Last Monday, June 8th, was my 31st birthday, yay, but my wife and I celebrated the Saturday before. In the past, I’d get excited about celebrating by drinking beer and partying with friends. But now, I find enjoyment in other, more active forms of celebrating.
Today’s picture, as seen in my birthday post, is from my Samsung Galaxy 3 (yes, old school at this point), but the quality come from the memory, not the pixels or megabytes. It’s of my wife, Kelley, and I standing in line at a local brewery under the hot Texas sun after a 5+ mile hike.
The hike, as we expected, was HOT! I tend to enjoy punishing my body in the heat, so it was a great way to celebrate the day. I’m forever grateful to Kelley, not such a fan of the heat, for joining me on the trek. We rewarded ourselves with refreshing craft beers from an awesome brewery (hence the line) called Martin House. It’s the same place we went for both of our 30 year birthdays.
This last trip had me feeling a little woozy, as expected, but I really didn’t enjoy that feeling. Maybe it’s an age thing, but I much prefer having a coffee and getting a “buzz” from caffeine instead of alcohol. If it’s after a hike, make that an iced black coffee. So next year, be on the lookout for a hot a sweaty 32 year old gulping down massive amounts of iced coffee….it’s probably me! 🙂
What’s your favorite way to celebrate turning another year older?
Phew! The Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge is complete and now it’s back to, well, basically the same thing with more pictures. And most of them are current. And….okay, you get the point. If you missed them, here are days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
We celebrated my 31st birthday over the weekend and kept it fairly low key, just as I prefer. Actually, we did more than I’d normally go for, but had a great time doing so. Last year, I celebrated by running a 5k while pushing Avery (we came in 1st place!) and then went to a local brewery called Martin House.
Placing 1st in our first race together!
Kelley wore Avery in the Ergo as I enjoyed a few craft beers. She was the designated babywearer. I can’t believe how small Avery was, she slept the whole time we were there! I thought it would be awkward, but apparently a lot of parents bring their kids to the brewery and we even saw another couple wearing their baby too.
This time, G-Ma came over to watch our wild child so Kelley and I could go on a nice hike before heading over and enjoying a few brews together. The brewery is right along a big river with miles of trails, so we parked right there and went on our way.
It was perfect, no driving multiple places, just sweat it out on a hike and walk right up to the brewery to cool down. And sweat we did; hellllloooo Texas heat! It wastes no time warming up around here and that sun was unrelenting the entire time. We walked at a brisk pace and ran a little at the end because, beer.
The overall time and distance based on the Sports Tracker app I used was 1 hour 24 minutes and 5.2 miles. Neither of us were really dressed for a run, but I kept comfortable and rather cool since I had on my Rhone Apparel shorts.
We hiked from the trail right up to the brewery line as they were opening. The sun continued it’s abuse, but I’d say we looked pretty cool. The Rhone Bullitt shorts I was rocking allowed complete freedom of movement while still providing plenty of pocket space for my phone, five pennies I found on our hike (a penny earned….), and even a snail shell I thought looked cool enough to carry around.
The clothes you wear when you’re active can make or break you, and Rhone makse athletic apparel that looks and feels good and performs even better. Even after our sweaty trek, my shorts still looked good and were stench-free as we stood around the giant vats in the brewery. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the many cyclists hanging around in their stinky bike shorts.
Good beer, beautiful wife, and shorts that don’t stink!!
Speaking of bikers, we sat next to two awesome cyclists in their 60’s and had a blast talking with them the entire time. Very lively people, and they even got me another beer! I had an extra beer coupon since it was my birthday so we only paid for one beer glass tour and I just shared some of my beer with Kelley, hence her small white cup. But after hanging with our new friends, somehow we ended up with this….
Like my “beer fingers” typo? Cab instead of can? Yeah, I had more than I needed and will stick to water or Zevia for a while. Probably didn’t help that all I had was black coffee all day, and then the 5 mile hike…..yeah, not the best pre-drinking combo. Meh, I had fun with my wife and that’s what matters most.
Keeping fit and healthy also matters a great deal in our home. Anyone who reads this blog will see that fitness and nutrition are high on the list of priorities that make up part of our daily life. So things like the Dad Bod seriously tick me off. No, it’s not cool or sexy….EVER! Our kids are a direct reflection of us, the parents, and I surely don’t want Avery thinking a dad bod is how a guy, or anyone, should look.
