Run. Bike. Swim.

Saturday morning started bright and early (really early) in Anthem, Arizona for the annual reverse triathlon. This is my first triathlon ever, and I'm not going to lie, I was 40% excited and 60% nervous! The morning started out stressful as we left late, made more stops on the way there then I had planned... had to go home to GET the number that I apparently had left at the house (race numbers are important?!? What's that all about?) Yet, somehow we made it, and even got there a little early, giving me time to calm.

Here is a before picture of me.

They write your race number on your right arm and your age on your right leg. To say this brings out the competitive beast in me would be an understatement. I found myself looking at every one's leg as I was passing them (or when they were passing me). If their age was in the same bracket as mine, I got extra competitive. It definitely made the game more fun.

The first event was running, a 5K. I came in 9th overall for females, 3rd for my age bracket, with a time of 26:47. It wasn't my fastest 5K, but then again, I have never ran a 5K and followed it up with another sport. We ran a beautiful course and ended up in the parking lot in the transition area. I have decided that the transitions between sports is a sport all on it's own. You have to remember where you put you stuff, get to it, change out, and get out of the transition area as fast as possible. I believe that this is where I lost most of my time. I got my bike, put on my gloves, took off my visor, put on my helmet and went to the "red line". This is when the worker at the line lectured me for not taking off my ipod (even though I didn't even have head phones IN my ears). Eventually he decided I was good, but didn't tell me I could go whenever... so I waited. I probably lost a minute in just that. Eventually I was off, so no big harm done.

The bike course had some slope to it. There were parts that were hard, and parts that made up for the major climbs. It was a 20K, which amounted to roughly 3-4.5mile loops and the to and from. I felt good about my biking, but definitely learned the difference between a mountain bike (which I have) and a street bike in that race. Those people on street bikes were flying past me like there was no tomorrow. I suppose if this were a sport I got real serious about, I could definitely see the benefit of a street bike. But in the meanwhile, my mountain bike is just fine.
I got a lot of compliments during my bike ride. The biggest two were my outfit (which I picked found specifically for this race because I had to be able to do all 3 events in the same outfit) and my smile. I do smile a lot while I'm running and apparently while I'm biking too. I have had this compliment in every event I have participate in, but for some reason it meant more to me this time.

I finished the bike portion (including the transitions) in 55:42. I timed my loops at about 15.5 minutes a piece, so I really think my transition time is to blame for a lot of time loss. O-well. Live and Learn.

The final event was swimming. I don't have any pictures of the swim or the finish because Brandon had Oliver and it was too crowded to get him in the pool area. At the transition from bike to swim, I took off my glasses. This was helpful during the swim, but made it really hard to find where I was suppose to go. Some really helpful worker saw me running around aimlessly and pointed me to the pool. I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize I was that blind. The swim was only 400m. This required us to swim 8 laps (in 8 different lanes) a total of 2 times. The pool was crazy crowded, and I could feel people hitting my legs and I know I was bumping into other swimmers. It was fun though. It took me 11:30 to complete the swim and run through the finish line (this is including my blind "I'm lost and can't find the pool entrance nor can I find the first lane of the swim" time. Once again, live and learn). When I do this event again (and I will) I will know what to expect!

I had so much fun with this tri. I know I will be doing more in my future. I think I found my newest addiction (up there with marathons).

My favorite posters during the race where:

"I'm Proud of You, Mom"

"Suck it up, Buttercup, everyone is watching"

and

"Keep on Tri-ing"

(all these posters were made by and for someone other than myself; however, they were sincerely appreciated)
Oh, I forgot, I finished 33/83 overall for the females, and 6/15 for my age bracket. Not too shabby.

Playing in the Rain

Oliver... what's that stuff falling from the sky?

hmm... He doesn't know.But he likes it!

And so does Melanie! On Wednesday, it started pouring right after I put the kids down for a nap. Well, I couldn't miss this opportunity to play in it, so I got them up. Unfortunately, Noelle was completely un-wake-able, so she missed out. But Melanie and mom had a great time splashing and Oliver enjoyed watching.

Seriously, I think every kid should have this kind of fun!

And moms need a little kid-like fun as well.

I'm so happy it rained (poured!) on Friday as well. This time Melanie was at a friend's house and Oliver was napping, so it was just Noelle and mom! This was some much needed Mom and Noelle time, and I'm so happy we too advantage of it.

Here is proof that I played from Noelle's view.

