A Very Fine Sunday

Yesterday's muggy, rainy day spent trying to cool off any way possible at the Hudson Valley Food & Wine fest enticed us to spend today, a much more comfortable 75 and sunny, hiking through our backyard - the Minnewoska State Park Preserve. We're fortunate to live within 6 miles of hundreds of miles of hiking trails, some of the best rock climbing in the country, and the ability to pack up with minimal preparation and head into the woods for a day. Today's route included Lake Minnewoska which just happened to be playing host to the annual SOS event: Survival of the Shawangunks! This event is sort of like a triathlon but insane. SOS is an eight part wilderness adventure race that includes one cycling segment, four trail running segments, and three open water lake swims that together total 40 miles of biking, 18 miles of trail running, and 3 miles of open water swimming. Nuts. At one point during our hike after being passed by the 30th or so runner in a wet suit my husband turned to me and said, "I wonder what decides whether or not they run in their wet suits" (some did, some didn't) and all I could reply with was, "my shock and awe with these people stops after the word "run" babe, wet suit or no wet suit."

I must also plug our new toy for Ashton as we used it at both events this weekend and it served it's purpose fabulously. The Kelty Kids TC was the perfect way to mingle with families at the festival yesterday while keeping Ashton comfortable and with enough room to play with an object or two (small ones, usually a pretzel and an animal cracker!). It has a sizable backpack attached along with a smaller diaper bag/backpack component that zips off (perfect for one of us to carry while the other totes the tot!). It came through again today on our hike keeping both father and son clean and cool (well, aside from the "darling, why is my leg dripping?" episode...) but overall the suspension method for the child and wicking system were very enjoyed. The primary impetus for this purchase was our upcoming trip to Estes Park, CO in October, but it's going to be fantastic for our weekend hikes, festivals, and other random outdoor events when prolonged comfort, wicking system for sweat, and a bit of storage are key.

Post-outdoor love we headed back into town to teach our son how to poke fun at Bret Favre Burt Faver at the Jets/Dolphins season opener. We decided that just because we're switching alliances from the Vikings to the Giants doesn't mean our Minnesota hearts can't continue to whoop whoop in delight each and every time the most intercepted man in history is again intercepted. We don't plan to teach mean spiritedness to our son on a regular basis, and he will understand the history of the relationship between Minnesotans and the 65 year old quarterback who should've retired years ago... but for the time being he'll make this face when the Wisconsin cheese head turned New York nursing home candidate actually manages to throw for a touchdown:

And then this face when he throws an interception!

NFL week #1: NY Giants 1-0, MN Vikings play Monday night football...might have to suit up in our father/son matching Un-Moss jersey's for that one!

This week includes Ethiopia's new year celebration (Thursday) so we'll most definitely be in NYC for at least a night or two hitting the local Ethiopian hot spots and introducing Ashton to our local Ethiopian community. Without a doubt going to be a very good week.