1. A body resembling a man who lives a sedentary lifestyle, flabby, usually comes with a keg gut. Sometimes can see penis, most of the time cannot. Body resembles his personality; dull, lifeless, and very conservative.
2. Once in shape, but clearly has lost most athletic properties. Best suited for sitting at a desk chair, possibly doing ones taxes.
Doesn’t sound appealing to me and I don’t know how anyone could be attracted to it. Plus, I want to be an awesome role model to my daughter and let her see how living a healthy, active life, is fun and rewarding.
In an effort to combat this passing fad, Rhone Apparel is having a sale for $25 off all orders over $100 when you use the code NODADBOD at checkout. On top of that, you get free shipping on all orders over $75, so you can walk away with good deal for some outstanding clothes. And if you click this link, you’ll get $20 credit towards your next purchase. In doing so, Rhone will also give me a $20 credit, so we all win, and winning, as we all know, is way cooler than losing.
Oh, hey, and guess what’s coming up? Father’s Day! Keep the dad in your life healthy and active by heading over to Rhone’s site and getting a nice pair of shorts and a shirt to keep him motivated to stay active and be able to fit into the clothes you get him!
I love my General Short Sleeve shirt and Bullitt Shorts so much that I have to keep cleaning them to reuse several times a week. I’m actually taking advantage of the NODADBOD coupon code to pick up a pair of their Mako Shorts for a little Father’s Day gift to myself. Because you never know when you’ll need the ability to swing a heavy kettlebell around…..
….or play with your kid in the backyard.
Yes, she has to be picked up a lot, so it’s nice to have clothes that work with your movements and not against as they don’t allow free range as you bend and stoop.
There’s more to come on the birthday front, but for now head over to Rhone and see what you like for a little gift to your self for Father’s Day or for the husband/father you love. Having a good set of clothes to keep motivated may be all it takes to avoid the Dad Bod and keep fit. Do you want your kids growing up to see dad keeping active, or just sitting around?
He and I both usually detest such challenges as they take away from what we’d usually blog about and just from our time in general. Time is precious, who wants to spend it dealing with blog challenges? Well, turns out we both do….kinda.
When other friends nominate you, it’s hard to refuse. That’s what made Gary accept, and that’s why I’m accepting now. Plus, I have enough pictures I’m more than happy to share and write about that picking 5 should be easy.Gary followed through with 5 consecutive posts as per the challenge guidelines and he wrote a separate blog post each day on top of that.
For me, I’m taking this as an opportunity to have 5 blog posts essentially created for me over the next 5 days. Beginning tomorrow, June 4th, and ending Monday, June 8th my posts will revolve around one photo and a quick description of its importance to me. The theme will focus on Going Mom and me entering our first days as parents. Hopefully you’ll enjoy each post and it will allow you to look back at your first days of parenthood.
The last post on Monday is not a coincidence, it’s my 31st birthday, so I figured having a post schedules will be best since who knows what crazy plans my wife and/or mom have for me. Okay, I know, there are no crazy plans. Both my mom and Kelley have to work, so I’ll just hang with my daughter which is perfectly fine with me!
Don’t worry, we still have plans, they’re just going to be 2 days early and we’ll celebrate on Saturday. Another good reason to accept and start this challenge. Going Mom and I are going trail hiking around a nearby lake for about 2 hours and then heading over to a local brewery to relax over a few hard-earned brews.
Visiting a local brewery for my 30th. Avery slept most of the time.
…she’s going to sit this one out at home and hang with G-Ma for the day. I think she’ll have more fun with G-Ma than being with Mom and Dad after a few drinks anyway. Just a hunch.
So there you have it, I have 5 photos to find and 5 stories to write, so I’m off for now. I’m part of an exciting campaign with Life of Dad where dads from the North, South, East, and West regions of the US are uniting to help raise awareness and donations for The Great American Milk Drive which benefits Feeding America. Be on the look out for my post with all of the specifics and how you can help our team of dads from the South raise the most money for this very worthy cause.
Have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend, I’ll see you soon to share pictures of the new Ferrari I got for my birthday! Hint: It probably comes surrounded in plastic and blue cardboard if I actually get one. 🙂
Have you heard of the 5 Photos, 5 Stories Challenge?
Do you like or dislike these types of challenges?
What’s your ideal birthday celebration?
An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.
