Weekend Update

Yesterday Alex ran the Baldwinsville Invitational. He was in the JV race. The photo above is the starting line. There were about 300 runners. And yes, several poor kids were trampled at the beginning... but they got back up and kept on going!

Alex did very well.

He came in 26th overall. And I may have made a little bit of my money back. Not too much, just a little... 3 of the 9 kids he beat the other day came back and beat him. So we're holding at $60. We'll keep track the rest of the year and he'll hopefully have a nice payday at the end of the season.

You know it's officially fall when I've already made 2 apple crisps! I've already gone through an entire bag of fresh apples. There is nothing better than a fresh McIntosh apple!

I know some of you who read the blog are also fans of FourSquare. Those of you who aren't, listen up! I went to the mall last night to finally take Alex back to school shopping (He still had no pants!) Anyway... we went to his favorite store. American Eagle. When I "checked in" on FourSquare, it gave me a coupon for 15% off my purchase! I saved $32.5o, all because I checked in on FourSquare! (We also had $45 in gift cards, so we really saved a lot!) I'm telling you, get on FourSquare. You never know when you're going to save some money!

Bribery will get you everywhere

During Alex's first 2 x-country meets of the season, it seemed like he might have been able to do a little better. There were kids in front of him that he was consistently beating last season. He was still improving his times, but he seemed to have a lot more energy at the end of the races than perhaps he should have...

He had placed 17th for his team during the last meet. Last year he was consistently 11th or 12th. And I know he wanted to be in the top 10. So, I *might* have made a little deal with him. I *might* have told him that for every teammate that was ahead of him that he beat, I would give him $10.

I don't know if that was the reason I now owe him $90, or if it was just plain old hard work finally paying off and his confidence returning.

Whatever the reason, he placed 8th for the team during Wednesday's meet. And by the looks of the photo above, the 6th & 7th place finishers might have to look out! And my wallet might be getting lighter too...

View from Above

Eric came across this fire truck at the meet on Saturday. He quickly made friends with one of the firemen. The fireman asked if he'd like to get some pictures from the top of the ladder. Eric's eyes lit up... thinking he might get to go to the top. Unfortunately, the fireman meant he would take his camera up and take them for him. (I'm sure there's some law against civilians going up on the equipment!) Eric was still thrilled to get the pictures.

That's Turning Stone Casino in the background.

That's part of Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School.

This is the end of one of the girls x-country races.

And the giant American Flag.

Another view of the High School.

A look down the ladder...

And that's me and Eric! We look so little. I think the fireman took some fantastic pictures. It was such a beautiful day and a lot of fun too.

X-Country Update

The 2011 x-country season is under way. The photo above is all 43 runners of the Liverpool High School boys team. That's a LOT of runners.

Alex has had 2 meets so far. His times have improved quite a bit from last year. Unfortunately, so have everybody else's! Plus there are 2 incredibly good freshmen on the team. They're already in the top 5. Liverpool is up and coming.

Crossing the finish line. The guy in the orange shirt is Alex's indoor/outdoor track coach. I'm sure he's pleased to see Alex doing so well.

This was from the VVS Invitational on Saturday. The Varsity boys team came in 2nd in their section. JV came in first. It was a gorgeous day.

And this is the slogan of the season... it's on the back of all their shirts and sweatshirts. "Trample the weak. Hurdle the dead." Get out of their way, they mean business!

Tomorrow I'll post some fun photos that Eric got on Saturday at VVS. There was a fire truck... with a big ladder. And Eric's camera got to go up to the top for some photos from above. They're really neat! Stay tuned...

Arc 5k

Well, I finally did it. I ran a 5k this year. I wouldn't say it was a wonderful running experience but I finished! I felt great the first mile, but wore out quickly. And chugged along for the last 2.

Our friend Dave from work also ran today.

It was a huge event. I'm not sure how many people ran, I haven't seen the results yet. I'm above in the pink shirt. I've found that listening to my iPod really helps!

And here I am at the finish. I got my best time of the last 3 5k's that I have run, but I didn't do as well as I had hoped. I'm thinking I might do another one next weekend... and try to do even better.

After the race we got some snacks and hung out with Dave and his family.

Floods

It's sort of eerie how I just wrote about the flooding at Knoebels. I took this photo on Sunday.

And this is what it looked like today. (This photo is from Knoebels Facebook page.) So scary. I saw photos of the water receding and there is so much damage left behind. Not only in this area, but all over the Northeast. Mother Nature is a powerful force. A scary, powerful force.

Knoebels

I don't know how many of you know about Knoebels. It seems like it's a well-kept secret for anyone outside of Pennsylvania. It's a great Amusement Park. It's free to get in. Yep. Free. The only thing you pay for are the rides you want to ride, and the food you want to eat. I think Disney could take a cue from Knoebels!

The one bad thing about Knoebels is that it floods on occasion. This was the marker for a flood back in 1996.

And these are the other "big" floods they have had in their history. Amazingly, they still come back and there's no sign (well, except for the signs...) that they had any flooding!

We unfortunately didn't get to spend a lot of time at the Park. We did manage to squeeze in a few games. This was the Flying Frog game.... if you look close, you can see the frog flying through the air near the roof.

I think Fall is imminent. It felt like Fall yesterday and more so today. So I made the most comfortable of comfort foods. A yummy chicken pot pie. It didn't last very long.

Busy Times

This is the first chance I've had to sit down all weekend! It's been a busy one. Alex and I got to spend a couple of days down at my parents house in Pennsylvania...


Of course we stopped at the Krispy Kreme. Twice. (On the way there and the way back...)

This is my mom's antique shop. They were closing up for the day.

It's called "Lavender and Old Lace".

I think Alex is taller than Grampy now.

Mom made some yummy homemade sweet potato fries (and regular fries too) with their deep fryer.

This is where Alex and I stayed. Alex is very allergic to cats, so he really couldn't sleep in the house since they have 3 cats. So this was a fun alternative. We even had a/c and indoor plumbing. 5-star accommodations!

This is a fun bottle tree in front of their shop. I think I want one...

We got to go to Knoebel's Amusement Park for a little bit. Alex and I love their pickles on a stick. So we had to get them! (Grampy watched in horror as we ate our pickles...)

This is from the NY State Fair. I've actually been twice this weekend. Friday night and Monday afternoon. (Friday with Alex and Monday with Eric.)

The infamous butter sculpture. I still don't really get the attraction. But it's always on the list of things to see.

Alex played some midway games. I have lots more pictures, these are all (of course) from my phone. I've gotten lazy with the camera. It's nice just carrying around one electronic device though! Eric took some nice pictures. I'll try to get some more up this week. We also went to the annual end-of-summer Pelo party last night. As soon as we sat down for the bonfire, the rains came. And they didn't stop. And it rained all day today too... but it sure didn't stop us from getting out and having fun!

We've got much busier times ahead. School starts Thursday. Cross-country meets begin next week. There's always so much to do in the fall!