First and foremost, there is great news to report on Sheila's brother-in-law, Steve. After suffering a stroke, he is now out of ICU and recovering well! According to Sheila, the doctors and paramedics said it was really touch-and-go at the beginning but the prognosis appears bright. Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers!
On a less serious note, last week's Labor Day weekend seemingly began for the Roberts family with little fanfare and few plans. Since we will be traveling a lot in October and November, we had decided to keep it low key. Funny how even simple adventures find you when you have an open mind and are always ready to get out of the house.
The weekend began with excitement when Murphy (whose photo work you've recently seen throughout this blog) was contacted by an Israeli book publisher that wanted to use one of his Lance Armstrong photos in an upcoming book. These books, which are printed in Hebrew, are part of a non-profit effort to help young children learn how to read. Murph happily donated the photo, simply asking for a photo credit and a book. We were all so excited! Murph's work just keeps getting recognized - when we receive a book, you'll see and read all about it in an upcoming post - in Hebrew, of course!
Jackie used the long weekend to continue her heavy training for an upcoming half marathon. Aubrey and I surprised her at the halfway point of one of her long runs, meeting her in the park with water, Gatorade and Power Bars. Jackie has really been pushing the pace and is looking great!
Giving the weekend a distinctly European feel, we ventured to The Hill (the Italian part of town) and The Loop (a bustling college area) to catch part of The Gateway Cup, a local bicycle race that attracts top amateur riders from all over the country. Aubrey was fascinated by the speed of the bikes, and squealed when she felt the whoosh of the peloton (see this video), while Murph saw this as yet another photo op and recorded some great shots of the action.
One of the most tasteful highlights of our weekend was the discovery of authentic, Chicago-style pizza right here in a city that defines pizza as a cracker with a thin layer of cheese. Every time we're in Chicago, we always head for Giordano's just off Michigan Avenue. We often look for excuses to go to Chicago just for this gut-busting delicacy. Imagine our surprise when we came across a very passable version of this stuffed pie at a small, unassuming restaurant called Pizzeria Della Piazza. It was pure heaven and delicious way to top off the weekend!
I'm discovering that great get-aways are less about where you go and more about who you're with. And, for me, with my family is always the perfect place to be.
Talk to you soon. Until then, pick up the pace and run your own race.
- Jeff
Brushes with the law. Hotel controversy. Changing diapers on sidewalks. Lost in the middle of nowhere. We're still chasing the Tour of Missouri bike race. 
Coming to you live from the side of a steep hill at the Branson time trial as we chase the Tour of Missouri cycling race across the state toward St. Louis this weekend. Hard to believe that Team Discovery (Lance Armstrong's team) will cease to exist after this season and they have chosen this inagural race in our state to say goodbye. Aubs is ready in her yellow jersey for all the action. After today, we're headed to two more stages in St. Charles on Saturday and back home to St. Louis Sunday. Watch for a complete Tour post wrap-up, featuring Murph's photography and some great videos, coming to the blog on Monday. 
Silent thoughts and (surly) mind wanderings while roaming the local university quad before my night class:
My buddy George is one of those people you feel blessed to call a friend. We grew up together and he was one of the first guys to hang around with me during my awkward-horned-rimmed-tri-focal-bad-haircut-people-thought-I-had-special-needs-junior-high years. As we grew older, we lost touch (completely my fault), but when my father passed this summer, there was George standing in line at the visitation, waiting to help console me and my family. Some people you can always depend on, no matter what.
After a couple of months of getting our families together, trading stories, and comparing interests, George decided to tackle his first biathlon, and today was D-day. We entered the team competition - I took on the run, George brought it home on the bike. You have to understand that anything George and I have ever participated in together has always taken on a hilarious life of its own and today was no different. From George changing our team name from "Slipstream" (my suggestion) to "Whipped Cream" (which is strangely appropriate), to George's wife, Beth, almost running him over on the bike course with the family truck as they raced to see him finish, the stories we walked away with were more than worth the sweat and effort.
After a celebratory pizza lunch, George's daughter, Lexi, gave us a tour of the nearby stables where she owns three horses. Aubrey was absolutely thrilled to get an up-close-and-personal look at the goats, mules and horses.
One of the most tasteful highlights of our weekend was the discovery of authentic, Chicago-style pizza right here in a city that defines pizza as a cracker with a thin layer of cheese. Every time we're in Chicago, we always head for Giordano's just off Michigan Avenue. We often look for excuses to go to Chicago just for this gut-busting delicacy. Imagine our surprise when we came across a very passable version of this stuffed pie at a small, unassuming restaurant called Pizzeria Della Piazza. It was pure heaven and delicious way to top off the weekend!
