Soap Box Derby

over the wknd, my younger brother erick and sister-in-law melissa came to atlanta for a visit.

i'm sure you're wondering how that was.

in a word: AWESOME.

(side note: why do they call them in-laws? cuz they're family thru a legal contract? maybe it's just me, but if they're family, they're family, and the law at this point is really just a technicality...)

e & m arrived friday evening, and we spent it hanging out at my place drinking whatever beer i had on hand. erick's old roomie aaron (who is in a PhD program at GT and has become my adopted little brother i drag out to breakfast spots on sat mornings in atlanta) came over w/his buddy ken who was visiting from OH. uber fun and very relaxing, esp after returning the day before from singapore.

but we weren't totally boring. in addition to beer, we went out for ice cream, ate yummy burgers, and checked out the soap box derby on sat afternoon.

picture 44 teams of juvenile adults tasked w/putting together some sort of contraption on wheels and attempting to race it down a windy track on one of the busier streets in midtown atlanta. did i mention that there was a jump they had to clear at the end too?

(yes, they put up barricades and bales of hay to buffer any crashes...)

it was very sunny, very hot, and very much worth risking a sunburn to see this nonsense. WAY TOO FUNNY!

teams got points for themes so they came in costume to match their cars. we saw everything from an irish pot of gold to an alice in wonderland tea cup to side-by-side chariots. one of the teams, the fur bus, came out w/a bunch of naked blow-up dolls hanging out its windows. unfortunately 1 fell out the back and was dragged the entire way. IT WAS HILARIOUS!

and since it was quite successful for its first time in atlanta, i'm sure this race will be back again next year.

we ended the wknd w/brunch at my place before returning to the airport (cuz who doesn't luv a homemade sticky bun on sunday morning???).

e & m - i miss you guys already. see you in oct at 추석!

(top to bottom, L to R: the happy married couple; view of the crowd from somewhere about halfway down the track; little man in a teacup who would later make a spectacular crash; the fur bus, which might have been the most entertaining and sad display of atlanta ever; side-by-side chariots; more of the crowd; sign of the event)