Happy Father's Day!

Another successful weekend of living life is in the books. This one featured plenty of fun in the son! Get it? Because it was Father's Day!

I don't get to see my dad that often anymore (the picture below is from the winter), but I was able to talk to him for a bit on Sunday. He likes the sound of our potential house in Phoenixville which was reassuring. He had a tilapia and pineapple salsa on the grill though so I let him get back to work. Happy Father's Day, dad!



The weekend was much more than phone calls with dad though and started for me at 5:30am Saturday morning. My race didn't start until 8:30, but one important thing I've learned this season is to take time for an early breakfast and last minute weight reduction.

Saturday's race was in Bethlehem, the hometown of our friend Coleen. Sadly, Coleen's dad passed away last year so she was certainly on both our minds this weekend.

This was my first race in over a month, and it felt good to get back out there. I felt pretty good during my warm up and lined up right at the front for the start. After the peloton played the first few turns pretty cautiously, I found myself and another young guy from Drexel in an early breakaway. We worked well together but neither had the lungs/legs to hold it, and I soon found myself back in the main group. I should mention now that leading a race is pretty damn cool. It works out better on the last lap rather than the first though. The rest isn't nearly as exciting, but I managed not to finish last with a 26th out of 30.

Data:
18km raced
39mins
23mph avg speed
max HR 195
avg HR 171



I stuck around after my race to photograph some of the fast kids but couldn't stay too long as Saturday was booked like PF Chang's. In the afternoon we had a graduation party to attend, and Saturday evening was the Philadelphianniversary party hosted by our friends Eric and Lauren.

They have the coolest apartment down in Northern Liberties, and it made for an awesome Summer evening under the stars. Even the BMW was out enjoying the weather!



We brought Strawley too!



Then came the Four Loko. You may remember that recently the FDA started cracking down on caffeinated alcoholic beverages like Sparks. This stuff is a good reason why. It was quite possibly the most intensely flavored and carbonated fizz that I've ever had the misfortune of drinking. It's so bad in fact, that it soon became a revolving dare of 24oz proportions.



Michelle loved it!



So happy Philadelphianniversary, kids! Thanks for moving here and riding bikes/running with us!



Knowing us, one full day of excitement was hardly enough and Sunday would not disappoint. I wasn't up quite as early, but early enough to get in a quick ride and some overdue house cleaning. Luckily Michelle cleaned 90% of our apartment on Saturday so it wasn't too much trouble. I even had time to blow my vuvuzela as New Zealand upset Italy in a fantastic 1-1 draw.

Sunday's main event wasn't soccer though, so I got started on our Father's Day feast. I brined these love birds for about an hour then cleaned, dried, seasoned, and trussed them.



Downstairs I had set up the grill earlier for indirect cooking at around 340 degrees with hickory wood for smoke.



The birds took a few hours to smoke so I kept busy while Michelle and family were at the pool.



Here they are about 15 minutes before I pulled them.



Next on the grill was the corn. I picked up this technique last week, and it's just plain kicks ass. Pull the husks back and tie them together to make a handle for each cob. Then lay them on the grill with the handles sticking out the front. Keep rotating them while you spread some melted butter over all the kernels. They should be ready to rock in 12-15 minutes.



Counter space!



"Um, how do you carve a chicken?... Mom!"



Despite our lack of appropriate chairs, serving trays, beer, and napkins everyone really enjoyed the meal. Michelle's dad, Steve, has been getting into bbq more too so I'm looking forward to sampling his creations soon.



I'm also looking forward to picking up the corn that got splattered across the apartment.



"So how the wedding planning coming along?"

"Eh, we're thinking Fall of next year."