The Haps

So yesterday I was driving north to take the girls to Charlotte's house. Going through Denton my car said it was 103 degrees. A few miles further (maybe 10 miles or so) it said 73 degrees and the skies were black. Neat lightening, lots and lots of heavy rain. Texas is cool like that.

AND

Here is a picture of Soren with her swim team

AND

I did it. I signed up. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. T minus 50 Days. WooHoo!! Bring it on!

Lake Travis!

This post is a little late because I have SO many great pictures that I had to figure out a way to post a whole album, which meant waiting for Pete to show me :) So if you have a few minutes to sit and watch, there are some good ones here.

Included are pictures of Pop's birthday celebration the first night, the kids night swimming and fishing, knee boarding, cliff jumping (even the three little ones! You gotta see those pictures!) and all of the other activities that filled our days with fun. It was an awesome trip and we are already planning our next one...

milestone

Yesterday I went to the Bike's Inc. Century of the Month bike ride. It is a 98 mile ride and I thought that would be a great opportunity to test my nutrition plan for the iron distance bike ride (112 miles). There were two distinct groups riding; one significantly faster than me and the other significantly slower. So I decided that I would be okay with my cue sheet and took off at my pace, which put me in between the two groups. I did fine for the first 25 miles, and then I took a wrong turn (dumb cue sheet!) Five miles later I was questioning my position and as we ride out on back country roads, there are no road signs anywhere! So there was a nice old man checking his mail and I stopped and asked if I was near Venus (this is where the first scheduled stop was on the ride). He smiled and said "you're going the wrong way!". So back I went and arrived at the gas station 10 miles over the scheduled distance. There were a couple of riders still there but they were not doing the same route as I was. They let me know that the slow group had left about 10 minutes earlier so I took off to try and catch them. Never saw another rider for the remaining 75 miles.

In the end I made 2 more mistakes making my total distance 115 miles! When I rolled over 100 miles I shouted out woo hoo! (this was my first time to actually ride 100) and then again when I passed 112 miles. It was a frustrating ride since I am not good at following directions when roads are not labeled, but I am so excited to know that I can do it. And I can do it alone. That was kind of hard.

Tomorrow we are off to Lake Travis! Gonna be a blast.

Back to normal..for a couple of days

Soren and Reese are home! We picked Soren up from the airport Tuesday night and then met Kara to get Reese. It is so nice to have them home again. We are home for a couple of days and then it is off to the lake for the Parker family get together. Can't wait!

When I asked Soren what her favorite part about her trip to Denver was, she said that she really liked playing with Aunt Danna's laundry shoot and her dog, Duke (he is a HUGE mastiff). I thought that was an interesting answer considering she went on a train ride up the mountain, camping (the real kind of camping, in the mountains), hiking, white water rafting, to the water park, etc. I talked to Danna Tuesday morning before she took the kids to the airport and she said she was exhausted and does not understand how we do this all day everyday. I laughed and said "We don't! That is why this trip was such a wonderful opportunity for the kids!" They all had a great time.

On the ride home from the airport Reese was complaining that her stomach ached and then proceeded to empty her belly all over the car. I think Kara did that on purpose. She knows I can handle almost anything EXCEPT vomit.

The girls missed each other more than they missed Pete and I. I love that they missed each other, but I wish they missed me a little :) But it is great to be home together. What is the saying? Absence makes the heart grow fond.

Nana's First Triathlon

My mom is a triathlete! Today I had the privilege of watching Nana complete her very first race. It was so neat to be there for such an exciting event in her life. She raced the Iron Brother's Super Sprint Triathlon on Lake Joe Pool. It was a 400 yard swim, 11 mile bike and 2 mile run. She came home with a 3rd place trophy after having a flat on the bike portion. I'd say that is pretty good! She came in smiling even after that disappointing diversion. I am so proud of her! Congratulations on a great first race, mom!

Nana's swim wave gathered in the water waiting on the gun to go off

and they're off!!

bringing her bike out of transition 1

headed out on the bike....her flat was about 7 miles into the ride :(

She had a really strong run!

ahhh! finished!

receiving her medal

Switcheroo

Swapped with Kara today. Now she has kids and I don't. Reese, Ashton, Wyatt and Avery had a blast on the water slide. They did not want to do anything else. So we played on the slide in the morning, came in for a while during the heat of the day and went back out for the evening. Easy enough for me! We have the best kids ever.

Pete took the kids to Kara this morning and I took off for the Peach Pedal 100k bike tour in Weatherford. That was a fun ride! I am really enjoying riding right now. I have had the opportunity to ride a lot since we came home from Idaho and Pete has helped me get the nutrition part of biking under control. When you ride for extended periods you need quite a few calories and what your body will and will not take in while exercising is something that takes some figuring out. I have found that my stomach can handle sweet things like Fig Newtons and Gatorade for up to 3 hours and then it starts saying no to me. Pete got me using this high calorie drink mix and I love it! I took two years to try it because I am a big baby when it comes to trying new things. The best part is that it feels so light in my stomach and I love not having to chew anything, just drink and go! Pretty cool. That puts me one step closer to being able to do an iron distance! woo hoo!

Other exciting news...tomorrow is my mom's first triathlon! I am SO excited to go see her race. She has worked harder for this than anything I can remember and the best part is that she is doing it for herself; no one enticed her to do it. Honestly, she got the inspiration the same way Pete and I did, going to see some of the races. Soren did the first few triathlons in our family and Pete and I had so much fun at the events that we sold our boat and bought bikes. That was two years ago this month and look how far we have come. It is such a neat sport that has opportunities that fit every level of fitness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Fw1GdRKkc

I had signed up for a race for tomorrow as well, but when I found out that it was the same day as my mom's race I decided I would rather go cheer for mom, so Pete is racing in my place. I just told him on Wednesday. That is ok. He will be fine! :)

So now I need to go take advantage of a quiet house and get some studying done....

Leaving on a jet plane

Kara and I put Soren and Wyatt on a plane to Denver today. Crazy. I thought last summer was crazy when Soren went off to camp 3 hours away. This was harder. But they got there just fine and they are in for 6 days of non-stop fun. Aunt Danna has each day specifically planned. I think they start tomorrow with a train ride up the mountain.

At the airport I took Kara's remaining kids with me, met Nana, Jodi and Granny at the mall for some Rain Forrest Cafe fun and came home with all of the remaining cousins (except Alissa; Jodi said maybe next time). So now Ashton, Avery, Reese and Parker are snoozing upstairs with thoughts of water slide fun filling their dreams.

I had my camera with me to get pics of the kids leaving on the plane and the other kids at the Rain Forrest but NO MEMORY CARD! Bummer! I hate that.

So we are in for a few days of cousin fun, could not ask for a better way to spend summer vacation!

Congratulations Soren!

One of the things I love about Soren's new swim team is that the kids are actually recognized for all of their hard work. For some reason USA Swimming does not give out medals or ribbons for the meets and I think that really stinks. The kids are never told the final place that they earned in a race. We are in a different league now and Soren has only competed in one meet but she was given ribbons today with her official times. She got 3rd place in the 10 and under 50 yd butterfly, 3rd place in the 50 yd freestyle and 4th place in the 200 yd freestyle. I am so proud of her and all of the hard work that she is putting into this. Yea Soren!!!