Vacation Day 2

Day two of or vacation started early. Even though we hadn't slept much we woke up around 6:30.  We putzed around the tent for a little while before heading over to the showers.  After getting cleaned up we discussed what we wanted for breakfast.  Erin remembered seeing a sign for the Original Pancake House the previous day and I looked it up on my phone so we could get directions. When we got there we were surprised by how busy it was. There were a lot of people who looked like they were meeting for a business breakfast there.  I ordered some pancakes and eggs while Erin got some pancakes, an egg and some hash browns.  As we were waiting for our food a waiter walked by with something that looked delicious.  When we inquired as to what it was we were told it was an apple pancake, one of their specialties. When our food arrived we were very impressed. It sounds odd to rave about pancakes. Pancakes are such a simple thing that we've had so many times, but these were clearly the best we've ever had.  After breakfast we headed to Ikea to start our day of shopping.

We arrived a Ikea a little before the store opened.  Shortly after we got there they opened the cafeteria and we went in a sat there for a little while before the store opened. Once the store was open we wandered around the showroom.  We saw some blinds that we thought were neat, some cool lighting stuff and a small bookcase that we could put a TV on in one of our basement bedrooms.  Once we made it through the showroom and down to where they actually have the merchandise we did a little more planning on how we were going to use some of the things and decided that they might not work how we'd originally envisioned.  We did buy the book case, a wall mounted glass marker board and some color changing lights that were just too cool to pass up.  Then we headed across the street to the Mall of America.

When we got to the mall is was about lunch time and we decided to hit our favorite restaurant in the mall Tucci Benucch.  I suggesting just ordering from their small pate menu and sharing everything and Erin agreed.  We had some fried mozzarella, ravioli and polenta fries and finished with tiramisu for desert.  All of it was amazing.  Then we started to wander around the mall and shop.  We didn't find too much that was worth buying. We hit up a candy shop and Erin found a graphic novel about zombies that looked interesting.  After we were done shopping it was supper time so we hit up the Twin Cities Grill.  I had a burger and Erin had a chicken sandwich.  After our amazing meals earlier in the day this one was a bit of a disappointment.  After supper we found where we had parked and headed back to the campground.

Since the weather looked nicer then our first night we decided to have a campfire. We roasted a few marshmallows and Erin made a smore with a chocolate coconut spread that we had purchased the previous day.  I thought the coconut was a little odd and was content with only having a bite. After the fire started to die down we put it completely out and went to bed where we got much more sleep then the previous storm filled night.

Vacation Day 1

The day after the anniversary run we headed out on vacation.  We didn't set an alarm, but woke up on our own around 7:00.  As I packed up the truck Erin cleaned up some of the dishes from our anniversary run. Around 8:30 everything was packed and cleaned up and we were ready to hit the road.  The drive down to the cities was fairly uneventful.  Traffic was a bit heavier then usual possibly due to people coming back to the cities from spending the weekend at the lakes. We stopped at the outlet mall in Albertville and found some interesting sauces in one of the kitchen stores there. After shopping for a while we decided it was getting to be time for lunch and I did a quick search on my phone for what was nearby.  We located a Red Robin that was along the way toward the KOA campground we were staying at and decided to head there.  I had a blue cheese burger with bacon and onion strings and Erin had a guacamole burger.  Both were excellent.  After eating we continued on to the campground.

We checked in when we got to the KOA and were assigned a spot in the far corner of the campground.  The location was fairly well sheltered by trees, but there were a lot of mosquitoes.  The temprature was in the 90s as we setup the tent and we were both covered in sweat when we were done. When I did a search for local restaurants we ran across a malt shop in Chaska that sounded good. We picked up some firewood on our way out of the campground to the malt shop. Since we had a big lunch we decided that instead of each ordering something we would just split an order of cheese curds and each have a malt. My malt had Oreos, peanut butter and marshmallow while Erin's malt was a orange creamsicle malt.  After the malt shop we hit up a local Target for some odds and ends we needed.  My phone wasn't charging properly with the charger we had so I picked up a new one and we got the things for making smores.  When we got back to the campground I checked the weather radar on my phone and saw that some rain was coming so we decided against a campfire that night.

Shortly after we went to bed the thunder started and it began to sprinkle.  The light rain lasted an hour or so before the very heavy stuff started to fall. The tent held up rather well and for the most part we were dry except for the occasional drop or two that soaked through the seems because it couldn't run off the top fast enough.  Eventually the storm subsided and we were able to get some sleep.

1st Anniversary Run

When Erin and I got married last year, we held a 10k/half marathon that morning for our runner friends.  After the run we all came back to the house and ate caramel rolls.  A tradition was born that we wanted to keep going this year.  Last year we decided at the last minute to make some medals so we wrote with sharpie on some washers and attached some ribbon.  It was a nice token but we wanted to do a little better this year. Here's how we made this years medals.

Our driveway packed with cars

Friday night before our event Erin and I borrowed some paint and orange sticks from Rick that he used to mark the courses for the training group.  It took longer then we thought it would to mark the course, but in the end we were happy with the result.  All turns had an orange stick and most of them had arrows painted on the ground. After marking the course, we visited our neighbors to ask if we could park some vehicles over in their driveway since our street was being worked on and had no parking signs displayed on either side of the street.

Everyone hanging out before the run

The morning of the run we got up early and I took 5 pans of caramel rolls out of the refrigerator to start raising. Erik was the first to show up and he brought an egg bake with him. I threw some clothes on and directed him to park as close as he could to the garage so we could fit as many cars as possible in our driveway.  Steph, my sister, was the next to arrive to help with odds and ends.  She hadn't been running much this year and decided not to run the event.  She also needed to work later in the day which made the decision a little easier.  After that was a flurry of activity as I was getting my running stuff ready, directing Steph with some last minute things for the event and the rest of the guests showed up. Cory and Maggie brought praline bacon, Cassy brought orange juice, Kelly brought 3 different kinds of fruit juice, Connie and Ray brought some fresh fruit, Heather brought champagne for mimosas, Rachel brought paper plates and napkins and Rick and Kristy brought coffee cake. We had quite the spread when it was all assembled.