This is what true bliss looks like... those puddles were deep!

Ironically, Friday night we took the kids to Grandma's house to spend the night and she had bought them both rain boots. So, they will be well prepared if the rain decided to return again!

We are so grateful for the moisture we have recently received and hope for some more (though it did to a number on my phone and Internet lines... as in not usable)

Kitchen Renewed

One of the things I listed as a goal before I turn 30 was to redecorate my kitchen. Well, I woke up on Saturday with an itch... and this is what I did.

Before (no judging):

The goods I found at Goodwill:
The after (and the wall is actually green, but my lighting in this photo makes it look yellow. But alas, I painted... all by myself).

Since the rest of my house still is random and horribly decorated, I think I'll just hang out in my kitchen.

1st Day of School and Back to School "Party"

School started last week for my little red head girl. This is her last "First Day of Preschool" photo, ever. It seems like she is growing up too fast.

Here she is going her first day at Ms. Arlene's school.

I decided we needed to do something special on the first day of school, so we had a "lunch box" dinner.

The girls really loved it!

At Melanie's preschool, they have daily show and tell. For a fun family activity to end our day, I decided a to do a show and tell, where each member of the family would draw a picture of something they love.

Oliver didn't participate in the show and tell, but he loves everyone.

Melanie drew a picture of the caves in Hawaii.

Noelle drew a family picture, including every member of the family.

Daddy drew a picture of the family going on a road trip in Hawaii. He included 5 little heads in the car.

And Mommy drew a family portrait.

It was a fun family activity.

Hawaii - Days 4-6: Fern Grotto, Canyon, Beach, and Pool

The after wedding portion of our trip seemed to fly by fast, all blurred together. I found it fitting to blog them together.

Thursday we spent the morning with my mom and my Uncle Timmy and his family. We took a river boat to the Fern Grotto.

The ride there was pretty relaxing. Once we got there, we "hiked" the trail to the grotto.

We saw some beautiful plant life and some wild roosters.

The Fern Grotto was beautiful. This picture doesn't she the cave as much. It is huge!

On the way back, there were performers singing and playing music, along with a gal showing us some hula. It was a neat experience.

Friday was our big road trip day. We went clockwise around the island. If you think of Kauai like a clock, it has one road and it goes from about 1 o-clock to about 12, but you can not get from 12 to 1 because it's all just cliffs. Well, our hotel was at about 2 o-clock and we drove the entire way around the island and back. We really wanted to see the canyon on the other side.

On the way, one of the girls needed a pit spot, so we stopped at this beach. If I knew about it sooner, we would have taken the kids there to swim. It was definitely a kid friendly beach. (But it was quite a drive)

This is the road to the canyon.

There were a few look outs. This is the first one. I'm grateful for people that volunteer to take family pictures for complete strangers. That's the only way I got this picture.

Since we had been in the car for hours, we decided to drive up the mountain a little more and go to the "State Park". Why did this chicken cross the road? To play at the park, or course?

I love getting all my little flowers from my girls. They are too sweet.

The park wasn't as much a park as just a big grassy area. Better to play tag with.

And if Noelle didn't want to chase her sister, there were chickens and roosters to try to catch too.

Then we jumped back into the car and drove to the other look outs. Eventually the kids feel asleep so instead of family trips to the lookouts, Brandon and I went individually. It was definitely worth it. It was also an entire day activity.

Saturday was our last day on the island (that was a non travel day). We decided that the road trip was more of a mom/dad thing, so we wanted the Saturday activities to be kid friendly. We took the kids to a close beach park.

The water broke quite a ways away, so the kids got to swim a little. They were pretty cute with their goggles on.

This beach actually had sea shells. It was the first time the girls had even looked for sea shells on the shore. They brought home a bunch.

This next picture is just too good for words.

After Noelle took her goggles off, she was still "wearing" some.

Then it was time for our last time beach play.

Saturday evening we went to the pool at my mom's resort. They had a special kids pool with a slide and some squirting turtles. The water was the perfect height for them to do their own thing, and I must say, it was nice to have them swimming where I didn't have to worry about a current.

Even Grandma Traci got into the water.

After our fun day, Saturday, it was time to return to Arizona. The flight home went really well. The kids were excited about the plane ride, and behaved very well on the plane. No one really slept, but they weren't cranky or fussing on the plane. I'm so grateful for their behavior on both flights.

That's it for our Hawaii trip! It was fun!