii skills.

Preston Parker's Punt Return Against Colorado

Preston Parker put on a show in Colorado. He almost broke through the Colorado special teams on a punt return even after nearly getting his head taken off. With the face mask penalty on the Buffalo's, we should have gotten into the endzone on this drive. Alas, it was a night for special teams and defense and not yet the offense. We're being patient Jimbo.

Doggie Dip Day

Each Tuesday evening after Labor Day, our neighbor-
hood pool opens for the dogs. Last year, Duffy was the driest Lab in the whole place :). (He seems to be missing the Lab gene that defines the love of water.) This year, Erik went into the pool with him and Duffy didn't fight it too much. He even bound in once on his own while chasing another dog. He had a great time interacting with his neighbors and was exhausted by the end of the event. Can't wait until next year!

Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon Weekend

Labor Day weekend found us once again in Virginia Beach for the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon. Philip is working towards the Heavy Metal which a runner gets for running all of the music events in one year. This one was #4 of 5. He has done 2 halves and 2 fulls with one more half marathon to go in October.


(All photos compliments of Erik Belknap)
The race, which is a musical event, is part of a larger music festival weekend in Virginia Beach. This year our hotel room overlooked one of the venues. Erik stayed up to listen to Vertical Horizon from the balcony. Each mile of the race features a different local band. One of my favorites was a group of eclectic instrumentalists dressed up like leprechauns. It makes for a festive atmosphere all around.




The weather was beautiful for Labor Day -- mid 80s with very little humidity. There was also a strong ocean breeze which made the last two miles along the boardwalk much more bare able. Philip finished in 1:49 minutes and I finished just short of an hour later in 2:40. For me it was the slowest time that I've run, but I didn't feel like crying at the end and I never felt as sore as I have in the past. We'll consider that a victory!!