Leaps and bounds

Seriously, how old is this kid? 5 1/2 months! We're in trouble!

Tipoff baby!

Celtics Open Practice

Open practice was last week. Tonight the season begins. If Big Baby's enthusiasm introducing the team is any indication of the Celtics season, then we're in for a good one.

Daddy day

Another Daddy day on the weekend. Connor's ready to do lots of yard work. Or just try and put all his toys in his mouth at once. Either way, a great day is guaranteed.

BBQ boys

Great day at the Smith's. Connor and Carter are becoming fast friendsm

Deluxe Post-race Accomodations

Lori and gang have balcony overlooking beach. We have balcony overlooking icemachine.
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Consider it reached!

Hail hail the gang's all here!

Shenanigans!

"I am sick and tired of your Stranger shenanigans!" -Lindsay Bistis at the finish line.

The waiting game

Come on Lindsay!

Creeping to the finish

Another typical lightning finish for RTB.

Lori is done, Lindsay is on the road, and van 1 and 2 are making their way... Ever so slowly.

And then there were 2

Lori B on the road. Art done. Lindsay next.

"Take of your skirt Sally" -Sheila

The hits...

The hits just keep on coming. Van 2 is rocketing along. Tony is done. Becca is done. Leanna is on the road.

It's bright out, and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it!

And then there was 1

(From Van 1 that is)

Sheila is done and Andy is bringing Van 1 home.

Time to meet up with our old friends Van 2.

Let's go Tony C!

She-ra transition

The transition between Griff and Sheila is a clear front runner for best transition so far... Not because of the hand off, but because of the crowd of spectators.

Led by the transition volunteer, the entire crowd joined in a chant of "Spandex Surprise" as Griff rolled in.

It's about time our fabled superhero gains a cult following.

Sheila on the road, doing great, looking good. And one more Stranger in the books.

Surprise (part 2)

Spandex Surprise is back at it again.

Big 8.5 run by Dan took its toll... Not to mention the fact that he dropped his energy chews as he pulled them out of his pocket. At least he didn't get a flat tire.

Life on the road...

...Ain't all that bad when you take the time to look around.

Make that change...

I'm talking to the Stranger in the mirror, I'm asking him to run his legs...

If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at your van and stretch those legs.

Runnin' Time

Runnin' tiiiiiime... and the livin's (anything but) easy.

2 Strangers done... 10 to go.

Keeping it real...

Real NH that is. Marya in soon. Dunfey up next, ready to call on the awesome power of cows that raise the, chickens that herd the cows, and pigs that ... Well pigs are just cool.

Let's do it.

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Pat's last run. Passing people, kickin ass, takin names.
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Ol' Mcdonald!

Piggies! And a cow in the front yard eaising the flag!
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Another day...

Lindsay is in. Marya is out. Van 2 has 2 down. Van 1 is off for their final battle between their brains and their legs.

It's just another day for you and me in paradise...

Great conversation

Dan: So Marya, you'll run 7s on this, right?

Marya: Maybe in my youth... Yesterday.
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Up and ready!

Van aroma is at a level 6 (out of 10). Helped us get up and moving this morning.

Marya on deck, illegal north korean peanutbutter fueling her.
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Thank you connor

I didn't have to change Andy's diaper in the tent (although aromas made me think someone around here needed to be changed), and Griff didn't REALLY need to be rocked back to sleep (but he sure appreciated it), but three hours of sleep in the middle of the night / early morning feels perfectly familiar.

Thank you Connor for being a great RTB personal trainer!

Now let's hit the road and close this race out so I can see my little "coach".

-Daddy D

Tent City

Bear Brook Stare Park... Very tired... Ready for sleep... 4 in the van... 2 in a tent on the playground mulch... And 1 (Dan) under the jungle gym...

Lights out

By the light...

...Of the silvery moon, the Strangers run their night legs, letting the moon light their way.

Sheila is out in the darkness. The hills are behind her. Andy is ready to close out another great Van section of Perfect Strangers RTB 2010.

Hill busting pack of wolves!

Searching for Sheila.
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Saturday...

And all of a sudden it's Saturday.

Wow how time flies when your punishing your legs on the hills of NH.

Surprise!

Spandex Surprise brought his second leg home strong.

Sheila is away!

Van 1 rolling along

Marya - done
Dunfey - done
Dan foz - done
Spandex Surprise - on the road keeping it tight... And by it, we mean his spandex.

Keep those legs moving Strangers, one foot in front of the other. We're in the heart of hill country.

Electric Feel...

...Is what we could use right now in Van 1 has taken the slap bracelet from Van 2. But we'll have to settle for the song.

It's about to get weird. Another year of RTB night legs are upon us, and it never fails to surprise us.

Almost back to van 2

We are blowing through this... Blue lights and donkey leading the way. Lindsay on the road, marya on deck. Night runs!
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Nightfall

Nightfall at the Brassheart Inn. Art kept it tight on his run, and finished strong as Lori B took the slap bracelet and ran into the night.

Pimp my ride

Van 1 took a few minutes (as Leanna finished and Art hit the road) to get some night lights on the roof of Van 2.

Strangers in the night...

The worst part...

"The worst part is that Griff was right", Andy mumbled under his breath as Griff retrieved our Donkey from his precarious position on the hood of Van 1. The Donkey was seconds from being lost as Barb took evasive maneuvers to ensure the survival of the Balki's sweet ride.

Burger Sunset

Burgers at sunset make Strangers happy.

Becca is done, Leanna is on the road. The Strangers are looking good in round1.

Stuck!!

Awful traffic in N Conway. Leanna had to jump out and run up 1/2 mile to make it to start line. Becca was cooking!
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Pat just saw a famed White Mountain lobster!
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Nancy's House

The view from Nancy's house is fantastic. And the use of real people bathrooms is even better.

