Tag Archives: brewery

Family Fun at Revolver Brewing

After the quick mani-pedi and bounce house event the day before, all of us went out to visit Revolver Brewing for local craft beer and to hang out with our visiting family members.  I was able to fit in a workout thanks to Kelley for watching Avery as I went through my sweat session.

The drive took about an hour and we arrived right at noon, when they opened for tours. It was already hot and cold beer was sought by all as a way to keep cool. Well, that and standing in front of a giant fan. Which obviously makes you look cool!

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See how these beautiful ladies all have their hair flowing in the wind as if they just finished washing their hair with Herbal Essences shampoo? G-Ma and Avery had to take the stage all to themselves to show off the extra flowy hair G-Ma has.

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Avery was not impressed.

I was hesitant about getting my hair messed up, but finally gave in and took a windy picture with my mom and Avery too. The beer helped give me courage.

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Phew, my hair was unscathed!

Paul and Tammy played it smart and posed out of the way of the wind. Turned out to be a great photo!

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Don’t worry, there was more posing. How can you not pose in front of these revolvers?

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Grandma kept it cool with her shades. Guess that’s what happens with a bright future. Kelley was behind the camera for most pictures, but we were able to get a nice “shot” together. See what I did there? Guns, puns….eh? Okay, I’ll stop………..sike, I never stop!

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Speaking of never stopping, Avery had G-Ma dancing to the live music when we moved out to the large patio.

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She eventually tired of dancing on the patio and went to explore further outside where there were rocks, sticks, and a crazy Uncle Paul!

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The brewery had a couple large rock piles for kids to climb, so I decided to walk with Avery over there and test how well her Soft Star Shoes allowed her climb.

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She didn’t have a problem with traction, but lost interest in scaling the mound when she found all she needed at ground level. ALL THE ROCKS!

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That girl can squat!

The sun was in full force at this time, so we brought Avery back inside to cool down and have a banana snack thanks to G-Ma who brought it from home. We also refilled on the beer.

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From there, Avery’s mood was went up and down with high and low points.

High – crazy scrunched nose smiles with G-Ma

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Low – Attempting to sit and read in a loud, crowded area.

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High – Stealing G-Ma’s and Mommy’s phone and taking pictures while rearranging the apps and layout.

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Low – Mommy’s phone died.

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High – Daddy’s phone still has battery life!

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High – Family selfie!!

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High – Sitting on Daddy’s shoulders and hugging his head.

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Notice the empty beer glass. With the heat and just holding I glass, I was drinking it as if it were water. Being the light-weight that I am, this meant I became very woozy.

Begin side thought….It didn’t help that I was already a grump. Whenever we go out, I tend to do that since I really don’t eat food in most restaurants and I was beginning to get hangry. It’s my own fault, I know, and I’m sorry to all who had to be around me. I’m working on my going out skills and will start bringing more food of my own to eat. I’m extremely particular about food and where it comes from, and to me, food is something meant to appreciate and not just used as a means of fuel. I’ll spare you the novel of reasons behind this and just say read Deep Nutrition and you’ll see where I’m coming from.

But still, no reason for me to be a grumpus every time we go out, so hopefully I’m making an improvement starting now! For my wife, for Avery, and all of my friends and family!….End side thought.

Avery’s temper started going downhill, fast, and it was time for the brewery to close up shop anyway. We stopped at a nearby hole-in-wall Mexican restaurant where I refused to eat anything but their homemade salsa and everyone else got some much needed food in their body. Avery was still crazy/cranky inside and once we were done, we took off on the hour long drive home. It was already past nap time, so we were hoping for a little nap on the drive.

Seems like they always fall asleep in the car when you don’t want them to, and then vice versa when you do. Well, that happened this time for the most part. She did give in for a little while as shown with her dormant and spread Soft Star-clad feet.

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Once home, she ran around like a wild child (nothing new), and no nap was had. Meanwhile, I spent the rest of the day recovering from too much beer while cooking and eating. Yeah, this further confirms my desire for sipping on spirits rather than drinking beer. You just can’t drink spirits like water which is easy to do with beer.

