The Orricks: 4th of July Weekend

Last weekend was a fun weekend at the Orrick houshold. We have been going full court press on our to-do list lately, so that was the first weekend we had where we were able to have FUN and not worry so much about "the list". We did a lot of regular household stuff on Saturday, like cleaning, laundry, and organizing (sounds like fun, right?) but then on Sunday was when we let it all go. We got up early to watch the Peachtree Road Race. That was kind of a big deal for me because it's the first time in at least 5 years, maybe more, that I haven't run it.

You may remember this picture as our first Peachtree that we ran together. But this year, that was out of the question. This could be ridiculously optimistic of me, but I THINK I could have walked the race endurance wise. But I never would have made it bathroom-wise. They usually offer a "runners" and a "walkers" division, so I would have needed them to add a "waddlers" division, and maybe a 3 day head start in order for me to have done it comfortably. Needless to say, the ATC didn't really see the need for all that. So this year, I watched. It was very hard to sit back and relax, knowing the emotions that the runners were going through at the point we were sitting at on the course. We set up camp between 10th and 11th streets, and for those of you who know the course, you probably know that 11th street is where one of the last mister stations is, and 10th street is the turn to head down the last little stretch to cross the finish line. I haven't looked at the official course map to validate this, but I believe that "little stretch" is the last 1/2 mile. So you can imagine how all the runners are feeling when they get to where we are. And just in case you can't, here's what it was like...

I can honestly say that I have never had the privelege of looking at these elite runners from this angle. I usually only see them when I am crossing the finish line and they are already on the podium getting their trophies!

I probably took 100 pictures of people carrying American and military flags. I love that the patriotism of the day is not lost on the runners.

More American pride!

And even MORE American pride!

I don't know what this person said to anger this guy, but he is clearly one unhappy super-hero wannabe!

Hubs, cooling off under the tree. Behind him are the runners that are about to round the corner onto 10th street.

The only picture of me with other sweaty runners!

(Just in case you were wondering what he did in the "off season")

After that, a nap was in order. Then we switched over to the great American tradition of having a cook-out! We had a few friends over and grilled out (what else?) hot dogs and hamburgers (chicken burgers for me). We had all of the traditional sides- potato salad, cucumber salad, pasta salad, fruit, chips, salsa, guacamole, french onion dip...oh and beer! I had peach tea- it's a Southern thing, I guess, but that was good enough for me. AND I got to use a lot of tomatoes from my garden! I used some cucumbers too- the ones that survived the squash bug war, that is.