Busy couple of weeks, back to the norm... Plus rain returning!

Hello from Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area!  We have stayed in Central Ohio for the most part the past few months, but managed to get a little traveling in before school starts again.

The previous weekend we went up to Lake Erie to Cedar Point.  Evan did not want to sleep so I took him for a walk and we watched the sunrise at Pipe Creek Wildlife Area.  

We then loaded up for a trip into America's Playground... that's what they call Cedar Point, right?  I don't do a lot of the intense rides, but a lot of the others did while I hung out with Summer and Evan most of the day doing the easier rides for her.  Evan cannot walk yet, so he was not able to do any rides yet.

That Sunday morning I went for a run along the shores of Lake Erie.  It was a warm and humid 15 miles, but great views and always fun to run in new locations. 

It's also fun to run with good friends.  I was off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week for a quick trip, so I was able to stay up later on Tuesday and I took the kids with me to the Loopy Tuesday run with Columbus Westside Running Club.  Another warm and humid 6 mile run.  

So my short trip was to Las Vegas.  Dawn and I went out there to celebrate her cousin's 50th birthday.  This photo of just the two of us is in front of the Mirage.  We both love the Mirage and always get a photo by the front waterfalls.  Mirage is classy and reasonable with pricing compared to some of the other resorts.

Here is a group shot of everyone that went out for the birthday fun.  This was from Fremont Street. 

We also rented scooters for a guided tour of Red Rock Canyon.  A few of the other ladies wanted to hang out by the pool instead.

And I did run while I was there.  Did my long run, 12 miles, from the south end of the Strip up to Fremont and back. Had to get it in early… Temps were 80 in the morning then 110 in the afternoons. It was a fun, quick trip.

Summer and Evan were spoiled at my parents' house.  They went to the pool, movies, county fair, and baked cookies. Summer loved all the farm equipment at the county fair. 

We came back and our watermelons in the garden were ready to harvest.  The kids loved that!  I think all the vine plants are done for the season.  My pumpkin plants look good and start a pumpkin then the pumpkin itself gets spots and soft and then dies.  Not sure... Maybe I will let them go a little longer with some rain on the way...

Grab that rain gear!  We are starting Monday dry with clouds moving into Central Ohio and we will have cloudy skies by midday with scattered showers arriving.  The rain will move in for the afternoon and become steady through a lot of the late afternoon and evening.  It will start moving in from the southwest and slowly work across the state to the northeast.  With the rain likely for the afternoon, our temperatures will be limited to the lower-mid 70s for highs today.  Scattered showers for the overnight hours and those will linger into the start of Tuesday as well.  The rain looks to take a break midday Tuesday and most of the afternoon looks to be mostly to partly cloudy with highs near 80s. It will also be humid for Tuesday afternoon.  A cold front will be approaching for Tuesday night and ahead of that we will see a broken line of showers and storms later in the day.  Right now the storms look to move in around sunset and it appears that severe weather is not likely, but a few strong storms are possible.  High temps then fall back into the upper 70s and near 80 for Wednesday through Friday with a mix of sun & clouds.  Overnight lows will be cool and refreshing as well, in the upper 50s. Another cold front next weekend, but with our dry air in place it should limit the chance of rain to a few spotty showers.  We will keep an eye on that as we get closer, but, until then, plan on a wet couple days for the start of the week then some really fantastic weather for the second half of the week.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Evan's first birthday!

We had a blast last weekend!  Evan turned 1 on Saturday.  Hard to believe that now we have a 4 year old and 1 year old.  We had over some close friends and family and it was a lot of fun celebrating

Just like Summer, we made a big #1 covered with photos of him from his first year and then I clear coated the top of it.  It is fun to go back and look at Summer's #1 too.  Dawn also made a cute framed photo collage of the two of them from the past year with the text "MY 1st BEST FRIEND".  I love it.

Evan dug into the cake some, but he was pretty content with only eating a little bit of the cake.

One of the new gifts was a dual swing for Evan and Summer to ride together.  It has been so much fun watching him grow up the past year and especially her.  She has been such an amazing big sister and is always keeping an eye on Evan and is quick to let us know if he is getting into something that he shouldn't. She is quick to yell, "MOOOOOOOOM, DAAAAAAAAAAD!!!"

I worked over the weekend straight into this week.  I was getting worn down and tired with the 1AM alarms... I CRASHED when it was nap time for the kids on Tuesday and got a 2 hour nap.  So it was very easy to decide to run with the Columbus Westside Run Club on their Tuesday run at 6:30PM at Westgate Park.  Dawn and the kids came out as well and went with the walkers.  Since the walkers go in the opposite direction on the 1 mile loop then I get to give high fives to Summer several times while I got in my 8 miles.

