The Ore 2 Shore... Joel

On Saturday Joel and James participated in their first ever Ore to Shore!

Joel had his race on Saturday AM.  He did the 28 mile Soft Rock (there is also a 48 mile Hard Rock).  The race started in Negaunee and went through the woods to Marquette.  Joel figured he could do the race in 2 1/2 hours, hoped to do it in 2 hours 15 minutes, and finished in 2 hours and 1 minute!  We are all very proud of him.  He did not even think about getting back on his bike until he rode the 1 mile to work on Monday AM.

Joel at the start in Negaunee.  One can't tell by the picture, but it was pouring rain!  We amused the people around him when he told me not to go into labor while he was out.  I told him that I wouldn't go into labor if he promised not to fall.  Thankfully, we both kept our promises

Joel pointing at James 19 miles into the race.  James was thrilled!

Joel and James celebrating at the end of the race.  Joel was completely gassed!

All 3 1/2 of us at the end of the race.  Now that this is over, Baby D needs to get out so it can count as a whole person :)

Soon to come:  James' Ore to Shore!

40 weeks and still no Baby D

As you can clearly see we have, most unfortunately, made it to our due date with no baby.  I am enormous to the point of bursting.  I just don't think my body is very good at being so big.  Baby D is not really allowed to come out on Saturday because of Ore 2 Shore.  I really don't want to miss Jam's 1st race and Joel's first Ore 2 Shore.

James has been nesting with me and Grandma Dank.  I'm pretty sure that we're all ready... now all we need is a baby.  He has taken to telling Baby D to "come out" about 25 times a day.  It is to the point that I have to tell him that Baby D is sleeping so we have to leave it alone.  He is just very excited.  Let's hope he still likes the baby once its actually out :)

James learned how to use the little vacuum so he could help mommy by sucking up the Dust Puppies and Dust Kitties.  It has been very helpful.

This is video of James helping Grandma Dank redecorate the bathroom for my "Baby Shower Gift."  It turned out super cute, and is now pretty well organized.  We ran out of baby stuff to nest with so we've turned our attention to random rooms.

Residency Graduation

Joel had his residency graduation on June 20th.  Joel's whole family and everyone in my family but Barb and her family were able to make it.  We had a really good time at graduation, and because it was also Superior Bike Fest we also got to watch loads of biking.  This has only served to increase my son's obsession with riding his bike.

Joel is thrilled to be done with residency and started his "real" job on July 7th.  Thus far it has been pretty slow, but I'm sure he'll have more patients as time goes on.  He is also working with a med student and precepting for the residents.  The best part of the deal is that he gets every Thursday afternoon off for paperwork... which he is not behind on yet, so he just comes home.  We have also been able to eat lunch with him every day this week, which has been awesome.  He gets an actual lunch hour now, not just a lecture during which he can eat.

Here is Joel receiving his plaque thingy.  Jam and I missed him actually getting it because James decided he really had to pee.  Thanks to Kristy Roberge for taking this picture for us.

James' favorite part of graduation was the dancing.  He danced until the very end.  When the dance floor would clear off he would pull Mommy onto the floor.  I was totally exhausted by the end :)

Joel, James, Baby D and I at the end of graduation.

At the very end the DJ played "Say" by John Mayer and Jam got up on the stage and gave us an air-guitar/lip-synced concert.  All the clean up crew stood around to watch.  James didn't get to bed until after midnight, but then he slept until 11 AM (Joel said he is ready for college).  I was thrilled to have the time to sleep in.  All in all we had a really good time.

James' First Fishing Trip

Today James, Joel and I went to the Yellow Dog River for James' first ever fishing trip (not counting those in-utero.)  Jam learned about hooks (like not to touch them), how to cast, and even got a chance to catch a brook trout.  He caught it after like 5 casts!  It was very exciting.  He had another one get off when he stopped reeling and a third one steal half his worm and get away.  All in all it was a very fun day.

Daddy and James on their way down to the river

Jam's Big Catch!

Our very proud little fisherman.

This is video of James learning how to cast... with lots of help from daddy!

This is Jam reeling in his HUGE catch!

Go Speed Racer!

James is really enjoying bike riding.  A couple of days ago we raised his training wheels so he could more easily get over things.  He has fallen a couple of times since then, but he has been super tough and only cried a little bit.

He went riding with Lily Dixon for the first time last night.  I think they are going to have lots of fun riding together.  Even though Lily had a much bigger bike, Jam kept up with her pretty well.  He even had to wait for her a couple of times.  They are going to be super cute doing the littlest rock together.

Today Jam rode 22 times around the block!  He rode 10 laps in the AM and 12 right before dinner.  He is getting so fast that we can't keep up on foot any more so Joel rode behind him tonight.

Jam's Big Boy Bed

Jam and Pooh are snuggled in and comfy!

It almost seems like he's really asleep!

Grandma and Grandpa Dank brought James his daddy's old bed to use as his "big boy bed."  This is actually his first nap... he didn't really sleep.  Thus far he has only fallen out once and likes it very much.  He has now decided that baby D can have the crib, which is a good thing.  He is still anxiously awaiting the arrival of his Chicago Cubs bedding.

Soon to come... Residency Graduation!

James' Accidents and Illnesses

Here is a picture of James with pink eye.  It's an old picture, but not everyone got to see it.

In this picture Jam decided that it was a good idea to try to open the door of the shed by himself in 25 mph winds.  Needless to say the wind took the door with Jam still hanging on for a "ride"  Both knees and one elbow got pretty scraped.  Although he's happy in this picture, he freaked out for like an hour (64 min) after it happened.

This is James' "Will Smith Ear."  He is apparently very allergic to some bug in our yard.  This is the second time he has had a bad reaction.  This picture is after Claritin and Benedryl.

I know that this is an odd posting, but I am doing a big update for months, so I'll be doing (hopefully) multiple postings in one day.