Despite my poor attitude, we had a memorable time with the family and I’m glad we got to hang out. But we weren’t through, there was more touring to be done, this time at a distillery. Right up my alley! Stay tuned for the story!

Do you take your kids to local breweries or go alone?

What are your thoughts about eating out? Are you very particular like me, or just go with the flow and eat whatever’s available?

A Mani-Pedi Treat & Bounce House Feat

I know, the moment she reads the title to this post, by wife will shake her head at the fact I just said “mani-pedi”. Honestly, I feel slightly weird every time I say, but I still do. It’s just easier than saying the full words, “manicure and pedicure”. Plus, it is in this online dictionary.

Mani-Pedi’s aside, my aunt Tammy, uncle Paul, and Grandma from Pennsylvania came down to visit my mom and have an early 60th birthday celebration with her. Kelley, Avery, and I didn’t see them every day they were down, but we met up on three on separate occasions. I’ve found that I’m spending too much time blogging and not enough family time which creates way too much stress, so I’m breaking up each outing into three parts; this post is 1 of 3.

Uncle Paul is the only brother out of the four kids my grandparents had on my mom’s (G-Ma’s) side, so he knows a thing or two about what ladies love. That’s why he treated all of the ladies, my mom, Tammy, Kelley, and Grandma, to a lavish mani-pedi treatment while he, Avery, and I went to the same bounce house Avery has been to a few times. Credit to my awesome wife for setting up the hand and foot treatment for everyone!

Before we did anything, we all met at a new restaurant called Mod Market for lunch.

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This was our first time to see them since they arrived, so there were plenty of pictures. Of course I had to get one with Grandma! She was here when Avery first entered the world!

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Then over to Paul and Tammy for more picture-taking love.

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It’s crazy to think back to when I was just a little boy and they would pick me up from the airport when I flew up to PA during most summers. #TimeFlies

After lunch, the ladies were off to have their hands and feet given the deluxe treatment while Paul, Avery, and I went to see Avery accomplish a feat at the bounce house. In the past visits, I’ve had to mostly just carry her up and around everything and she could hardly bounce. This time, she was able to crawl up and into most of the inflatables and took off on a bouncing frenzy!

I still had to carry her up climbing obstacles and go down the slides with her, but I’m not complaining, I love these things!

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There were more complicated houses that I took her through as well, and once again, I’m pretty sure I had more fun than she did. Probably didn’t help with the way we exited…

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Just a little push here and you can do the rest, right, Avery? Aannnnddd….

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Oops, wrong. I made a quick recovery and busted out in dance urging her to join in.

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Despite the picture, she actually rocked a few dance moves and had Paul quite impressed. But then I had to go and ask her to do high knees which she always does when we say the word, and she busted hard flat on her face. Crying, no, screaming, soon followed and that marked the end of the bounce house. She had a busted lip with a little blood dripping down from her tears (or was that snot?) so I made a quick clean-up at the bathroom before taking us home.

The crying continued the whole ride home, but Paul and I were able to carry on a conversation without having to raise our voices…….too much. The girls were still enjoying their treatment so Paul and I just spent more time sharing stories while simultaneously trying to calm Avery who was, yes, still crying. Then, lo and behold, would you believe something got her to settle down? She wanted nothing to do with Daddy, but Great Uncle Paul worked his magic!

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Yep, as long as he held her, Avery remained a happy camper. She even showed him the trees in our backyard. Or was it the dog? I can’t remember. He tried to set her back down a few times but she wasn’t having it, he must hold her all the time!

Luckily, with three grown boys of his own and a long-time high school math teacher, I’d say he has just a little bit of patience, so he kept her happy until the ladies arrived. It didn’t help that we had passed the normal nap time, or at least I’m using that reason to explain her aversion to Daddy.

After a short chat with everyone, they left to go explore more of the surrounding area and we attempted to get Avery to take some kind of nap. The nap never happened. Maybe if Paul stayed to take a short siesta with her we would’ve had more luck.

Our first outing with the family was quick, but it was great to see them as usual. For our next place, and what you’ll see on my next post, we visited a somewhat nearby craft brewery, Revolver Brewing. It was an hour away, I was a grump (sorry everyone), and I’ll fill you in on the details soon.

Do you have family out of state that you are close to?

