Hanging Out on the Cape Cod Canal

As I may have said before on this blog, both Sarah & I love Cape Cod and have great memories of visiting there with our families as kids. My parents took me and my siblings there every summer.  And, whether it was camping at Nickerson State Park in Brewster, or a day trip to one of the many beautiful beaches, I have endless memories of summertime on the Cape.

As I have also probably said on this blog before, Sarah and I have started to create memories of the Cape for Allie, Anna and Emily the past couple of years by making it down there a couple of times during the summer months. Sarah and the girls have come to cheer me on while I run the Falmouth Road Race for the past 4 years, for example.

In some ways I can't believe I did it, but I (just me) took Allie, Anna and Emily with me to Falmouth so that I could get my number for this year's running of Falmouth. (There is no number pick-up the day of the race, so runners MUST pick-up their numbers by Saturday for Sunday's race.) And again, I surprised myself by stopping along the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzards Bay on the drive home.

Note: Buzzards Bay has special meaning to Sarah & I as we both have a brother who graduated from Mass Maritime Academy, which is located in Buzzards Bay.

Here's a video clip of the girls taking in the beauty of the boats, bridge(s), birds and people:

Summer cruising on princess bikes.

Since we gave the girls bikes for their birthdays LAST year, we have talked about taking them to a nearby bike path. Well....they finally got to ride on the bike path a couple of weeks ago!

Unfortunately, "they" did not include Anna because she had ben sick with a temperature and was just too run down for any physical activity. Emily and Allie had a good time, though:



Otherwise, it has been another good summer here in New England in terms of weather.  And, as a family, we have had a good summer as well.  Everyone (for the most part) has been healthy and we have been able to do some of the many things we want to while the weather permits.

I ran the Falmouth Road Race last week and hope to do at least one post on that day.  Falmouth, by the way, is the best road race in the area (in my humbled opinion, of course!).

Thing(s) that make me go hmmmmm...

According to TIME magazine:

• $3,600 = Lemonade-stand revenue earned in a week by 9-year-old Josuhua Smith of Detroit; he donated the money to his struggling city.

• $11 million - Amount Jersey Shore star Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio earned from DJ appearances over the past year.

On (and off) the beam.

The title of this post refers to the spiritual beam, not the balance beam we have been hearing about the past several days.

In the past I have prouded myself on being “on the beam” spiritually. Unfortunately, when I am off the beam, I do not even realize it. Life takes over and I get caught up with making a few extra dollars or I get overly concerned about keeping up with how others perceive me. I suddenly cannot find the time to pray, meditate or take a deep breath and clear my mind.

Today, out of nowhere, the serenity prayer entered my mind. It was just what I needed:

God Grant Me the Serenity

To Accept the Things I Cannot Change

Courage to Change the Things I Can

And the Wisdom to Know the Difference

For me, the things I cannot change = other people.  And the things I can change = myself.

I certainly hope I am moving toward more serenity and less mental chaos.  

In other news...I've been having fun over the past few months spending some alone time with Allie, Anna and Emily.  Here's a picture from our outing yesterday: