Be Inspired

Yes, usually the stories on my blog are about my family. But this one is so inspiring, that I really wanted to share it with you.

I have heard this story before and seen this father/son team interviewed. They are an inspiration. The son asked his father if he would run a 5K with him and his father agreed. Then he asked his dad if he would run a marathon with him and the father agreed. The son asked his father to compete in an Iron Man race with him (2.4 mi. swim, 112 mi bike, and 26.2 mile run). Yep, his father agreed. Now they have completed many marathons and six Iron Man races together. It is a beautiful picture of a father's love for his son and a reminder of our God's love for us.

Just click on the address below and the video will begin.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513

I cry every time I watch it. Be inspired.

Team Work

I've told our children for a long time that our family is a team. When I round up my troops, I often call out, "Come on team, let's go!" When we are cleaning up together or working on a project, I try to remind them that we are a team and we all do our part.

Today was another great example of team work alive and well in our family. It was my first triathlon of the year. I woke the children and Daddy at 5:15 AM, fed them PB&J for breakfast, checked my tire pressure, loaded the bike and my backpack full of necessities, and we were off to the races!

This was the transition area for today's race.

At the end of the season last year, Ken bought me a super fast Felt S32 tribike from the RTB auction. I didn't race with it today though because I haven't spent enough time on the bike and it still needs some more adjustments to make it fit me better.

My kiddos camped out by my transition area while I set up my space.

My race age is 35 (they go by how old you will be on December 31, 2008). So, though I am still just 34, I now race in the next age bracket. On my arm was my race number, and on my calf was a big 35. All that to say, my age group started the race in the second wave (5 minutes after the first), so the time on the clock shows 1:35:45, but my actual finish time was 1:30:45. That's about 2 minutes slower than last year, but that's not too bad, considering my lack of training this year thus far.

Women's Five Mile Lake Triathlon 2008

1/4 mi. swim ~8:14

T1 ~ 1:50.9

14 mi. bike ~ 51:34.6

T2 ~ 0:42.7

Run 5K ~ 28:39.2

Total ~ 1:30:38.2

I ended up 24/47 in my age group and 93/351 overall. I'm no super-star, but I'm having fun!

Here I am with my friend, Alissa. Last year was her first triathlon season and this particular race was her first. She has been training hard since January and boy oh boy has it paid off! Today she crossed the finish line 11 minutes faster than last year, ending up 23rd overall. I am so excited for her and proud of her efforts. It will be fun to see how she smokes the competition in the upcoming races!

As for me, this year is going to be more about fun and less about being a die-hard triathlete. Last year I felt like I had something to prove to myself and others. Mission accomplished. This is my third year in this fantastic sport. I am going to train and have a good time, but no half-iron man races this year. I don't think my family would approve, anyway.

So back to the team work part. This is the first race that my little boys have attended. We figured they were old enough to stay with Dad and might be interested enough in cheering me on. It turned out that they were hot, bored, and hungry. After I crossed the finish line they were in need of a serious Team Work pep talk. I thanked them for coming to my race and let them know how proud I was to have them there cheering me on. They were reminded that we are a team and just as we get excited about Kennedy's dance recitals, Jack's swimming lessons, Harrison using the potty, and Daddy's torch runs, it's also important to cheer Mommy on in her endeavors. It worked for a while, and I was able to stick around to watch part of the award ceremony.

Then we came home for some more team building. It was hot out and my van was dirty, so washing it was a good way to work together and cool off. They did a really good job and earned some pineapple coconut slushies afterward.

Jackson Hits the Big 5 1/2

We celebrated Jackson's half-birthday today by bringing cupcakes to his friend's house and playing in the backyard. It was good time with tasty treats and special pals.

There's too many kids in this tub.

There's too many elbows to scrub.

I just splashed a behind

That I'm sure wasn't mine.

There's too many kids in this tub.

~ Shel Silverstein

Happy Half Birthday, Jack-O-Bean! We love you, Kiddo.

Target Practice

"Thwap...thwap...thwap." Then a pitter-patter of little feet and some giggles. A moment later, "Thunk, thunk, thunk."

