Chelanman Sprint Triathlon

After months of training the day had finally arrived for our sprint triathlon in Chelan. The triathlon was at the end of our vacation with Dave's family and the beginning of our vacation with our friends. The triathlon was on July 18 and started at 8am. We got up early (after hardly sleeping much the night before) and made it to the start about 7. Andy and I were in the first wave of swimmers and Dave and Shane Stacy (friend) were starting 5 minutes after us. I was incredibly nervous about the swim, I am not a strong swimmer and when Dave and I started training for the swim he literally had to teach me how to freestyle swim and breathe the correct way.All of my training had been done in a pool and when we got to the lake it was incredibly windy and the water was very choppy. It looked like an ocean! Lucky for me our friend Shane, who was also competing, brought over his wetsuit (he was borrowing a friend's) and told me I could borrow it. That saved me, it kept me warm and also helped with buoyancy in the water. I am going to try and find one off of craigslist before we do our next triathlon.

Before the race started -  Andy, Me and Dave.

I think the picture makes us look so calm (I was anything but calm).

The hardest part of the course was the beginning because the waves kept pushing you back towards the shore, once I got around the yellow triangle and was able to head back to land it got much easier. Within the first 100 meters there were people all around me yelling for kayaks or jet ski's, at that point I started to feel pretty confident because I was feeling good and strong. The swimming part in a triathlon is made even more difficult because of all the people around you, legs are kicking, arms flailing and people hitting you all over the place. It was quite the experience.

Dave had a freak thing happen on his swim, a sailboat was anchored down in the middle of the lake with people on board to help the swimmers who were struggling. With all the waves and wind it came un-anchored and in the process almost took Dave out with it. He still finished 2.5 minutes faster than me though.

He said the bike was his favorite part of the entire course, he finished 1.5 minutes ahead of me on the bike.

Starting his least favorite part.....the run.

Finishing strong, he was easy to spot with his bandanna!

 I was thrilled when I finished the swim, I had felt good the entire swim and even though my time was not the greatest (22 minutes) I was just happy to be done.

 The bike was fun, my legs felt strong and I didn't feel tired at all. I completed it in 36 minutes but I really didn't push myself as hard as I could of. I was worried about burning myself out for the run and then trying to figure out the course, etc. The first half I kind of just coasted through and then I really pushed myself once we hit the turn around point.

 The run was the hardest part but also the part I did the best in. My legs felt like jello after the bike ride and I felt like I was going SO SLOW!! I didn't have my garmin on so I had no idea what my pace was, my goal was to run under 8 minute miles (it was only a 3.1 mile run). Once I started running my goal was to pass as many people as possible and let no one pass me. I was passing a lot of people but I still felt like I was moving  slow, I was so tired I didn't care. Turns out I wasn't running as slow as I thought, I did the run in just over 24 minutes which was a 7:48 mile pace (this was the 4th best running time for woman). My overall time was 1 hour and 26 minutes (17th overall and 8th in my age group). For my first triathlon I was pretty happy with how I did, I am a pretty competitive person and after completing the tri and thinking back on the race I know there are a couple areas I could have done better on but I also think a lot of it comes from experience. I will definitely be doing more of these!

 My brother-in-law Andy also did the triathlon. He is pretty much a stud!

 Finishing the run, I think his time was 1 hour and 21 minutes.

 After the tri- all smiles!

 With our good friend Shane Stacy (who also completed the tri- he beat all of us!).
We headed back to the house after the triathlon to shower and get all packed up. We went to pizza with Dave's family (which tasted good after not eating all day - I felt too nervous to eat) and then they all headed home and we spent the night at a campground with Shane, Courtney and baby girl Kendall. Court's mom was nice enough to let Jax and I sleep in their motor-home with them so Dave, Shane and Colt got the tent. The next day we were meeting up with all our friends for another 5 days in Chelan.

Other random pictures from Chelan

The boys took an afternoon and went and golfed at Bear Mountain. The course was beautiful and I know they enjoyed the time away from the women and kids.

Taylor and Andy.

Bear Mountain Golf Course

 We all walked into town one day for the farmer's market.

 2 double joggers, 4 kids and lots of adults. 

Vacationing with Dave's family really feels like a vacation with all the help we get!

 We stopped and fed the ducks.

 Father and son.

 Taylor made Colt a peanut butter sandwich and he got to enjoy it in the pool. He was loving it!
The first week went by so fast and I know all of us had a great time. Dave put together a meal list and him and Kenzie did all the shopping and cooking with help from all of us. We had an amazing breakfast and dinner every day and probably ate way too much! Colt and Camryn had a lot of fun playing together and entertained each other quite nicely.

Chelan Pictures

We took our annual family Christmas picture while we were there. I didn't want to post any of the good ones since Julie will probably use one of those for the card. We all really do have so much fun together.

Memah, Poppi and their 4 grandkids.
Calvin, Camryn, Jax, and Colt

Cousins with their puppies.

Colt and Cam with Uncle Trav.

Chelan - Pool Paradise

We just returned from 2 weeks in Chelan and we had a fabulous time though it feels awesome to finally be home. The first week we spent with Dave's family at a house just off of the lake with a pool. The house was called "Pool Paradise" and it really was paradise. We pretty much spent most of our vacation in the pool or on the porch. We laughed, talked, played, swam and ate some amazing food!

The view from the back deck.

 Jax trying out the goggles.

 Taylor and Randee.
Taylor spent almost the entire first day in the pool and got so sunburned spent most of the rest of the vacation under the umbrella. We eventually moved the umbrella so he could get in the pool and still be under the shade.

Travis came too!

Julie and Travis.
We laughed about this over and over, Trav couldn't come because he had to work (he is in the Army and will be leaving in October for Afghanistan), so Katie had a life size poster made up of him so it still felt like he was there. We had some good laughs about getting pictures with Travis.

