4 runs, who am I?

Sorry for the pooping photo but I just love the composition!

YES!  Thanks to much cooler and manageable temps, I got 4 runs (4, 3, 3, and 7) and 2 bike rides in!  We also had a quick staycation as our mini vacation got canceled thanks to the track canceling their race that we were all headed to in Minnesota.  

We are also trying to soak up every single minute of summer before we head back to school.  While summer has been super busy this year, I have loved most every minute of it.  That has meant early mornings and late nights to make up for time away from work, but I don't care.  We are eating ice cream in other towns, visiting places we haven't in a long time, swimming during the day, and having as much fun as we can.  We will try and get as many experiences in as we can before August 15th rolls around!

I also got my pictures back from the 40 over 40 program I did.  I will try and sneak in my favorites in the next few weeks.  Yes, we are almost the same height now.  NO I was not prepared to take a full body shot of myself hence the shoes, but I went with what Nikita had in her head and even though I am in hey dudes, I LOVE every single shot, belly and all.

I am so glad I trusted in this process and let her pick out my dresses.  I love how this black dress turned out and it was not one I even looked at during the initial consultation!  Photographers are artists and have vision.  Trust them!

I also stayed up super late one night to hang out with some of my most favorite people at play Drag Queen Bingo.  We had so much fun raising money for a great cause, I won a bingo and got a prize, and Kerry got to experience not only Manhattan Brewing company, but also Aggieville, as we had to find food post the bar shutting down and nothing was open.  

We also brought Deuce home.  I had a total breakdown in the vet's office, but got lots of hugs from the very sweet vet techs we have.  They not only had us a clay paw print, but also a very sweet card that included his nose print and very sweet messages from all of them.  He will join the rest of the aussie crew in various spots around our house.

On to a happier note, our mini staycation included a Topeka day with gooney golf, go cart riding, a trip to the Topeka zoo, and a new to us brewery in downtown Topeka.   Here are just a few pictures.  

For the record, Tony and I tied on our scores, something that never happens.  Andrew wasn't far behind us, although we let him have several do overs at the beginning since he insisted on going first every time.  

The baby orangutan was my favorite at the zoo.  If you don't think we shared a common ancestor, spend some time watching them in a zoo or the wild.  Topeka has a real gem of a zoo, if you ever are in Topeka needing something to do. They are also doing lots of renovations to make bigger exhibits for the animals which I love.  We went on world Tiger day and learned lots of facts about tigers.  My favorite exhibit was the lorikeets though.  Such beautiful birds and you could observe so much fascinating behavior.  

Go cart racing was slightly terrifying for me, not going to lie.  I could barley reach the pedals, and I don't use one foot for brake and one for gas, so I just let off of the gas if needed.  I also didn't know how hard I could push the car and it spin out or worse.  Andrew won with me coming in fourth.  Even Tony couldn't catch Andrew!!!!  GO GINGER RACER!

We finished the night with Iron Rail Brewery beer and food in downtown Topeka.  Simply put, it was amazing and we will be back.  I had both the peach cobbler wheat beer and the smore stout and I brought home a growler of the peach.  Tony tried the tangerine wheat and we all had desserts to try.  I think the skillet brownie won, but the fried beignets in banana foster sauce was a pretty close second.  

Have a great week y'all!  I am looking at the temps for the first week of august with a giant eye roll, but it is still summer and I have to remember that.  One month closer to cooler temps and more happy running!