Take what I can get...

Friday was "cocktail day" in the Cole household....no, not what you are thinking....Annika was up for her kindergarten shots including a flu shot (that was 5 total, she's a stud) and Cam and I were on tap for a flu shot.

For those of you who are not believers in the flu shot, I never was until last year, when I had what the doctor called "the flu," it was more like death but I wouldn't die, I just had to endure it. I had a fever for a week, I was dressed in fleece head to toe under a heavy down comforter for the whole time, then the fever broke and said fleece and comforter was sopped...I changed my bedding (um, no I didn't wet myself) and went to bed with a smile...by morning temp was back up over 100 (my normal body temp is 96.9)...my back was on fire, etc.. I know, WHAAAA!

The moral of the story, everyone I know who had the flu shot never got the flu...the few that were w/o the flu shot joined my hell. I am a believer now!

At any rate, I took the day off for the event. No, I don't like needles all that much, but it was a great excuse to go ride. After the kids were at school I got home and hopped on the CX bike and headed up the rail-trail to Placerville, I'd say 95% single track. Fun CX ride with a couple long run-ups for kicks! It twists along an old rail line between Sac and Pville so the average grade is about 5% up to Camino, with the ups and downs along the actual rail it adds up quick. So after busting your hump to get above Pville, its a ripping ride back down to Cameron Park. Probably a 25 minute negative split.... rear end got soft again, and yes by Saturday a.m. when I walked by the CX hanging in the garage it was FLAT....AGAIN...thanks SCHTEVE!

Finally signs of Fall along the trail, this is the only portion where you have to deal with "train-track-gravel"...most of the trail twists and turns on single track following the general cut of the tracks.Just below Pville, we have to cross the Weber Creek ravine on the old bridge..a wee bit bumpy riding the old ties. Notice the deflection of my wheel in the below picture!

After the ride I quickly headed down to grab the munchkin heads and get our shots...we were in the doctors room waiting for our shots and Cam and Annika were arguing over who was more brave and who would go first...Ah, naivety... So Cam gets up first, sees the needle and gets upset...when he was done he hops down and tells Annika it didn't hurt and they laughed! Me next, needles in general will always make me nervous but when all is said and done its no biggee.

Now Annika's turn, my little girl was terrified, this nurse walks up and sets down two handfuls of needles, shit I was freaked out! Finally she mellows a bit to say she wants them in the arm like Cam and I, so she sits up and then starts to cry. She NEVER moves a muscle though as the nurse puts 3 in her right arm, walks around me to put 2 in her left arm...I then asked Annika, "you ready" and she screams "just do it, get it done!"...and I say, "your done"...she never knew what hit her! She stopped crying looked at the band aides and said that didn't hurt! Guess you have to be a dad to appreciate that one! Of course she walked out of the office holding both arms completely still, making sure not to move them. She spent the rest of the night at the gymnastics gym tumbling for 4 hours! My arm still hurts though, :(

Saturday:

Soccer was great, Cam's team actually exploded the last 10 minutes of the game after spending the first 3/4 of the game playing very timid! It was nice to see!! They looked great and had so much fun, thats what makes it worth it!

After the game Marja and I headed to Arnold for her Dad's 60th, great party...For those of you who do not know Arnold, its close to the Bear Valley Ski Resort and many Bay Area folk have cabins there for summer and winter play. Like most areas, the locals depend on the revenue from the "weekenders" but most have a really hard time with them "taking over" their town. On the road back to Marja's parents place was this one home, I really can't figure out if it is a Bay Area Vacation home, or a local....but the landscaping gives you a hint:

You tell me...look closely!















On a lighter note, for those of you who don't know, we are dog people....so this was extra cool to us....Marja thinks we need one for my DeSalvo, matching Ti of course, she took this photo driving home from UCD on Friday: