Sunday, May 21, 2006

Great Strides 2006

A beautiful spring day - great for a nice little six mile walk. Why you might ask?

He's why.

Thing1 lives with Cystic Fibrosis. He's lucky in that he has no lung involvement but it's still a pain in the - well you know. As a family we've been doing the annual Great Strides walk since 1992. Seems like forever.
At first it was just the wife and I. Sometimes some friends would join us. Thing1 started to come with as he got older and now it's his team. Thing2 has started getting into it as well. She manages to get at least $100.00 in pledges every year and usually manages to make it all six miles.
In our area the walk is held in several places. We go to Busse Woods in Schaumburg as it's not far from home and a beautiful place to walk. A few other people thought so to.


Thing2 got to meet Beary - the mascot for the Schaumburg Flyers minor league baseball team.

Flyers games are fun. The field reminds one of Wrigley but with a winning team :-).
Like most charity walks there is entertainment, food, free stuff, etc. Even a local pom squad there trying to get people warmed up.

The walk started at 10:00. Thing1 and I usually set a good pace and pass people. Thing2 doesn't walk quite as fast so we had to take it easy. Still - she walked with little complaint. Thing1 and I talked about football and school. He's growing up and he seems to have his act together. The change in the last 2 years has been amazing.

Thing2 started to complain a bit approaching the half way point. A local radio station came to the rescue.

They had Dilly Bars. Yummmmm! Thing2 perked up and made the last three miles with no complaints. What a kid!

Lunch awaited us. Nothing fancy - just hot dogs and chips. And Cold Stone Creamery ice cream.

What a beautiful day. Got to spend time with my kids and raise money for a worthy cause.

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