Independence Day!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July! I know we did, though I was wishing every Thursday was a paid holiday...

It was actually chilly during the day on the 4th, so we got hot chocolate and cupcakes at the coffee shop next to our house.  Really hit the spot since we'd been swimming in the lake earlier and were chilled!

Instead of going to the main firework show for Seattle, which is over Lake Union, we opted for the closer by choice of walking down to Lake Washington and watching the fireworks in Bellevue, which is across the lake. We ended up being able to see fireworks from tons of different towns all along the lake, and we missed out on crowds! (oh and Brad didn't want to smile for this photo...as usual).

This is the lake before the fireworks show started. You can see the bridge across the lake lit up on the right.

Yesterday we biked 6 miles to Green Lake (yes, this is the third lake I've mentioned in this post), jogged 3 miles around it, and then biked home. On the way home we got stopped at the draw bridge that goes over the Montlake Cut. 

I bought a new pair of running shoes since mine were 3 years old and all the treads were worn off the bottom. I ended up going for a pair of "minimalist" running shoes that are one step more cushioned than the Vibram Five Fingers (not ready to get that serious). My main draw to these was the super wide toe-box, which lets your toes spread out like they naturally would. Given that I have particularly wide spreading toes, I think these will be great for me (help keep that bunion at bay!). Sadly, I had to get a size 10 in MENS....meaning a 12 in women's! And the only color was black. So I bought the laces to try to jazz them up a bit.
Anyway, they are designed to force you to jog on the balls of your feet instead of "heal-striking," which is supposed to be better for your knees and back. We'll see...I just got back from my first real test run and the technique will definitely take some getting used to. 

On that run I mentioned just getting back to, I went past Kurt Cobain's house...where he died. :( Its not even the most extravagant house around and it is across the street from the houses that are actually water-front property on Lake Washington.  Kind of surprising.

On my way home through Madrona Park I saw these giant clovers...they are the biggest I've ever seen!

That's about it for me. Making a giant pot of soup for dinner tonight (and leftovers later in the week!).