So, did you miss it? It has been almost a month since I wrote my last Thursday Rundown (July 6). However, to be exact, the last “rundown” I wrote was on July 15…it was a rare Saturday Rundown. Regardless, you are probably just itching for my latest random five topic tangent. Here we go…

A New Italian Dish – As a dude who grew up eating the cooking of his full-blooded Italian mom, there aren’t many Italy-inspired dishes I haven’t tried. Well, I tried a new one last week. Our last night in Spokane we went to a downtown restaurant called Europa. The atmosphere was lovely and the food delicious. For the first time ever, I ordered a dish called a rotolo. Don’t know what a rotolo is? I didn’t either. Basically, it is an Italian pastry-themed pasta dish where a filling is rolled up in pasta sheets. Think of it as a cross between a calzone and manicotti. Anyway, the rotolo I enjoyed was stuffed with pork, cheese, ham, olives, and more. It tasted great but I was more impressed with how pretty it looks in the below photo.

This is the rotolo that I enjoyed from Europa in Spokane.

Another Sketch From Dad– Over two years ago, I wrote about a special tradition my dad carried on for us kids growing up. He would always draw sketches of us for our childhood milestones. I came across this one in the mail yesterday. It is over 12 years old and commemorates my high school graduation. Do you think it looks like me?

My dad drew this in 2005.

Water Balloon Madness – How did we prepare ourselves for hosting a major party at my parents’ house? We had an enormous water balloon fight right before it. My dad’s family staged this balloon battle at the park right across the street from where my mom and dad live. We filled up over 2,500 water balloons and then “let a rip” for ten minutes of water war shenanigans. I cut my foot and got drenched but it sure was a lot of fun. If the water balloon fight didn’t do enough to satisfy the competitive juices of my dad’s family, they made up for it by hosting a corn hole tournament after the party.

A look at some of the water balloons we filled up for the water fight.

S-L-O-A-N – It is very difficult not to love Sloan. She has discovered her feet as she will hold both of them in her hands while in her crib or rock-and-play. Her smile seems to have an even greater spark to it than it did three weeks ago. She rolled over several times for us when we were in Spokane. Our little girl will turn 20 weeks tomorrow!

Some recent Sloan photos for you.

From the Archives – I have a couple of good blog posts to share with you that I wrote on this date. A year ago, Instagram shook the social media world when it debuted Instagram Stories. I jumped right on it and wrote that Insta did it right by developing a feature that was for all intents and purposes better than Snapchat. A year later, Stories is more popular than its competitor. Two years ago, I reviewed the newest (at the time) #DoUsAFlavor Lays potato chips. I always love the posts where I am required to eat. Take a look at both if you have time!

Me holding the 2015 #DoUsAFlavor Lay’s potato chips.

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Have a great weekend. I am working the Coastal Carolina summer commencement ceremony tomorrow night and then I welcome Sidney and Sloan back home on Saturday. Blessings to you all. Don’t Blink.