I also took the kids up to the new Dublin branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.  VERY nice library and Summer loved going to the other side of the fish tank making Evan laugh.

I have been doing my daily runs on the roads a lot lately so decided to try to get some trail miles in yesterday.  Most of it was grass, but a mile or so was on actual trail.  I was able to test out my new Altra Timp 1.5 shoes.  Love them!  Light and snug on the top of the foot, but lots of room for my toes.  

Check out this storm last night!  It missed us.  I have been watering occasionally and will need to continue doing that if we don't get more rain soon.

Another morning with some patchy fog, but not quite as dense so far... The early fog will clear out and then we will be partly cloudy with some isolated showers and storms. Northeastern Ohio is in the Marginal Risk for severe storms, by the Storm Prediction Center. It will be a warm and humid day with highs in the mid 80s. Have rain gear handy and ready to go for the isolated pockets of rain. Friday will start out with more patchy fog then partly cloudy skies. High pressure will be passing by over Ohio so rain will likely stay at bay, but new models are trying to sneak in some rain late in the day, so let's go with a 20% chance of rain tomorrow. Most of Central Ohio will likely stay dry for Friday, but more rain returns for the weekend. Highs in the mid 80s for Friday and humidity still in the medium-high range. Saturday and Sunday will be hot with highs in the upper 80s with pop-up isolated showers and storms. It will also be a little more humid as well. So have rain gear handy for the weekend and a back-up plan if you have an outdoor event this weekend. The rain will be isolated both days so some areas will stay dry. The pattern of warm, humid, isolated rain conditions continue into next week as well. Not big change to our pattern anytime soon. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Ohio State Fair, 8 year wedding anniverary, & back to running

I took Summer to the Ohio State Fair last week and she had a blast.  I got one of the giant Kool-Aids with free refills.  I probably refilled it more than the average person, but it was perfect on a hot day. 
Didn't get quite as much food as I had planned, but that is probably for the best.  ;)

I HIGHLY recommend checking out Smokey in the ODNR area of the fair.  One of the parents did not know about it and it was a lot of fun to see the kids when Smokey called out their names and talked with them.

Last week was also the 8 year anniversary for getting married to Dawn.  We like to go back to Browning Amphitheater for a picnic and reminisce.  So much fun watching Summer dancing on stage as well.  Evan was a big subdued because he is getting over a viral infection, but he seems to be making a turn for the better.  So I spent a lot of the weekend with him.  Summer went to visit Dawn's mom for the weekend for a lot of fun at her grandparents. It was good for Summer to be away so Evan could rest without Summer wanting him to play. All he wanted to do was rest. With Summer out of town, Dawn was insistent with me taking time in the mornings for runs and then I had Evan in the afternoons while she met her cousin to catch up.

I went back to the eye doctor on Friday and got the green light to start running again.  But I need to take some precautions.  Sunglasses are needed to avoid as much dust as possible from getting into my eyes along with a headband to keep the sweat from getting into my eyes too.  Went for a six mile run after the appointment and I used the roller afterward to loosen up the muscles a little more.

Had a great morning run Saturday with the Columbus Westside Running Club.

Then an early Sunday run on the trails.   

We even got to see the yellow springs yesterday.  So I went from a week of rest to 27 miles within three days.  My legs are a little sore now, so taking today off as a rest day, but happy to get back into the training cycle for races this fall.

Have the rain gear handy this week!  Today we will start warm and then become hot and humid this afternoon with high temps approaching 90.  We will have morning sun followed by building clouds and isolated pop-up showers and storms, mainly for the afternoon and early evening.  The chance of rain today for the area is about a 30% chance for an individual location.  There is a better chance of rain on the way. Partly cloudy and another very warm day Tuesday.  Scattered showers and storms will develop in the afternoon on Tuesday.  We will have a little more energy to get the rain to develop, so our chance of rain will be a 50%-60% for Tuesday and Wednesday.  So a decent part of the area will see rain between Tuesday or Wednesday, but not a guarantee for everyone.  It will be warm and humid for the first half of the week then a cold front will trigger some lingering rain Thursday.  Once that front passes, then humidity and temps will be falling. Friday and the weekend is looking spectacular.  Right now we are on track for high pressure bringing sunshine and highs near 80 with lower humidity.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael