All Cheryl Wants For Her Birthday Is To Run And Eat Cake!

Sounds like a BIG deal.

Cheryl investing in Toys.

Cheryl's Birthday was yesterday.  I would have blogged about it yesterday,  but she forced me to driver her to some small race in Davenport.  I guess it must have been important for some reason.

And Pusheen Cakes.

She has been spending all of our hard earned scoring money on things like Pusheen plushies and Birthday Balloon cake decorations.  I know...  what am I supposed to do?

Off to Davenport.

Bib pick up

But worse than all of that,  we had to drive to Davenport after a long hard day or reading papers.   Torture!   I managed to persevere...  But it was not very fun. 

Cheryl tries to shake off the grumpy.

Her shirt is a little large.

For Cheryl! That is.   I managed to have a ball cheering the total strangers on and taking pictures of my favorite subject.

Ethan Says:  DRINK UP!

Mingling with the locals.

 Cheryl may have been complaining about the heat a little,  but I told her to hydrate up with some caffeinated cola and tough it out.   Sometimes she can be so wimpy...

Off to the Races!

She runs past...

As the gun went off,   Cheryl ran by in the pack.   She was not expecting to perform very well in the heat.... after an injury ( months ago) and poorly trained ( excuses, excuses!) And all that Yadda Yadda.  But I reminded her that this was merely a 5K and that she should try her best to get a new PR or DIE trying.  And if she failed,  she should just give up running all together!   ( It's my reverse psychology trick.  I think she falls for it every time.)  Yeah,  I should try to sell my inspirational speeches some day.   But Fame was never something I wanted.

On the way back.   

She finishes!  45 seconds slower!

On the way back,  she had left most of the pack behind.  I could see that she was practically melting in the heat,  so that was the perfect opportunity to run through several swarms of bugs and catch them on her face.

Cheryl the "Gnat Catcher!"

Ethan Says:  DRINK UP!

After finishing,  we checked out her results.  Hmmm..  only 1st place in her age group...  again.   How disappointing.   I guess we have to stick around now for a free beer and prizes.   Oh the Bother!

Time for Beer!

I guess she wins something? 

What could be better than a Brewery?

Crowded and noisy.

The after party was held in a local brewery.  I think they only sell beer there.  (A small food truck was outside for anyone wanting a meal or snacks.)  I don't miss bars or noisy restaurants.  It is alwasy difficult to hold a conversation.

Make-shift Mega-Phone.

Cheryl gathers her prize.

 Even the MC had a hard time trying to announce the winners for each group.   He had to use a Cone to amplify his voice.

20 BUCKAROOS!  Better buy a hat.

On the way home.  A little rain. 

Cheryl won a gift certificate, and I got to enjoy a hoppy summer beer.   Overall,  it was fun.  And migh have been even more fun had we not had to work that day AND if Cheryl had run faster...  and had been better trained...  In the heat... After an injury...

And BOOM!  Lightning! 

Kinda like this.  Only more real!

On the way home, as if driving in the dark with the Subie was not enough of a hassle.   The rain that had held out for so long had finally arrived.   Along with the buckets of rain came LIGHTNING!   I should mention that it was the first time in a LONG time that I actually watched lighting STRIKE something right in front of us!   It was a transformer and SPARKS went a FLYIN'! The last time I remember seeing an actual lighting strike was when I was a kid and the tree outside our window got hit while I was watching it.   Sparks flew then as well.   Very exciting/scary.

At least there was a medal.

So now we have one more day before heading off to Cheryl's Marathon along Lake Michigan.  The race is on Sunday and we will have to race home to be able to go to work on Monday.   Our project will probably only last till then anyway, so we want to get as much money as possible.

Upcoming Marathon.   This weekend!

Hope she had a Happy Birthday... Run. 

   As for the Marathon?  Most likely, my next blog post will come from Wisconsin on Saturday.  If everything goes well, that is.   My old "travel computer" still does not like to maintain internet connections.   But we will see how things go. 

Along the Lake shore. 

Wish us luck!   Because Cheryl will most likely be running in the heat,  Poorly trained, and after an injury again.   So she DEFINITELY will not perform to her max potential.   She should just give up now and take up knitting.   But she never listens to me...   Thanks for stopping in.