Do you get to see them on a regular basis?

Is saying “mani-pedi” acceptable for a guy? For anyone?

3rd Place in our Fourth of July 5k Race

We made it through the Fourth of July weekend, but what I feared most became a reality. The good news is my wife and I kicked the day off with a bang by placing in our Fourth of July 5k!

The night before the race, we brought Avery up the road in our neighborhood to see the local fireworks. It was past her bedtime before they even started and we were getting eaten by bugs, but I’d say she still had a great time.

Okay, maybe “great” is an exaggeration, but it was officially her first time to see fireworks since last year I don’t think she was too aware. Either shame on us for keeping her up so late when we had to wake her up extra early the next day or….no, never mind, just shame on us.

G-Ma met us at Martin House Brewery, where the race was being hosted, to hang out with Avery as Going Mom and I pushed our legs to the limits in the hot and humid weather. The race started at 8am and it was already sticky with most of the participants sweating from just standing around.

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Isn’t my Mom beautiful? I can’t believe she’s turning 60 at this end of this month! Oops, was I not supposed to share that with the blogosphere? Sorry, Mom, I love you!

Before the start, we took turns posing together for pictures with Avery. Any picture with these three lovely ladies is one to cherish forever.

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Avery wasn’t sure of what to make with Daddy not having a shirt on, but not like it’s anything new.

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By the time we took our family picture, Avery had enough of the posing. She was probably pissed we woke her up so early too.

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Kelley snapped a shot of my true fashion sense wearing brown and black. But hey, I was excited to race in my Soft Star Shoes Dash RunAmoc since the last race never panned out. Don’t I look proud?

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After a quick warm-up jog, singing the National Anthem alongside 200+ already sweaty runners, and anxious to run, we were finally off. Kelley and I gave each other a good luck kiss and I dashed in the grass to pass slower runners and walkers.

Actually, I had to go off road a few times in order to pass people, and the Dash RunAmocs performed better than expected. With the Bullhide Leather Sole, I was worried traction would be an issue in the grass when I jumped to the side, but I never slipped once. The rest of the race was on a gravel trail, and they felt light with just enough protection from the rocks.

G-Ma was too occupied with an energetic toddler to ask her to take action shots of us racing, so I just have snippets from the Movin’ Pictures. As you can see, they are not paid for, just what you can find online, but I think they’re good enough.

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What if, one day, it was cool to buy pictures with the word “Proof” across the entire image? I’d be ahead of the game then!

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The shoes were great with their minimal weight and maximum performance. As long as it’s not wet (leather soles and water is like walking on ice), these are awesome. I do have other RunAmocs with a rubber trail sole which feel great when running too, but I like using those for lifting in my garage more.

The race itself was quick but the heat was punishing all of us. But that didn’t stop Going Mom from keeping on course and maintaining composure. I even have “proof” of her solid performance.

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Both of us have hardly put enough running training in lately, be we have been rocking intense workouts with the barbell and kettlebells which gave us a great foundation to keep us going strong. And, as a result, our strength training paid off; we both came in 3rd place in our age group!

It may not seem like anything spectacular to some, but I’m proud of the both of us and think it was a great way to kick off the Fourth of July!

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Out of 261 runners, we came in 13th (me) and 59th (wife) place overall. I was hoping for a sub-20 minute run, but I’ll take 20:26. Plus, maybe that’s a positive sign that I’m doing better at my ultimate goal of gaining strength/weight.

Our favorite brewery, Martin House, had free beer for all runners. Kelley and I had a few drinks while sharing some much deserved beer with G-Ma while waited for the Awards to get our medals and take a photo. Of course, Avery had to be in there with both of us. Still rockin’ her “no smile” look.

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After taking advantage of free craft beer (#winning), and talking with other runners, some who were quite interested in my brown Soft Star running shoes, we took off to G-Ma’s house. This is where we spent the night what I was scared of happening, happened.

Lets just say that sleep was very rare that night. Of course, our sweet angel did take a nap on the way home the next day.

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What a stinker. Details of the rest of the day and tiring night are coming soon. Until then, have a great day!

How was your Fourth of July?

Did you run any races or kick back and enjoy the day in relaxation?