Summer FUN!

When it gets hot....we can just pretend we have a pool at home!  We have had a mini heat wave here and the kids are ready for summer swimming.

So in the end we got a proper little pool which they think they can jump into like it is 5 ft deep.

and there is the face of TROUBLE.

Missing Daddy

It is no secret in our family that Ryan is the fun parent.  He buys the ice cream, cereal and all the fun stuff.  This weekend we were supposed to travel to CT but for a variety of reasons, I ended up staying home in PA with the kids.  They are missing daddy.....big time.

There was no weekly trip to Target today to get slushies...that probably tops the list.  I mowed the lawn with Jackson and he kept reminding me that I was driving Daddys tractor.  Thank goodness he arrives home tonight and there will be two sugar filled days with him.

Tonight we made black bean salsa for dinner with some stuff from our garden....Aly had a great time putting it all together!

Jackson Chronicles

There is never a dull moment with this one...for sure.  He routinely picks Aly up from the bus stop in his tractor.  She is all about riding in style.  

So the terrible twos have hit and not only is Jackson obsessed with all things moving.  He is also quite into vaseline.  Twice he has found where I have hidden it and rubbed almost an entire container all over himself.  This morning in Walgreens - he beelined to the vaseline.

Last week I was putting away laundry and I left him playing the in playroom.  Soon after, I heard this banging sound.  I looked over the foyer balcony and the floor was all shiny and he was sitting in the middle.  He tried to get up and immediately fell down.  Apparently, he got a container of dish soap and squirted it all over the foyer floor!  One soapy mess.

He is also really into garbage men.  Immediately when they come into the yard..he runs outside to check it out.

Preschool FUN!

This Spring, we enrolled Brianna in the North Penn Preschool Program.  I will fully admit it was not my first choice and for a while I was not sure how long we would last.  The program begins at 7:45 am and our kids are NEVER really up and moving by then.  So it meant a large adjustment and the hours were not really conducive to getting things done.

But alas, a couple of girlfriends who have kids kept raving about the program and so we went with the 

majority and started it.  It was AWESOME.  It is at the high school and it cost $35.00 for the entire semester.  The best thing was she was there for four high school periods and each period she had two buddies.  

She loved the attention and she came home with the best projects.  This week they had their little graduation fair.  Each high school student - there are 80, had to make a game or craft the kids could play or do.  We spent almost 2 hours going through all the activities.

Here are some pics.

Tomorrow she gets to say goodbye to her buddies..she is so sad that it is over!

Patience

I could write a dissertation on developing patience in parenting...I have had six years of practice and the last two years have been the most challenging...thanks Jackson!

Instead, I will tell you about how I am learning to be patient with the sport of triathlon.  I only started racing and seriously training for triathlons a little over a year ago.  There is so much I still have not figured out.  On Saturday, I spent a good hour in the grass in our yard practicing getting on the bike while my shoes were still clipped.

Needless to say, when I raced Sunday...I did not start with my shoes on my bike....


Patience


After my little sprint three weeks ago, I was discouraged....it was not the race I thought I was capable of and indeed I was slower than last year.  At the time, I felt like it was an indication of where I was and that was unsettling.  What I did not take into account, was that all three of our children were super sick the week before.  On Thursday of that week we were talking about admitting all three of them for dehydration.  It was scary and exhausting.  I was worried about them and there was little sleep that week.   By Saturday, they had turned the corner and I was determined to race on Sunday.

I did not take these factors into account after the race, I just looked at the results.  Jen said something that is 100% true....you cannot out run stress or lack of sleep...it will get you every time.

Patience


So Sunday it was time....I raced the Upper Dublin Sprint Tri.  A great little race that Fleet Feet helped with.  We rode the course before with several new triathletes.  Our little tri club had a bunch of people racing for the first time.  It was a pool swim, 2 loop bike course and a 5k.  I slept 11 hours the night before the race.

On Sunday morning, I met up with our little group and my boss Annmarie...she asked if I was nervous and honestly I was not.  One of the most helpful things I have learned from Jen, is to develop a plan prior to the race and then just do the job on race day, do not think....just do the plan.  I have been working hard at doing this in my workouts for Eagleman.

We were off quickly....the pool swim was great since it was a 10 lane pool....we swam up a lane and back another so there was little confusion.  Out of the water and on the bike...swim was about 5:3x..

The bike starts downhill and then you wind through Upper Dublin.  The nice thing about being a stronger swimmer was the first loop of the bike was empty...the second time was a little more crowded but soon we were done.  My goal was to avg 20 mph on the bike.  My garmin had me at 19.8 but the results show 21.2.

The run....when it started I had a cramp in my side and I felt sick....I just kept repeating...3 miles...all it is is 3 miles...get to the turnaround.....I had two males pass me on the bike....but no females.  I wanted to place in the overall women but with a TT start you have no idea how it is all going to play out.   After the first mile, I did start to feel better and then you hit the turnaround loop.  The course was a little hilly but there was shade and since it was so early it was not that hot.  Each mile I ran was faster and then I before I knew it I was done!

