Parenting by the seat of your pants

Sometimes things don't always go as planned...case in point the use of the water table. I think after the third child I am less inclined to worry about weather or not things are used in the manner they were meant.

C'mon Irene

I'm begging you please...I know it is really Eileen but this song has been in my head since the media coverage of this hurricane began.  Let me tell you...this better be a WHOPPER of a hurricane because it really messed with our my weekend plans. 

Don't worry though...we are ready, hunkered down and ready for this baby! 

Sadly, I am missing my weekend of fun fun training with Kelly and my friend Erica's baby shower.  But alas, I found some new friends in the area from Beginner Triathlete so tomorrow I am headed to swim with them and then attempt the 100 mile ride!  It is rather unlikely that we will get the full 100 in because there might be a silly little rain and wind that gets in our way but it will be fun trying, I am sure.

growing up

Jackson is insistent on being like the big kids....no more feeding him.

In case you were worried...he does not waste a bite.

Busy Busy

We have been keeping busy!  Ryan is in Asia somewhere...not sure which country at the moment.

The kids enjoyed playing with cousins late last week. 

Lyla is showing Jackson how to toughen up....

We have kindergarten orientation this week and then I am headed back to CT this weekend.

Cake Balls

Thursday is Ryan's birthday.  While we were shopping this week, Aly found a magazine with cake balls on the front.  She insisted that we buy it and make then for her dad.  I resisted but she was pretty adamant that she knew this was the kind of cake that daddy would want.

So tonight we started the process...baking the cake.  No joke, I think Aly sat and watched the timer and annouced all but about 5 of the minutes.  If I only knew that they would watch the oven in earnest...I would be baking turkey dinners nightly.

Jackson was less enthused by the process.  He does get cake though...check him out while we were baking.

Somehow I think tomorrow is going to include a lot of tasting and not a lot of dipping!

Just like my dad

Steelman Race Report!

On Sunday, I raced the Steelman Olympic.  I had not raced this distance since 2009 and I was excited for the day.  When I woke up at 4 am, it was pouring rain and super humid...great.

I arrived at the race site and went and racked my bike since it was first come first serve.  Then I went and sat in the car.  By the time it was time to set up transition the rain had stopped but the air was still really thick.

The swim...well I would probably be in the minority to say I wish the swims were longer.  I lined up right at the buoy of the front of my wave and when the gun went off I just took off.  I was with a pack for about 400 yds and then this women pulled ahead and I decided to just stay on her feet.  Swim was 21:39 and was second fastest overall female.  Turns out the women who I drafted off of was the top swimmer and third overall.

In the morning...they announced that they were changing the bike course to make it 24.6 miles.  Well, it ended up being 26.9.  I knew there was at least one women that catch me on the bike.  I held her off until the second loop but she did find me.  The course is two loops and rolling hills.  Bike time 1:23.41 avg 19.3 mph - that is my best yet in any tri! 

   

By the run, I was ready to be done.  The sun was out, it was hot hot hot and humid.  This is a two loop course and it is along a flat bike path.  The sprint tri shared the same course so it was crowded.  I was hoping to have a great run since it was flat but the humidity was my demise I think.  Overall run was 54:38 which was 8:49 pace.  

Overall, I was second in my age group and it was a PR by 10 minutes!  So all in all a good day! 

BEACH BEACH BEACH!

Last night I bought the girls boogie boards.  Truth be told, I was not sure if they were going to be able to do it.  The waves this am were pretty big..I think there is going to be a storm later this afternoon.

Well, they LOVED it.   I stayed up at the condo while Jackson napped and Ryan took the girls.  I came down to the beach and this is what was going on...

The waves were huge as the tide was coming in and we had a great time. 

Our Second Home

There is just something about the beach that makes everything okay.  We arrrived this afternoon and headed to the beach right away.

We played in the HUGE waves and then came back to the pool at the condo...it was so fun.  The water at the pool was bathwater warm and the kids loved it.

We headed down to the Wildwood boardwalk for dinner and to check out the rides. 

More pics to come but blogger is SUPER slow here!

On the eve of Steelman

Tomorrow I get to race.  An Olympic distance triathlon close to home, both of these are new feats for me.  When I picked up triathlon in 2009, after Brianna was born, it was due to peer influence.  Girls night out = Team in Training happy hour and there you have it, I was signed up for St. Anthony's in Florida.  Props to my friend Susan who got me into this stuff.  I am not sure Ryan is really thanking you though ;)

The season was fun and very low key...at St. A the swim was cancelled due to the waves.  So I came home and signed up for a local olympic, I wanted to at least do one Oly before I called it good.  At that one I got a flat...I finished... but without the time that I hoped.  In the end I completed the HyVee Oly successfully.  Then I met my friend Erica, also a triathlete..and every morning no fail she was at my house.  We either biked or ran or both.  We never worried about pace or garmins or speed...we just chatted and trained.  We finished the season together at the Hartford Womens Tri,  a super fun beginners sprint.  By then we knew we were getting relocated to Philly and I was pregnant with Jackson

In 2010, I lived through Erica...she finished two HIM and some local races..I sat on the sidelines waiting for Baby Jackson....hoping to jump into late fall stuff.    Then I got really sick after he was born and it was all I could do to pick up running...so 2010 ended with no tris but the fire was burning.
So tomorrow I get to tow the line for my first Olympic of 2011.  While Erica and I have switched roles, she is on the pregnant sidelines, awaiting their new arrival.  I will wait for her to tackle the FULL one ;)  In 2011, I wanted to become more serious and learn how to swim, bike, and run effectively.  Using a coach has made a huge difference to the way I train.   I have made some big improvements in running and I have actually gotten into the water prior to a race  (In 2009 I only swam when I was racing).  I won't lie and say I love the bike.....it will be happily put away for a good two months after September 10th, and maybe we will be friends in 2012...no promises

I am super excited to race tomorrow, even though the weather us supposed to be terrible. Then we are off to the beach.  Ryan is off next week and his travel schedule for the next 4 months borders on insanity.  I think he hits Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambia, some part of Korea, and I am sure China will see his smiling face at some point.  We will see each other in passing I think during the remainder of August and September.  So we are going to enjoy next week as our little family of 5...after tomorrow.

This and that

We are back in PA...after a quick trip to NH...we headed to StoryLand with the cousins...and if I never see another twisty ride again, I will be okay!

I would bet that it was the whales that did me in...

and most certainly the turtle tilt a whirl that did Shelley in...I am pretty sure this will be the last solo girls trip to StoryLand..by the end of the morning the adults were too ill to ride with the not tall enough children.

Best of all we put them all to bed in one room...any guesses on who stayed up the latest.  It might have been a tie between Jack and Lyla..but Jack managed to manuever his pack and play over to the door and open it...so he could see what was going on in the other room.

We did get to visit with Cinderella....which made Aly's day!

We are off to the beach next week!