Short trip to Roscommon, Sligo and Wicklow

I returned a few days ago from an 11 day trip to Ireland and then to Germany for work. I had a great few days catching up in Roscommon, Sligo and Wicklow. It was fantastic seeing Mum, Dad, Eilish, Dale, Jonathan, Diarmuid, Nara, Cass, Eala, Wren, Davey, Sam, Rosie, Lily, Shauna and so many others. I had a terrific few days, it was fantastic as always to see everybody, it's never long enough of course.

Davey the Ironman, Congratulations

This is a big shout out to my brother Davey who moments ago became an Ironman. He completed the Austria Ironman this morning in an incredible time of 10hrs 26mins. Simply amazing, a true champion. Congratulations brother.

And for those who are still wondering that's a 2.4mile open water swim, 112mile bike ride and then a full marathon (26.2 miles). Here is a link to his split data.

Soap Box Derby Down our Street

Connor and I spent a relaxing hour this afternoon cheering our local and annual Soap Box Derby. Evidently this was the 80th running this year. It is run down the hill approximately 200 yards from our house. The kids looked like they were having fun, but there was a very serious element to it too. They were competing fiercely, the parents that is, the kids were pretty competitive too! Like most most local events, we bumped into some neighbors and friends and had a nice chat with many.

We are a Chess Family!

We play chess in our house. I know most families have many great traditions, and of course we do too, but one of my favorites is that we play chess. As you will see from a suite of pictures below taken over the years, I started the kids off young with checkers and then moved them up to chess. They all play now and I think each actually really enjoy it. Tonight Anja did a classic knight fork on king/rook against Randy that any chess player would be very proud of, I certainly was!

Connor is currently at the point where a weekend is not a fulfilled weekend if we don’t play a few games. Love it!!

As you see from the pictures, many of of our friends also love to play and this really helps. Our great friend Randy is a true trooper in this regard, always willing to play the kids. This post was sparked by the first picture below. It was sent it me today by Kaisa (thanks again), snapped as she noticed Connor (6) and her son Anton (5) sitting down to “do battle” of their own accord. Score!!

First Lafayette Aviators Game

Connor and I had our first evening at Loeb Stadium for an evening of baseball watching our local summer league team, the Lafayette Aviators. The game did not go so well for the home side but Connor and I had a blast. My only wish was that our great friend Hakan was with us, he would really have enjoyed it!

On a side note we bumped into Kyle Burke, Lindsay’s brother (Lindsay was a nanny for us several years ago). He did a fantastic job as the host and MC for game. It’s not easy getting a small crowd going on a Thursday evening when the home side is loosing. But he did it, nice job Kyle!!