accomplishment in atlanta

While in Atlanta, we went to the finish line of a half-marathon that our friends Paul, Tracy, and David ran in, to encourage and support them in their quest. Really we just congratulated them. Not too much to encourage at the finish line, unless they are brought in on a golf cart. but all finished, and so we celebrated together. Our first observation of the finishing area was the smell. When we went to Africa, everyone told us we'd notice the smell when we got off the plane... not so much. But let me tell you, if you ever go to a big time long-distance race with thousands of participants, you will notice the stink when they all congregate. Wow, it was bad.

We were however, very impressed with the energy and accomplishment of the whole thing. What a great event! It really did motivate us, and so we decided to start training with Paul and Tracy... so when they take off on their runs through the neighborhood, we're going to train by hitting a visible spot to cheer and yell (maybe even make a sign with nice words on it like 'Yay' or 'Wow' or 'Run!'). Then we'll use our intellect to map out the best shortcut through backyards to another spot that we can beat them to and cheer and yell again, then cut through to catch them on another turn, and then finally catch a shortcut to the finish line, where we use whatever breath is left to yell more, like "you're almost there, if you give up now you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

Tracy is nearing the finish line, and happy to see us! Or to be almost done. We kinda sorta showed up too late to see either of the boys finish.

Like any runner, Paul is pensively exhausted after his race.

Way to go guys! We really are proud of you!

Agua

This weekend we found ourselves in Atlanta and had a fantastic time with some friends and family. Just after escaping from the airport, we turned ourselves into kids again and went to the Georgia Aquarium to enjoy the wonders of the sea!

Mommy and Daddy both thought the old sea turtle was pretty cool, Sawyer simply enjoyed the youthful enthusiasm of the swimming fish and did his best to chase and grab them, always confounded by some invisible force-field!

In the petting areas, the force-fields were much weaker... but grabbing was still discouraged.

The Beluga Whale is quite a majestic creature of the Arctic. The majesty is slightly dampened by the white noise of people though. Thankfully to the whales, people don't thrive well in ice-cold waters of the Arctic Ocean.

These two sharks were "on a date," as you can hear the narrator of the sea say.

The jellyfish were pretty cool, and obviously photogenic, but the highlight for us was getting to be with friends!

waiting for tickets to the madness

Has everybody seen this? Basketball fever is beyond officially back in the Bluegrass. I remember every year as a student at UK seeing the tents pop up a couple of days before tickets come out for Midnight Madness and sometimes joining in the fray early Saturday morning, but this... wow. We're out of town right now and can't see it in person, this video gives a decent perspective of the magnitude, still 2 days before any tickets are available.

GO CATS!!

A day to celebrate!

Who-dey! The Bengals are back! Starting in the 3rd quarter today... they are back. And what's crazy to think, if it weren't for a miracle pass in the Denver game to lose it, they'd be 3-0. Wow. Go Bengals!

To celebrate, here's some much overdo photos of our boy.

Here, Sawyer's playing tug-o-war with Baxter. That's a dog toy, not a baby toy. We think Baxter lets him win. It's either that, or the baby is stronger than all the rest of us.

Could we really be related?

Hanging with my cousin Bella.

Mischievous? No not me!

If anybody's keeping up, we're traveling a bit the next few weeks. VA and Atlanta in the near future (some work with our company and then a visit with family and watching our friends Paul, Tracy, and David run in a half-marathon!), then some slightly more local travel to finish getting our stuff together that we left scattered around in various places.