Bad Blogger!

I was reminded last weekend that I have been a bad blogger. Between running, being slammed at work, and spending time with my family, there just isn't any time left to catch you up on our summer. So, over the next week or two, I will try to make up for lost time.

For now, here's a couple pictures of Emily on a Harley at Green Lake.

Sue - does this buy me a few days??

Today Paul and I participated in Major League Baseball's First Annual All Star Charity 5K Race through Downtown St. Louis. We ran an extremely hard 10 miles yesterday morning, so today was all about fun and participation in a race that benefitted 3 great charities: Stand Up to Cancer; Susan G. Komen; and Prostate Cancer Foundation.

No personal records were set by the Kreidlers, but a good time was had by both of us as we enjoyed an easy run through Downtown!

Ready to Run! After the race, we saw Olympic Gymnastic Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson who signed my race number! She sure is tiny!

My new friend Shawn and I!

At the finish line!

Random Pictures from Today

Amy, modeling her new shoes, think they will make her fast. Too bad for her that she had the same experience on her 10 mile training run that I did. We both struggled to make it back alive!

Amy shows her disgust for the iPOD strap that I wore during my run, as it was still dripping wet with sweat. The replacement charger for her shuffle can't come soon enough.

Emily getting sized for her violin. She can't wait for school to begin so that she can start to learn how to play it just like Beba.

The proud renter of a used violin. Either that, or she's packing a tommy gun.

Trip to Six Flags

Our whirlwind of a holiday weekend took us to Springfield, Chicago, and back to St. Louis in just 3 days. We decided to end holiday with a trip to Six Flags today. Adam tried some of the bigger rides, but didn't like them at all. He rode the teacups, but I was pretty sure he was close to passing out/throwing up.

Emily actually got on the Ninja, but it broke down before they left the station.

If I wasn't so hot and tired, I would write more!

They told Adam to give them a "Six Flags smile." I guess in his mind that means a grin with crossed-eyes

Amy and Emily on the ferris wheel

Nice faces, Amy & Emily!

Adam's out of gas!

Summer Camps!

Emily has been keeping busy this summer with a number of different camps at Kirkwood High School. So far, it's been basketball, volleyball, and pommie camp. She had a Girl Scout camp at a local park last week, and her friend Maddie from Springfield is here this week for the long-awaited camp at the St. Louis Zoo.

Here are a few pictures from the camps so far. Emily's answer for which one was her favorite so far seems to change, but I think that she really enjoyed the volleyball camp.

Adam has been to dinosaur camp and garden camp, however I'm not sure that we have any pictures from those camps?!

Emily was excited to see a larger-than-life poster of one of her favorite babysitters, Claire, hanging from the rafters of the new gym at the high school.

Daddy's Little Helper

Adam is fascinated with tools. He has a specific interest in my impact driver and mag light, but he loves them all. Here are some pictures from a few nights ago. We had some shelving and a table to put together and I introduced Adam to a socket wrench.

Such concentration! I watched for the Joe Kreidler signature tongue to come out, but I don't think it happened.

Father's Day

This year's Father's Day was a creative one. Amy teamed up with some of the neighbors to make baskets of burgers and fries for their corresponding husbands. There were sugar-cookie fries, cupcake buns, brownie burgers, and frosting condiments, along with hand-crafted baskets. They turned out great.

The kids gave me a hand-painted ceramic picture frame that said #1 Dad with hearts made out of their fingerprints. Amy and Emily were trying to think of a picture to put in the frame. Adam disappeared and came back a few minutes later with a picture of the 2 kids from last fall that was hanging on his bulletin board.

The burger basket was quickly devoured, and the picture frame is proudly displayed in my office.