Chillin' On The Back Patio

Q: How can you tell they are Mother and Daughter?
A: Those lovely arms! :-)

The High Grassy Seas

Admiral Ming charts a course through the front yard as she pilots The Curiosity through a perilous stretch of grass.

Crazy Backyard Fun

Yes, those are Dairy Queen Dilly Bars...two butterscotch, two chocolate, and two cherry. An amazing bit of symmetry there.

Aunt Cindy was snapping pictures like crazy tonight at her house. Uncle Jack BBQ'd up some amazing foodstuffs and we hung out on the back deck.

And some of the fun included messing around in the 'big green backyard' (aka, golf course).

Fisher Girls

Ming Mei, who likes playing with cars and trucks and soccer balls, has this thing for fishing. Or, "pishing" as she calls it. Today we took Joe the Dog to play in the river and Ming brought along her fishing pole. It was fun in the sun, but there were no pish.

Golfer Dudes

And Golfer Dudette!

Memorial Day Weekend

Linda and I started our Memorial Day weekend with a round of golf at Eagle Bend in Bigfork, MT - alone! This is one of my favorite times to play golf in Montana because the weather is perfect and the mountains still have winter frosting on them. We left the Sleepy Head Gang at home in bed, but when we returned they were all up playing video games. You gotta love holiday weekends...

Here's A Shot of My Better Baby Sitting Work

Mom was out for a while (by herself!) on Sunday evening and put me in charge of Ming-sitting. Linda's (mandatory) rule of thumb with Ming in the late afternoon or evening is: "Don't let her fall asleep!" Even a catnap at that time of day can make for the kind of late night that has us muttering, "What was I thinking?" There seems to be something universally wrong with disturbing a sleeping angel, but I eventually work her up and took her to the park for some swinging and sliding.

Thank goodness Titus is home from college, because he shouldered the task of hanging with Ming in her room last night when she was too wound up to fall asleep. (What was I thinking?!)

Mom's Day in Montana

I spent Mother's Day weekend in Montana with my Mom, along with Titus and Ming Mei. Linda's Mom's Day weekend was spent back in Spokane with Levi and Nate. It's sounds kind of weird, but it worked out well. I got to celebrate with my Mom, while giving Linda a weekend that was a little quieter and and with a little less responsibility. And, Titus and I were able to spend three days golfing together to celebrate the completion of his sophomore year at Gonzaga University. Aunt Cindy took this shot of Grandma and Ming (at Cindy and Jack's house). Ming couldn't quite pry her eyes off the cake for the "cheese!"

Creative Moments

Ming Mei has quite an imagination. Or perhaps I should say IMAGINATION. Here she is in her pirate get-up. The black satin eye patch, by the way, is from her Mom's collection of evening eyewear. You'll also notice that her sword is American made.

In the spirit of safe paddling, Ming has her helmet on.

The Truth In Numbers

Linda Szymanowski - Finish Time: 1:08:14
Overall Place: 5,675 out of 44,490 Ran with a pace of 9:08 per mile The average pace for 46-year-olds was 14:44
Placed 117th among 806 people the same age
Placed 2,003rd among 17,717 people from Spokane, WA
Placed 4,281st among 35,983 people from Washington
Placed 1,729th among 26,349 females
Placed 31st out of 470 among 46-year-old females (top 7%)

Nate Szymanowski - Finish Time: 0:57:21
Overall Place: 1,583 out of 44,490 Ran with a pace of 7:41 per mile The average pace for 21-year-olds was 12:59
Placed 58th among 781 people the same age
Placed 537th among 17,717 people from Spokane, WA
Placed 1,149th among 35,983 people from Washington
Placed 1,313th among 18,141 males
Placed 44th out of 266 among 21-year-old male (top 17%)

Titus Szymanowski - Finish Time: 0:57:19
Overall Place: 1,570 out of 44,490 Ran with a pace of 7:40 per mile The average pace for 19-year-olds was 13:17
Placed 55th among 660 people the same age
Placed 533rd among 17,717 people from Spokane, WA
Placed 1,137th among 35,983 people from Washington
Placed 1,302nd among 18,141 males
Placed 44th out of 262 among 19-year-old males (top 17%)

Tim Szymanowski - Finish Time: 0:59:17
Overall Place: 2,154 out of 44,490 Ran with a pace of 7:56 per mile The average pace for 49-year-olds was 14:40
Placed 37th among 750 people the same age
Placed 747th among 17,717 people from Spokane, WA
Placed 1,590th among 35,983 people from Washington
Placed 1,741st among 18,141 males
Placed 31st out of 323 among 49-year-old males (top 10%)

Bloomsday 2009 - The Finishers

We all managed to find each other at the finish line, in spite of completing the race at different times. The boys all finished under an hour -- which, at less than 8 minute miles is generally a lofty goal for a race this length :-) We're waiting for 'official' times, but I'll post them when they're available. Ming Mei's mama finished at a 9 min/mile pace (68 minutes), which is definitely cookin' on this hilly course. Yes, she's bad (as evidenced by the black hat).

Bloomsday - Spokane Style

The first Sunday of every May, Spokane plays host to one of the larger road races in the nation - The Lilac Bloomsday Run. Today was the 33rd running of Bloomsday, a 12K (7.46 mile) run. This year's entrants numbered about 52,000 on a chilly Northwest morning with overcast skies. I ran with my phone in a small runner's pack, so I was able to get a few clicks at the race.

Four of the Szym clan ran the race - Linda, Nate, and I started together in the green section, where as Titus ran with his buddy Joe and started out with the yellow crowd (as in, faster). Levi stayed home and kept his bed warm, while Ming Mei spent the morning (and the prvevious night) at Aunt Cindy's. For a little more on Bloomsday, check out the official site: http://www.bloomsday.org/