Midnight marauders on our back porch!!!!

Hello family,

For several weeks, Amy and I have had a "mysterious midnight visitor" breaking into my old milk can on the back porch. I store bird seed in the milk can for my backyard bird feeders and in the mornings we would find the lid to the milk can on the ground with bird seed scattered around. As we have many feathered and furry creatures in our neighborhood I considered the usual suspects......

However, without proof........ I decided to try securing the lid with twine to prevent further mischief in the night! This seemed to work as we had no more "lid off-scattered bird seed" in the morning for about a week. Then last week......I awoke to find the lid off again.....bird seed scattered on the ground......the twine in pieces......and the milk can knocked over on it's side.

Hmmmm........as the milk can weighs about 40 pounds.....I decided this eliminated several of the usual suspects.....but.....I still did not have enough evidence to name the guilty party!!!

Therefore, I decided to increase security and wire the lid onto the can with metal wire!!!!

This worked for about a week.....then around mid-night.....several nights ago....Amy and I were awakened by a loud metal crash!!!!!!

I jumped out of bed and ran to the window to see what could be seen....but it was dark (we keep the lights out at night) and at first I couldn't see anything....then.....MOVEMENT!!!! I remained still and quiet and continued to watch.....and then..... more movement......there were several vandals!!!!

Finally I could see the culprits and they were........ (you'll have to vote on who you think the midnight marauder's were)....and I'll post the answer in a week or so....

Greg

April and May news from Greg and Amy

Hello family,

Well it's been too long since Amy and I posted anything so....here's what we've been up to the past few months.

Amy and I spent 7 days in the Netherlands in late April. We picked the Netherlands because Amy loves flowers....and.....Keukonhof Gardens near Lisse Holland is the largest bulb garden in the world. We timed our visit to see the worlds longest flower parade (over 24 miles from start to finish) which ends up in Haarlem (a few miles outside of Amsterdam). The parade arrived in Haarlem just at sunset and everyone lined the streets to watch the floats come into town.......and then all the floats parked on the street right next to our hotel so in the morning we were able to walk among the floats and get some great pictures with the morning light.











Haarlem float

We then left Haarlem and drove to a Bed and Breakfast near Keukenhof Gardens where we rented a tandem bicycle and spent two days riding around the area past small farms, small villages/towns, canals, and field after field after field of blooming flowers.











Our Bed and Breakfast near Keukenhof Gardens.

We also spent almost an entire day at Keukenhof Gardens (it's over 80 acres of flowers and trees).....and it was absolutely the most beautifully planted gigantic flower garden I have ever seen.

Keukenhof Gardens











All Amy and I can say is that if you love flowers and smell of flowers on the spring air.....then you need to put a visit of Keukenhof Gardens on your list of things to do before you die.














The Netherlands was just like a post card, canals, side-walk cafes, Dutch architecture, Dutch art and.... no matter where you went in the Netherlands......everyone....and I mean EVERYONE was on a bicycle. Men and women in suites carrying brief-cases and riding a bike to work, mom's and dad's going to the market with their kids (all on a bike), old folks out for a Sunday ride (on a bike)!!! And...... the Netherlands is so bicycle friendly....there as bike trails along almost every road so any where you can go in a car..you could go on a bike, the city, the country, etc. and....the country is relatively flat from Amsterdam south to Belgium so riding is easy!!!!

So after spending seven wonderful days in the Netherlands.......we flew from Amsterdam to London where we joined Barbara and Lance (Amy's sister and her husband) and then flew on to Croatia for our annual holiday trip!!!
















Roman ruins in Split Croatia











Lance, Barbara, Amy and I sitting by the Adriatic Sea in Split

The village of Splano where we rented a house.











Sunset view from our patio

























Amy and I at the gates to Dubrovnik, Croatia











Dubrovnik













Fresh fish for dinner!

Korkula (small town on an island near Splano).

Mostar Bosnia and the famous bridge that was destroyed and then rebuilt after the 1991-1995 war.

