An Independence Day Race and a Party

     My family chose to celebrate the 4th in a unique way this year - by running in a 10k race - that's 6.2 miles!  Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare sponsored their first Independence Day 10k that began at Gillette Stadium (the home of the New England Patriots) and ended on the 50 yard line of the Patriots field!  The photo is of me, very hot and very tired, on the field at the finish line.  I was aiming to finish in under an hour but ended up finishing in 1:06 - not bad for my very first 10k. 
     While the race itself was pretty uneventful coming into the staduim was a different story.  We ran through the same tunnel and blow-up helmet that the players run through to get on the field during a game - a very cool experience.  While temps reached into the low 90's on race day, the entire family was able to complete the race and both of my parents had their names announced as they came in the stadium ("Here's David coming in...he's on the 30 yard line, the 40, he's across the finish line!") and both were featured on the big screen above the end zone.  I had so much fun that I'm thinking of doing it all over again next year!

     On the 5th my family hosted a birthday/graduation party.  The birthday was in honor of my Dad's 61st and the graduation was in honor of me earning a M.Ed as a reading & writing specialist.  We had friends and relatives, ribs and mini Moe's subs and, of course, a cake.  The cake was made by Jeanne over at The Well Dressed Cake and was absolutely gorgeous!  The top layer was decorated with balloons and stars in honor of my Dad and was Gilligan's Island flavored -white chocolate cake with coconut buttercream frosting (my Dad's favorite).  The bottom layer was decorated with "teacher" theme: apples, rulers, pencils, ABC's and 1,2, 3's.  The cake itself was a rich chocolate cake with cookies-n-cream buttercream frosting.  It was very hard, dare I say almost painful, to cut into this beautiful piece of art... but once we did it was well worth it!  Jeanne's cakes are the most dense, most flavorful cakes I ever had - not only beautiful but also DELICIOUS!