A splash of clean water on the face goes a long way!

To her face..

Because I am not a terrible human being I didn't actually say that!!
Doesn't mean I didn't think about it....

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Turkey sandwich

Just like milk, was not a good choice
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Van 2 is up!

Andy is in and Tony C is away. Van 2 takes us out of Attitash.

To her face...

We just saw a Dartmouth girls team at the last stop.

One of them glared at Marya because she was wearing a Yale sweatshirt. But Marya had the last laugh because she whipped her head around and called her fat to her face... Which just like everyone in RTB, she definitely wasm

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Pat's 1st leg, at 3.3 miles.

Van 1 lunch break

Andy is the last runner on the road for van 1's first legs. As we wait for him to swoop through mile 6, a few of the gang has picked up some lunch and snacks at this place... Apparently they have ice cream sandwiches!

Here comes Andy!

Leg 5 wiffle ball

(No service for a while but we're back in action!)

Last year was badminton. This year is wiffle ball.

Waiting for Sheila to come running through.

(Last two legs were dan then griff)

Crawford Notch pt2

...And we keep going into the notch. The most beautiful part of this race. This is why we do it. From the mountains to the coast, so good.

Crawford Notch

Down we go into Crawford Notch...

A particularly proud team

Andy

Priorities are clear

Andy

The competition the year is serious!

Andy

Leg #2

Dunfey ready for take-off.

Contact!

On the road!!

Van 1 is off!! After a bit of drama as she realizes she is not equipped with 'The Precious', Mayra is rolling thru her first 7, as Patrick calmly applies ant-chaffing to his unspeakables. Steady drizzle and London fog broken by a solid chorus from Mumford and Sons. It'll be an Irish Jig thru the soup.

First Marya sighting

She's cookin at 3 miles. 5 to go then PD is up for 9 fun ones.
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Off and running!

Go get 'em Marya!

Pea soup

The start of RTB never disappoints, rich with drama. This years twist... Safety lights and vests at the start due to heavy fog... Good times.

"Let's Get Rocked" playing at the stary right now. Who's NOT pumped!?

On our way

Dan's Spirit is being matched by Marya's bacon.
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Cakes ahoy!

6 pancakes down, 3 runs to go!

Polly's Preparation

Loading up on a good breakfast with a Polly's Pancake Parlor Pre-race Preparatory meal. Mmmmm delish!

Full moon tonight

So van #1 just mooned van#2. Only problem was that van#2 was not Perfect Strangers van#2. Dan got a good honk from our new friends though.

Off to a good start on the road to Mittersill.

RTB kickoff dinner

Dinner at the dunfey hampton palace. Getting ready to hit the road for another Reach The Beach.

We made it home!

A lot has happened since we left North Carolina. We stopped by Downingtown again to hang out with Kerry and Ethan and Maura. It was a great night after a lonnnnnnng day trip (up at 4:00am, left at 5am, rolled in to Downingtown at ... I forget when).

It was great to see the Philly gang again on the way home. Connor had a lot of fun seeing all corners of Kerry and Ethan's back yard. And he even got to see a hot air balloon fly overhead.. pretty cool.

Then we made our way home on Sunday (Connor was glad to be heading home again finally as you can see in the picture), as we listened to NFL games across three different states, closing out with the Patriots win as we drove through RI.

The big news this week is that Connor has moved to his room, sleeping in his crib since we got home. He's so old! haha.

And we almost got completely unpacked when RTB madness hit. That's right, back on the road we go. Up to Hampton for the whole family, then Dad will travel on to Franconia, NH for RTB adventures....

Stay tuned as Dad blogs live from the RTB course this year. Should be interesting.

Dinner on the sound

Mom and Dad had a great dinner last night at Fishbones Sunset Grill. The weather was perfect. Connor requested to stay with Grandma and Granski, so we had to oblige. There's no sense in arguing with him at this stage of the game. They were nice enough to watch Connor while we went to dinner. It was quiet and relaxing.

We were excited to see Connor when we got home, and hear that "taking care of him is so easy". That is good to know.

His latest preferences are 1) that he is held facing out so he can see the world around him, or 2)that he can see a ceiling fan. Sadly we have no ceiling fans at home... yet.

Swingtown

After a long day on the beach, Connor hung out on the porch swing with Mom and Dad at sunset. He was excited to try out his crabby hooded sweatshirt to keep warm.

Beach Boy

Connor enjoyed his first extended visit to the beach on September 6th. He got to spend time in his beach cabana, and sat for a long time in the shade enjoying the ocean breeze with Mom and Grandma.

Three cities

Three cities in one week, three great sunrises. Connor sure loves him a good sunrise.

We made it to NC!

And much to the Weather Channel's dismay, the Outer Banks still exist! What a great drive. Just over 9 hours. Not bad for a 7 hour drive.

Now let's see what kind of adventures we can get into here.

Goin' to Carolina

Up @ 400am. Grabbed supplies at the Wawa. On the road at 530. Cruising down the east coast to the Outer Banks.

Connor loved the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel... Which of course means he slept through it.

We've started to get our groove with this whole road-tripping thing. Kendal has gotten great at climbing in and out of the back seat. and I have gotten great at pulling off the road as soon as Connor wants food... Which is early and often. And Connor has gotten good at eating and sleeping comfortably in the car.

All we need now is some wood paneling on the car and we'll be road trip veterans.

NOTE: this entire post will be revised if the ride home goes sour.

Down in Downingtown

Saturday afternoon and night was all about kicking back and relaxing at Kerry and Ethan's. Connor only had one condition, he had to control the remote so he could watch his shows.

Seeing the (Philly) sights

Ok, so maybe Connor didn't really SEE the overlook.