1st Anniversary group picture

After everyone had arrived we headed outside for a group picture.  Rachel was kind enough to bring over her camera for the picture. Last year she wasn't able to run and decided to bike with us and take some pictures. The pre-run group picture she took was one of our favorites from the whole day. Erin had it framed and signed by everyone and surprised me with it for a christmas present. Once the picture was taken we headed out on our run.  It was rather warm and a bit on the humid side but having so many of our friends with made it fun. The group did get a little spread out and a few turns were missed. I guess I didn't mark the course as well as I would have liked.

The group as it heads out

The aid station

The way the course was set up was everyone runs the 10k route which finishes at the house before the half marathoners head out again to finish up their event.  While we were out running, Steph set up our aid station with cold water, Jolly Ranchers, Watermelon, Salted Nut Rolls, Gummy bears, Endurolytes, and Poweraid.

Connie, Heather, Cassy and Ray are the first to make it back from the 10k 

Erin finished shortly after the first 4

Erik and Rick were next to finish

Rachel and I finished just before Cory, Maggie and Kelly

After the 10k was finished, I decided I wasn't ready to go out and finish the half marathon, but I would bike with those who did want to finish it up.  Rachel and Heather were the only ones interested in going further so after a short break we got going again.  As we finished the run, Erin was baking the caramel rolls and the rest of our guests hung out in the front yard and talked.  When Heather, Rachel, and I got back the caramel rolls were done and we were ready to eat. Breakfast was fantastic with all of the various things we had.  After eating, we had lots of leftovers.  Erin and I hung onto some of the caramel rolls for breakfast the next day as well as the leftover bacon that Maggie and Cory didn't want to bring back with them and some of the open juice and champagne.  The rest of the stuff got packed up and sent with people as they left.  Overall the event went rather well and we're looking forward to doing it again next year for our second anniversary.

Homemade Race Medals

UPDATE:

Here's what we did for our second anniversary: Homemade Race Medals Part 2

Here's what we did for our third anniversary: Homemade Race Medals Part 3

Erin and I wanted to make some nice homemade race medals for our first anniversary run.  Here's what we came up with. The body of the medal would be made out of a polymer clay we found at Micheal's. We would stamp it, bake it, coat it with sparkle mod podge to complete the finished medal.  We used magazines when rolling out the clay to ensure a uniform thickness of about a quarter of an inch. As we worked we used wax paper to keep the clay from sticking. We colored in the stamped sections with a silver paint pen.  It does take some time for it to dry before the back can be colored in.

Here's a complete list of materials we used for making 23 medals.

2 - 1lb blocks of polymer clay, we had some extra

1 cookie cutter

1 rolling pin

2 objects of uniform thickness to put on either side of the clay when rolling out

Wax Paper

Small jar of sparkle mod podge

Paint brush

Cookie Sheet for baking

Silicone stamps

Large straw for making ribbon holes

Elmers Painters metallic paint marker

American Crafts Precision Pen fine tipped black

Ribbon - 30 yards, but we had extra

Silver Glitter Puffy Paint for writing on ribbon

Most of the things we used to make the medals

Cutting the medals with a cookie cutter after rolling it to a uniform thickness.

After cutting the meals out and making holes for the ribbon with a straw.

This was after stamping and before baking.

The toaster oven worked well for us.

Once the medals were baked we colored in where it was stamped

The stamped part had been colored in and the black text added,
then we covered in a couple of coats of sparkle mod podge.

We used a sparkle fabric paint to write on the ribbons.

The finished back of the medals.

The finished front of the medals.

Fourth of July Weekend

Over the fourth Erin and I had a busy weekend. Saturday morning we got up and did a 10 mile run.  It was warmer and more humid that I would have liked but the miles went by quickly.  It was the longest run either of us had done since the marathon in May.  I tried out a hydration pack that Erin's dad had given us and let Erin use my regular Nathan pack.  There was a little rubbing with the new pack, but I was able to tuck a small towel under the strap and it worked out quite well.

Saturday night we babysat 4 children.  Two of them we normally watch and the other 2 were their cousins from California. It was a bit hectic with everyone wanting to do their own thing, but overall things went well.

Sunday we started organizing our anniversary run. I put together a map and sent it out, we started cleaning the house and then we looked into how we were going to make the medals for this years run.  Last year we went with sharpie on metal washers, but we wanted to do something a bit nicer this year.  We headed over to Micheals and spent a few hours wandering around kicking around various ideas before settling down on something we liked.

Sunday night we were invited back by the family we just babysat for a backyard cookout. We enjoyed some good food and good company with weather that was about as nice as one could ask for.

Monday morning we got up and headed over to the MSUM Firecracker run.  Erin and I had both signed up for the 10k which was two loops of the 5k course. The run itself was fairly miserable.  The course was out in the open without much to look at or much shade.  Along the way I was misdirected by a volunteer at a turn and put in a little bit of extra distance.  Also I'm not a fan of running all the way back to the start before heading back along the same route I've just run.  Overall I'd say the race could have been organized better, but I had fun because of all the friends I had there.

After the race Erin and I got started making the medals for our run until it was time to head over to Cassy's place for her annual fourth of July party.  The food was great and afterwards we sat around watching the kids light off small stuff.  As this was going on we watched some clouds in the distance get closer and closer.  Eventually the tornado sirens went off and we had to head home early.