Newfangled Dad

Well, if I wanted an exciting welcome to the world of triathlon, this was it. And let me preface today's adventures at Ironman Wisconsin by saying that Kelly had to come home early from work on Friday because I'd called her to tell her that Cole had split his lip open in the living room and was bleeding all over the place. It stopped and I didn't have to call the doctor, but she came home anyway out of concern.  Thankfully, our Saturday was busy-but-routine. Because we were up at 3:30am and had the kids in the car by 4am for the 3 hour drive to Madison from Chicago. It was dark and chilly and Cole was excited to figure out what was going on so he stayed awake staring out the dark window almost the entire way. By the time we arrived at the Start, the sun was up and the athletes were already in the water...well around the first turn.  We walked from the capital, past what would become the Finish, to Monona Terrace--a Frank Lloyd Wright designed building that sits on ...

Oh my gosh, where do I start? We arrived home Monday from our long weekend away at Grandma's house in Ohio. The purpose had been to attend a family wedding on my aunt and uncle's farm, but really it was a bigger adventure. The kids were still going strong and settled right back into home life...me, I needed about 12 hours of sleep and it's taken me a couple days to recover. The kids did pretty well in the car. It's about 7 hours and Cole was the hardest since he just wants to get out and run around. It didn't help that we turned around and took a fairly long car ride to get where we wanted to visit Friday morning. But Grandma had plenty of "new" toys (really just my old ones) to play with and the journeys out of the house always had something to discover. Friday we drove to eastern Ohio and ate lunch in a historic village before taking a horse-pulled canal boat ride at Roscoe Village. We never quite made to any of the shops or other history before th...

Actually, we had a lovely weekend. It just had a few...hiccups. Friday afternoon I went out of my way to go back to the specialty bike shop for a test ride. Shout out to The Bike Shop in Glen Ellyn where they have awesome service, a nice selection, and patient answers to questions! For me, it was between a Felt Verza and the Scott Metrix. Which involved 3 bikes because the Felt has 2 versions--one where you can lock the suspension on the front fork. Ultimately, the Scott won though the Felt was a more comfortable  bike. I liked the handling and more sporty aspects of the Scott, plus the shifter style. So really the choice was between the upper model Felt and the Scott...over $100 in price. So far, I've taken 2 rides on my new Scott and love it though. But there I am, in the store, and decide to actually buy the new bike...which I wasn't sure I would do. And now I'm on my way to the grocery with no bike rack on the Subaru so they were nice enough to hold my purchase unti...

My brain never really came home from Minnesota. We're still trying to recover from the collective family colds, but mostly I've spent the last week in vacation mode. Sort of a Margaritaville state of mind. I think it's a combination of things...summer is here. We had a pretty amazing time all things considered. It's got me already looking forward to more journeys. To the point where I've got the next 3 trips already started in my head. I consider the last couple days the unofficial start to summer in the side yard. The kids have been outside with Leda rolling around on a blanket happily. Cole playing with rocks and sticks. Yesterday, we sat at the patio table and got covered in watermelon juice from the first one of the season. I probably should start paying more attention to London...and I actually have a list of what we want to see, hotels, and am starting to make an itinerary. But, really, my mind has been drifting more towards travel with the kids. I'v...

I thought about making this a multi-part series, but there are other fish in the sea to blog about. So hang in there, this may get long... Drive out the tollway from Chicago past Rockford and it's a whole different landscape. Go through the Land of Cheese...past Madison, the Dells, strange places called LaCrosse or Eau Claire...and you will eventually come to the Land of Nice. To tell people from Chicago about this place makes it sound like Oz. Really it exists. (The roads are free!) It's a crazy place where when you pay for gas--with cash, no prepay necessary--the station attendant skeptically eyes your vehicle trying to decide if $40 will fit in it. "Come back for your change if it won't take it all." Umm, sure thing. It's a crazy place where drivers do something called a " zipper merge " politely taking turns letting each other into traffic via a "use all the space then be nice" philosophy. In Chicago, it's every driver for him...

Apologies, but I'm probably going to fall off the map until next week. Kelly wants to go to the  Shepherd's Harvest Sheep & Wool Festival  for Mother's Day. Yeah, I know. But it's what she specifically asked for. And the upside is that she'll get to see her own mother for the holiday. I have no interest in knitting. Or yarn. Or learning to spin fiber. At least there will be sheep though. Some rabbits. Some working dogs. Not a horrible way to spend a Saturday. It's better than having a wife who wants me to watch her try on clothes at the mall. So the result is that it will be a short week this week to prepare. Packing and errands and things that need to happen to get a dog, 2 kids, and 2 parents inside a Subaru for a 7 hour car trip to Minnesota. I actually love Twin Cities and it will be nice to visit without illness or a marathon hanging over our heads. Well, really my head. Don't get me wrong, there are some questions. Like where our toddler will s...

Lately, I've been reading a lot of articles about flying with children. Travel with children is particularly difficult so we mostly avoid it. And air travel is, perhaps, the most difficult short of a canoe trip down a river in the rainforest of Costa Rica. You see a few stories about how to pack for the TSA (more about those lovely folks later) or how to time travel with nap/bedtime to get those kiddies sleeping. But mostly, it's people bitching. Kids were on my flight screaming. People with crying kids booted off the plane. People with crying kids should be subject to extra fees. All of you--shut up about children. And focus your attention on the true problem. The airline industry. The TSA. Lousy airports. Maybe even a lousy railroad/highway infrastructure that makes flying the best alternative...thus, cramming your plane with families. This past weekend I flew to Ohio. By myself. It was a cleaning trip to get my mom's storage locker and my old bedroom cleared ou...

Yesterday was mostly spent on a semi-road trip to grandpa's house. It's about a 2 hour drive to rural northwest Illinois and could not have gone better. Crisp, sunny day. As usual, the hardest part is getting out of the house--walking the dog, packing the diaper bag, getting clothes on and the car loaded. Once we settled in, however, the journey was smooth. Cole got a bit fussy to get out of his carseat at the tail end, but then was just an amazingly well-behaved little kid at the restaurant. He smiled, he ate everything that wasn't nailed down, there were no tantrums or throwing crackers on the floor. Leda hung out until she got hungry, drank her bottle, then hung out some more. Then--after a double diaper change in the back of the Subaru (yes, our cargo area also plays home to the stereotypical Subaru-owner rescued dog and there's an endurance sports bumper sticker), we headed to a local playground for some "let's get Cole exhausted so he sleeps on the wa...

Pooping, some Cheerios, and Sesame Street seems to have Cole right back on routine after travel. This post may have to be divided into a couple parts given the variety of topics so let's just get started. But first, a few housekeeping notes... *** There's a new layout to the blog that you may have noticed. Rather than all the "extras" running down the right side in one long section, I've split them up with the main body in the center. To the right are more profile-ish pieces of info while on the left are the more practical blog-related tools. You'll notice along with a more streamlined archives is a label tool that will allow readers to more easily find related topics. I had originally intended to create 3 separate areas for parenting, coffee, and running but, alas, Blogger doesn't appear to support this concept. So if you want to read all my posts on marathons or brewing techniques just click whatever's over there.  Now, back to the show....