 Colt and Cam spent most of the vacation in the pool. They loved playing and swimming around.

 Jax got some pool time too.

 Colt and Taylor playing rough.

 When Jax wasn't in the water he usually was sitting in the shade with a ball......

 ....or eating in the shade.

 Relaxing in the shade.

 Colt has all the gear he needs to hop in the pool.

 We took Colt's water wings off him periodically and by the end of the trip he would try and swim underwater to us.

 

 

 I think next summer he may be swimming on his own!

IRRESISTABLE!

We have been in Chelan for almost two weeks and are having a great time. Lots of playing, swimming, laughing and fun happening around here. More to come when we get home!

What we have been up to......

The last two weeks have been wonderful. We have stayed home and just enjoyed being together as a family before our big summer vacation to Lake Chelan begins. The past couple weeks have flown by and I realized that I have not posted in 2 weeks which for me is a very long time. Part of it is due to my online class that I am teaching, I spend so much time on the computer working that I have not felt like doing much blogging. The other part is because we have just been having so much fun I have not had time to slow down to blog about it. Here is what we have been up to:

• Colt had swim lessons for 2 weeks at the YMCA. The first day he started crying 10 minutes into class and refused to go back in the pool. Part of this was my fault, Colt is the type of kid that needs to be told exactly what is going to happen. As long as he understands how it is going to work then he is usually fine with it. I was in such a rush to get out of the house that day and kind of nervous for Colt that he would be doing this on his own that I forgot to spend the time to explain this to him. That evening both Dave and spent some time explaining what he was doing, how he needed to sit and listen to the teacher and wait his turn, etc. The rest of the lessons went by smoothly and he had a blast. It was so much fun to watch him, he did a great job of listening to Teacher Victoria and he LOVED her. He always had a huge grin on his face in the water, he learned to float on his back, he loved to jump in with no help and overall just had a great experience.  The last day of swim lessons was this past Friday and they have a free swim for family and friends so Colt, Jax and I all went and swam for an hour. Colt loved showing me his new skills and I was glad to see how confident he is starting to feel in the water. Jax loved it too, these two are going to have so much fun in Chelan! After swimming, we met Dave for shaved ice.....it's been 100 degrees here and it tasted so good!
• We have been doing ALOT of yard work, we have some big landscaping plans for our yard and have been slowly getting things done. One of the things on our to-do-list was to chop down 2 trees. I wanted to rent a chainsaw but of course Dave ended up buying one instead. The first night he picked the chainsaw up to start it and it slipped out of his hands and fell on his foot (he was wearing sandles). He ended up in the ER with 7 stitches, it was a nasty gash and when it happened I was inside and I heard him yell "Care, I need a butterfly band-aid" I ran out and there was blood pouring out his foot and a pretty nasty gash on the top of it. I convinced him he needed a doctor! Only Dave would tell me he needed a band-aid when something like that happens.
• Our 4th of July was very low key, we went to church, then spent a lot of the day doing yard work.  My parents had the boys stay the night (first time ever being away from Jax!) and they had a big camp-out in their backyard with them. Both the boys slept great and Colt loved sleeping in a tent. Dave and I went on a long bike ride (which was so nice not having to pull the boys) and then to dinner. It was nice to just sit and talk (lots of conversation occurred about having a 3rd, I am still in the convincing stages though) and relax.
• Dave and my dad spent a couple nights building a bridge across my parents creek in their backyard so Dave can get across the creek for deer hunting this fall. I think it was a fun project for both of them and I know my dad learned a little from Dave (my dad is NOT a builder but he tries!). The bridge looks great, now if he can just get the deer to make it all worth it. Dave is excited because he is going to take Colt out a bit and let him watch. 
• We have been training for our upcoming triathlon pretty much every day. I usually get up early (5am) and go running or ride my bike and then Dave works out in the evenings. On days that we swim my mom has been watching the kids but this past week I have had to go by myself because Dave is not allowed to swim until his stitches come out (luckily he is a really strong swimmer so I don't think it will affect his performance much). The triathlon is next Sunday, my only goal is that I don't drown. I think Dave's goal is not to let me beat him.:)
• We have had some play dates, I had a girls night out (which was so much fun), Dave has spent some time shooting his bow and hanging out with buddies, the boys and I have been playing in the pool outside and Colt and I have been doing a lot of water balloons fights together which he loves.
• Jax is starting to talk more and has learned a lot of new signs. My favorite is when he signs "thank you" but also says "tank uuu" while he does it. He finally has a top tooth coming through (that's only number 3!) but I am glad to see that he does have other teeth. He is still not walking, but is starting to figure out he can stand on his own, walks between chairs and around furniture and just discovered how to push his car all around the house. He is the cutest little chunk ever and I just love him!
• Colt is as fun as ever, everyday is a new adventure and everyday I laugh at the things he says. He is really into the movies Toy Story 2 and Up and he is constantly repeating lines from the movies that just crack me up. His new best friend is Buzz and he sleeps with him every night (along with his lovie that he has had since birth).
• Both boys are now requesting a banana and milk upon waking up every morning. Colt started this when he was about 11 months old and now Jax is following in his footsteps. It's a sad morning when we don't have banana's in our house!

Well I think that sums it up. I have taken so many pictures the last few weeks so here are a few random ones of what we have been up to.

Jax entertaining himself while I make dinner.

Colt playing with play-doh

My three year old.

Working on his letters, colors and numbers. We try to do this everyday and he has fun with it. He is getting so much better at tracing letters! I am trying to teach him to write his name, he can spell it but so far the only legible letter is the C.

 Building the bridge.

 Colt loves to help.

 Di Di and Colt. Mom did the cooking for the workers.