The Chicago Marathon

Cross it off the life-list. Jonathan and Elliot both ran and finished the Chicago Marathon this Sunday! 26.2 miles and five aching bodies later, the Slenk family can breath a sign of relief. Even though there were only two registered runners, my parents and I rocked the spectator role, seeing the boys at the start, mile 2, mile 4.5, mile 10, mile 13, and mile 17. There was a lot of running: up and down El platforms, across city streets, and weaving in and out of the race route. At mile 17, we almost lost Jonathan (who looked delirious and was having cold sweats) so Elliot went on ahead and (after re-hydrating and resting a while) I walked the remaining 9 miles with Jonathan to the finish. My mom tried to keep up with Elliot his last 1/2 mile, but he decided to turn on the sprint (passing probably 100 runners in route to the finish like, I wish I could have seen it)... While walking in Chinatown, we passed a bank sign that read 89 degrees! There were red-high alert signs, and medics were encouraging runners to slow down their pace to avoid heat stroke.

The race itself is amazing, weaving through 29 unique Chicago neighborhoods, hosting cheering sections and bandstands. We saw runners dressed up in everything from Minnie Mouse costumes to Elvis outfits. There were over 45,000 registered runners and hundreds of thousands of spectators. Way to go boys! I'm so impressed and proud of you both!


above, the lead racers starting off the race. on the right, Jonathan and Elliot at the start (matching red shirts, bottom middle)


mile 2 and 4.5. Keep it up!


View of runners crossing the bridge, heading for Lincoln Square (from the EL) and Mom and Dad watching and waiting for the boys at mile 10.


So glad to be off his feet! Way to go guys!

Chicago with the Fam, the State game

Who would have thought that my last few days in the states would be spent getting sun-burnt in 80+ degree weather. True story.

Saturday, my whole family went to Chicago to watch my brothers run the Marathon. And, while we were there, we went to watch State play at Northwestern. It was a beautiful day. Shorts and sunglasses weather for sure! And State dominated... Le's Go...

Pig in the Blankets!

Every fall the local Slenk women get together in our kitchen to make pig-in-the-blankets, a traditional dutch recipe (far from the mini-hot dogs rolled in crescent rolls, as some people believe). Everyone has their station with their assigned counter-top space and pig-making role. Let me introduce you to the team....

First off we have Aunt Debbie, who is the dough-mixing extraordinaire. She kneads and mixes and hands off to Grandma Slenk....

Then we have Grandma Slenk on rolling duty. She is respected for her ability to roll the dough out with precision and ease, cutting it into strips, preparing it for assembly.

Then we have my mom. She is the meat mixer. I tell her she has the slacker job. But I must say, I tried to "sub" for a moment, and it is mighty cold sticking your fingers into this eggy, meaty, milky mix. (sound appetizing yet?) She hands off to Aunt Kris...

Aunt Kris is responsible for evenly distributing the mound of meat into equal size pigs. She has it down to a science... or a meat dividing pan. She hands off her divided up meat to Aunt Jana....

It is at Aunt Jana's station that the pig comes together. Dough from Grandma, meat from Aunt Kris, all rolled together and placed on half dozen trays by Aunt Jana.


And then you have me. I invited Bethany to come and help me with my job. It is probably more demanding than anything you have yet read about. I was in charge of three things. 1. Making coffee. 2. Drinking coffee. and 3. placing the finished pigs in zip lock bags and placing them on the deck. It was a tough job. I'm forever indebted to Bethany for her help.

The "warm up" tray of pigs... it always takes a while to get in the groove, so the ugly ones go onto the baking tray and into the oven...

So that we can enjoy them at coffee time... pigs always taste best fresh!

Good work ladies! 34 dozen made! The Slenk women have it down to a science. And while I would offer my services (for real), I fear I would only get in the way. I told Grandma it was job security. She didn't have to worry about me taking over quite yet. Well, you have to start somewhere! For now I will keep cheering them on and will keep their coffee cups full. Maybe someday I will jump into the starting line up...