Flag Day Parade and Random Photos

The Flag Day parade in our city is the biggest in the nation, and is around 2 hours long. I marched in that parade every year in High School, playing the trombone....wearing heavy polyester blazer, black polyester skirt, nylons, a hat, and carrying a trombone. Most of us were near heat exhaustion by the end, but we had fun. When I saw my alma mater march by this year I was stunned to see that they had really cool new uniforms that didn't seem to include any polyester and even featured sequins. Sequins are pretty much a defining feature in an outfit, aren't they? Think of wedding dresses....I think brides-to-be pay by the sequin, by the fabric-covered button, and by the pearlescent seed bead. So, it seems to me that sequins are really the icing on the cake of band uniforms. Not the store-brand chocolate frosting out of the can, either....but homemade buttercream with a delicate chocolate syrup drizzled lightly over the top. What I'm trying to say is that the band seems to have catapulted out of the ghetto and into the sparkly, clean, and pristine suburb.Libby and Amelia seemed to love the parade. Amelia more than Libby, apparently, because she didn't fall asleep half-way through. The parade time fell smack dab in the middle of nap-time. I cannot understand how Libby can sleep through marching bands, firetruck sirens, semi-truck airhorns, and Shriners in miniature cars....but will wake up instantly if I carefully pull her door closed during a nap in a quiet house. Amelia bounced and watched and flirted with others on the curb nearby. And she only spit up on me three times. I think she loved it. Maybe she will turn into a band geek like her mama.
Tomorrow is our first long run post-marathon. It's only 10 miles, but it's the furthest we've run in a few weeks and I'm a little nervous. Even my short runs have been tough for me since the marathon. I'm fatigued and am having some left hip-flexor and right foot issues. I'm hoping for a nice easy ten and to enjoy this 'short' long run before they start getting longer again each week. It should be nice and cool and dry, and we're running at 7 am. I'll provide my weekly java-adventure-run report tomorrow. (We always have mapped our long runs to end at a coffee shop about 1.5 miles away from home. Then we walk our cool down carrying lattes. And our runs are always full of adventure and mayhem...and if they aren't...well...I make it up. I've been producing the weekly report for my online running club since we started training for Green Bay. Now I'll post them here.)
Last weekend we did some hiking at a local State Park and attended Chris' parents' vow renewal ceremony. Kitty and Jim have been married for 25 years. I will share some photos from the parade, hiking, and the ceremony. Also one of Amelia in the fort we made in Libby's room this morning while Chris was sleeping.