Ryan brought the kids....there was tons of Fleet Feet people, and we were able to just have fun after the race.  When they posted the results, I was second overall..mission accomplished.  I raced from the sprint...over to work.

After work, we were checking the results and I had gotten a couple of messages via FB....Apparently the women who won...really did not finish...I am not sure what happened but they adjusted the results this am...

YES YES....this was a great day.  I WON a triathlon...never did I really expect that to happen.  I totally appreciate the fact that much of this has to do with all of the stars aligning correctly.  I had a great race and worked really hard.  Sometimes, you can work hard and there are other factors that can influence your performance.  Some you can control and others you can't.

In the end....I will have many races that do not go as planned...mistakes I learn from and lessons to help me become better.  The ones where it all comes together make it worth it 100% of the time!

In case you did not know....

There is going to be a cereal shortage.....SOON...so if you are not prepared GET OUT now and stock up....

For Mothers Day, Ryan did the grocery shopping...and this is what he brought home....general mills sent me a personalized thank you note today!

Ice cream is out...and cereal is in.....sadly this does not include the additional boxes that he bought to store at his NJ apartment for the week.  Even more amusing is I don't like cereal. I think there were over 20 boxes...the kids think he is the best dad EVER!  This morning Brianna wanted the one with the Bunny on it....

So now I know what I am serving for breakfast, lunch and dinner this week.....

Pictures!

This is how Brianna insisted on going to preschool this am...nevermind that it was not warm enough for this but she told everyone she was a ROCKSTAR....

If you missed this on FB, Jackson dumped a 50 lb bag of dog food for the dogs while I was showering!  The dogs LOVE him...

Our neighbors across the street own this tractor...imagine Jack's delight when he got to sit on it...I fear that if he was able he would be stealing it for joyrides on a regular basis.

HELLO slumber parties!  Aly is a great big sister to Jackson.

The tractor obsession seems to be contagious.

Broad Street Run

Yesterday I ran the Broad Street 10 miler in Philadelphia.  Originally, I was not going to do this but when we thought we might be moving, I decided to try to get in and check it off the bucket list.

The race was huge! and it sold out in 5 hours I think.  Ryan spent a good 1.5 hours trying to register me when it opened, they had server issues and it kept crashing...

Onto the race..the course is flat and a net downhill I think.  We got there plenty early and hung out on the bus until about 1/2 hour before the race was going to start.  The weather was perfect, there was no sun and the temps were in the 50s I think.

Since UMLY did not go so great, we decided that I would just train through the week and not rest for Broad Street.  Sun am...I was ready to race though.  The plan was to start out conservative and descend the miles.  The crowds were awesome and the corrals moved pretty quickly once the race got started.

I had heard that you could end up walking most of the first mile due to the crowds but that was not the case...once we stepped over the timing mat it was GO time...this race went by fast.  Each mile was quicker and   the entire run is really a straight shot.

The only issues we had were the last mile, the course starts to narrow significantly to get everyone into the Navy Yard...so we really had to work to keep the pace we wanted.  At the end, you come to a screeching halt...since there are so many people and not a lot of places for you to go...you literally crossed the finish line and put the brakes on!

Overall it was a great race for me...I finished in 1:23 and that was 15 min faster than my last 10 mile race!

Jackson's Birthday

What a fun fun weekend!  We celebrated Jackson's 2nd birthday on Saturday with a tractor bash!  Given his current obsession with tractors and trucks he was over the moon.

We went old school and had a pinata, tug o war and bubbles!

He put all of his new trucks to bed...

UMLY triathlon

A little season opener is always fun...right?

I raced this last year as my first real triathlon.  I was looking forward to doing the same race again.  Except when I arrived on Sunday am they had changed the bike course since there was a bridge out...so it would not be an exact comparison.

I should have known from last year that this race NEVER starts on time...in fact I think our wave was 40 minutes late....and it was the 3rd wave.

So I got in the little warm up pool and warmed up....I swam and swam and swam....and they still were not calling our wave.  So we swam some more....Finally it was time to go out...so we ran to the outdoor pool and jumped it.

Swim...7:11- slightly faster than last year but not close to what I should be swimming....

The bike course added more hills to an already hilly route.  It was full of some fun turns and a few downhills...overall I was 33:xx.

The run...this was where I thought I would do better last year and I did!  It is up up for the first 1.5 miles and then you run back.  I think it was 25:xx..which was a minute faster than last year.

Overall, my time was slower..but the bike was longer...so it is hard to compare.  I thought there were a lot of things I would do different for the next one..in terms of transition and going out a little harder.  It is hard when training for longer stuff to remember the sprint is only an hour...

Thanks Fleet Feet for the fun gear!