So I walked outside my door to see what was going on. Directly across the hall from our room, on the top bunk of their bed, my little boys were using our door for Nerf target practice. They were having such a good time, I had to grab my camera and preserve the moment.

Zoo-Berries

Zoo Day

We had a nice time visiting the zoo with some friends on Saturday. The children took a break on the Kimodo dragon...good thing it's just a statue! Did you know that those giant lizards eat monkeys, horses, water buffalo and even humans! They can survive on just 12 meals a year. That is your A.A.F. (Amazing Animal Fact) for the day.

Strawberry Fields

I took the children to pick strawberries at a local U-Pick patch on Monday. We all had fun hunting for the ripe and juicy ruby-red treats.

After dinner that night, we had some rockin' strawberry shortcake. Should have thought to take photos of that!

Chicago is My Kind of Town

Actually, Ken went to Chicago in May with his friend, Steve, and took these photos. I wanted to post them a long time ago, but he purchased a new camera for the trip and I didn't think I could download the photos without the software that I have misplaced. Well, tonight I figured it out.

Let me know if you can tell the difference in the quality of photos from my old 5.0 mega pixels to the new 10.1 mega pixels.

My old camera wouldn't have made it look this pretty.They ended up with some great seats for the game.

You can't get it like this in Seattle!

A Visit with Dawn

The past few days have been a lot of fun. A dear college friend, Dawn, came out to Seattle for a visit. I saw her briefly in April when I visited Tamara in Michigan, but it has been about six years since we last got together. Though our lives have changed a great deal since our crazy college days, we still share a love for travel, new experiences, good ethnic foods, strong coffee, and of course our God.After picking her up from the airport and grabbing a cup of java, we spent some time at the Ballard Locks. My children had fun playing on, in and under the metallic waves near the fish ladder.I was thankful for a low tide at the beach while Dawn visited. The weather was perfect for our day in the sand and waves.

beach ballerina

Today we tried to do a hike at Discovery Park. I passed up the $1.00 map at the visitor's center, thinking that we would be able to find our way. Well, we found our way to the playground several times on the loopy, poorly marked trails. The park was beautiful and the weather was lovely, so it made up for our failed hike. It was a busy few days, but a lot fun. Hopefully we won't wait another six years to get together again!

*************Time Warp***************

1994

This is one of my favorite memories of us. It was late at night during a blustery Indiana storm. Dawn and I ran through the puddles, mud, and gigantic raindrops on campus with reckless abandon. This girl was crazy and so much fun!
Dorm life. Dawn was always up late, studying or pumping out papers. I could count on a study break with her at any hour of the night.

Show Time!

The last blog post was Kennedy's dress rehearsal. Today's post was the real thing. No photos allowed during the show, so here are some before and after.

Kennedy's performance as a cardinal in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory went well. We are very proud of our little ballerina.We owe a huge THANK YOU to Grammy for sewing the bits and pieces of Kennedy's costume together...twice. I got it wrong the first time, so she patiently took it apart and sewed it again for our little cardinal.

We all wanted to pose with our little star as this was probably Kennedy's last ballet recital. She has wanted to learn for play the violin for several years. Next year she will trade in her ballet shoes and tutu for a music book and piano lessons as we have heard that violin is much easier to conquer after learning to play the piano first. Kiki with GiGi (great Gramma) Ompa and Cardinal Kennedy

Daddy always wears this special tie to Kennedy's recitals. It was a Father's Day gift to him years ago with Kennedy's photo all over it.
Gramma Karen and Kennedina Ballerina

Our Little Cardinal

Our little Kennedina Ballerina danced as a cardinal at her recent recital. This was filmed at the dress rehersal.

Kennedy and her friend, Katherine, posed for a few photos before leaving for rehersal.

Our Dad Rocks

"Our Dad Rocks," is what the banner said that the children painted for Father's Day. It was hung above the kitchen entrance for Dad to see when he woke from his sweet time of sleeping in. Here Dad is with his children and the gifts they were eager for him to open.

At Dad's request, we didn't go anywhere. He wanted to stay home and relax with his family. We had lunch on the lawn, played in the grass, and watched the children climb the trees and enjoy their new swing.

Dad even got into the action. He can be such a kid at heart.