Memorial Day Weekend Fun

Last Sunday the weather finally warmed up. It was just beautiful, sunny and in the low 80s. Paul had to teach his classes, but I was free to attend little Bruce's 2nd birthday party at Bev & Fred's. It was a potluck cookout and I sat at the table full of salads and side dishes and got to know yet another group of Bev's friends. The highlight of the party was, of course, the birthday celebration. Bruce had a Winnie-the-Pooh cake. He couldn't resist dipping his fingers into the orange frosting!

Here he is with his mommy and daddy right before we sang "Happy Birthday." He's still little enough that he lost interest in the present-opening early on and went off to play while Bev opened them. Good times!

On Monday, Paul and I had another harmonic convergence of time off together for the whole day (not seen since Easter), so we did what we always do when we get this chance--get outside! After consulting our copy of Cleveland on Foot and picking a 6-mile, 3-hour hike from the "Moderately Strenuous" selections, we got up early, left by 9:30 am and were on the trail by 10. The trail was almost entirely in the woods so it was about 10 degrees cooler, a good thing since it was pushing 90 by the time we finished around 1 pm!

I am happy to report that I have met another fitness goal, and that is to be able to keep up with Paul on a hike and not be wasted for the rest of the day afterwards. We are now about equal in fitness. He says strengthwise he still has an advantage but that aerobic-wise I have the advantage!

There were lots of steep ravines, some of which were full of mud and water. One even had rushing water with just a stone or two to hop on to get across. I am still a wimp in these situations so I slowed down and was extra careful, but my balance has improved tremendously and I never tripped or slipped. The scenery was beautiful and we had a great time.

The heat didn't even slow me down. Sure, I got a little sweaty but it didn't make me feel miserable and out of breath like it used to, and I don't have a chafing problem anymore. When we got home, we didn't even turn on the air conditioning because it just wasn't that uncomfortable.

However, we did catch The Da Vinci Code in the early evening. I've read the book, Paul hasn't, and we both enjoyed the movie a lot. I don't get all the negativity from the critics--perhaps their attention spans are frayed from having to see so many movies. I thought it was pretty true to the book and beautifully shot.