Amy on the market street in Mostar

The Bay of Kotar, Montenegro

After 10 exciting and fun filled days in Croatia....we headed home and were only slightly delayed by the volcanic ash clouds over Europe. Now it's back to work and our normal routines....all of which is good!!!!

Love to everyone in our wonderful families.

Greg and Amy

1.... 2.... 3... Fawns!

As many of you know, I've been training for another half ironman triathlon in Kansas. The triathlon is this weekend but this time it will go down quite a bit differently than it has in the past.

Backtrack to the Friday before last....

I set out on a 13 mile training run. It was to be my biggest training run of the season before starting to "taper", which means reducing training intensity to keep myself fresh for the race. Luckily before I headed out I asked Julie if she'd like to join me on her pink beach cruiser.. She did so we set off...

After about 6 miles my right hamstring started to ache. I stopped and got some water, stretched out a bit... and tried running again but I could tell my leg needed a break so I stopped running... We were far from home at this point so Julie and I figured out a way that we could both ride together on her Pink beach cruiser to get home. It looked dorky as hell and we got a lot of laughs but we were home rather quickly!

I iced my leg.. stayed off it a few days... The following Wednesday I tried a moderately paced 20 mile bike ride and felt fine... The following day I tried to run. I made it one very slow mile before bagging it... I'm one week before the race, can't run one mile!

I stayed off it a few more days. It's definitely better and I even think I may be able to run on it - but with a full summer of activity ahead I don't want to push it... Better to let myself heal... but what about the race I trained for all winter?

The run for a half Ironman is a half marathon.. There is a relay division in the race (as opposed to doing the entire thing as a single person), so I started to think if I knew anybody that was in shape to run a half marathon at last minute notice. Yeah right! Good luck! My list looked like this:

Josh - my running buddy last year

Amber Reed - My sister in law, a great and very experienced Marathoner - but has been on a comeback from surgery

Todd Faestel - a triathlon buddy of mine training for Ironman... Certainly in good enough shape but he already had race plans and aggressive goals.

Hans Bakker - A high school friend I ride bikes with from time to time.. Definitely in shape as he ran Boston marathon this year.

So I emailed everybody on this list and got the following responses:

Josh: Out because he's in basketball mode this year.

Hans: Already signed up for a bike event the same weekend (Elephant Rock)...

Todd: Todd actually said "BT1 to the rescue!!" and was totally ready to come out! I just didn't feel right about it because he has aggressive goals in the Coer D'Alene full ironman in just a few weeks... Thanks for even considering it buddy!

I also loved Amber's response:

Amber: "What are the logistics? Do we have to fly to Kansas etc.. The most I have run is 10 miles so it is a stretch but not impossible.."
Me: "We drive Friday morning and return Sunday... Everything is already taken care of... I just need you to show up with your working pair of running legs"...
Amber: "(Gulp), When do we leave?"

Boom! All done... So we now have a Morales/Reed relay team that will work as follows:

- I will swim the 1.2 mile swim
- I will transition to the bike for a 56 mile bike ride
- I will then hand the baton off to Amber for the 13.1 mile run!

So now my injury has morphed into something that will likely be more fun than my original plan. This will be a blast to do this with Amber and hopefully a good vehicle to help us both work back into shape from surgery and injury... I'm so glad she was able to bail me out of this one!

I'm also excited because one of my favorite athletes, Chrissie Wellington, will be racing this one. In my opinion she is one of the greatest athletes on Earth and is one of the main reasons I signed up for this event... I wanted to have a chance at seeing her on the bike during the race..

The bike course is a loop, so now if Chrissie passes me, I have a chance to put the pedal to the metal and ride with her as long as I possibly can without having to worry about saving my legs for a half marathon!! How cool is that?

The race is this Sunday... Stay tuned and I'll post more when we finish....

As for the team name.... We are called the "Fawns" after this relentless killer beast. Before the race I hope to put our hands in and go 1.... 2.... 3... Fawns! Our team song goes like this:

"Oh come all ye faithful... Always be real playful
and kind and considerate to donkeys and fawns!"

This should certainly give you and idea of how Amber and I will be employing mentally strenuous intimidation tactics for our competition..