Random Stuff...

Lots of random stuff to put here... I'll start with a pic of Noah from the park -- just cuz I thought it was cute :) Noah is walking probably 95% of the time now - he is getting better every day!Unfortunately Noah caught some sort of bug that brought snot for a few days and then broke with a fever on Wednesday... but Travis almost enjoys it a little bit when the kids are sick, because they get extra cuddly:Thurday after work we took a trip down the road to Newcastle Beach. It was a beautiful night -- and the kids had a great time!

Friday night was "date-night". We went to El Gaucho Steakhouse for an amazing dinner, and then headed to a comedy club. We were originally going to celebrate our 5 year anniversary... but we ended up having more to celebrate. Travis lost his job back in March (on St Pat's day) -- his company down-sized and got rid of a lot of their engineers. He picked up some contract-type work in July -- but that was coming to an end, too. Not sure why I never posted any of this... it was a little stressful (probably why I worked out so much -- I needed an outlet!!) Anyway -- he got a job offer on Wednesday and starts on Monday! Needless to say, we had a lot to celebrate last night :)

Meso, Ecto or Endomorph?

Remember in school when we learned all about different body types? Evelyn is definitely an ectomorph -- but I am unsure about Noah... I am probably more of a mesomorph... but he might go either way (meso or endomorph). This picture shows their totally different body characteristics :) But -- Travis was a very "muscular/solid/husky" toddler, and he ended up pretty long and lean... we'll have to wait and see :)

Also -- Travis and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary last Friday (we went out to dinner as a family to our favorite pizza place) We will formally celebrate it this Friday night with a proper date-night :) Happy Anniversary Travis! Can't wait to see where the next 5 years+ will take us!

Part-time Walker

Noah has officially joined the world of walkers. He took his first steps (and actually walked from one end of our family room to the other) on Monday. An added bonus is that my mom was in town to witness this big milestone!

It is adorable -- he is such a chubby little boy -- and he gets so excited and proud of himself when he walks :) He is a little perfectionist - he wanted to keep practicing and doing it over and over again. Evelyn was happy for him, too -- she would jump around and practically tackle him because she wanted to be part of the excitement.

I have two videos on youtube if anyone is interested: #1 and #2

She Swims, She Rides, She Runs, SheROX!

I did it!! Here are the stats -- I told myself I didn't care how long I took, but deep down I didn't want to take much longer than 1 hr 45 minutes... I'm happy with my results :)
Swim '00:20:09'
Trans1 '00:05:02'
Bike '00:37:59'
MPH 18.9
Trans2 '00:02:58'
Run '00:27:15'
Pace '00:08:47'
Final '01:33:24' Overall Rank 327 of 3709 Class Rank 40 of 376

The race was hard -- but a ton of fun. It was so great to have my mom, Travis, and the kids there cheering me on. There were multiple times during the race when I would hear them (Trav) cheering my name - it gave me a boost every time! It was such a nice feeling :) I also need to thank Travis for putting up with all of my morning and evening work-outs - and sacrificing some of our "quality" time together.

The swim was tough - and as predicted, I was completely relieved when it was over with. Here are a couple quick videos from the beginning of the race: #1 and #2 It was so chaotic in the water -- people swimming over other people, getting kicked, swallowing mouthfuls of water, etc. It took everything I had to maintain composure and not freak out... not too much anyway.The bike was my favorite -- I'll have to remember to thank my favorite spinning instructor :)

The run was fun, too. If you look at my pace (8:47/mile) it isn't anything stellar -- but believe me, your legs feel like jell-0 and your feet are numb for the first mile or so after you get off the bike!

Overall, it was a pretty empowering event. I put in a lot of hours and hard work -- and afterwards it felt like a pretty awesome accomplishment :)

More pictures here on Snapfish if anyone is interested...

It Could Be Worse...

So -- today started out with my mom missing her flight from Saginaw to Chicago. Thankfully she ended up getting in to Seattle only 4 hours later than originally planned. It could have been worse.

A bike got stolen from our garage today. Thankfully it wasn't my road bike. (it was a much cheaper hybrid bike) It could have been much worse.

Tomorrow is registration for Danskin -- I will pick up my numbers and timing chip, sign a waiver, and drop off my bike (which I thankfully still have). Sunday is my big day!!

Green Green Grass of Home

My hunky hubby has been hard at work this summer... and these pictures prove it. We are one of only a few houses in the neighborhood with green grass. Our yard might be tiny (like most yards within a 10 mile radius of Seattle) but it is now beautiful! New sprinkler system + new soil + new hydroseed + new bark + a lot of hard labor = (see below)... and a very happy wife :)

Sometimes we just need a little push...

I did the swim/bike practice tonight with the Luna Chix again. It was fun -- the swim was exhausting -- but the more I practice in the lake, the better off I will be...

It was funny -- after the swim we all put on our shoes and did a 7 mile loop on our bikes. I was just finishing up when 2 girls immediately in front of me enticed me to do another loop with them. They said "Come on, let's do another one. It is only another 7 miles. It will be fun!". Sure enough -- that is all it took for me to follow them to do a second loop. Nothing like good old-fashioned peer pressure :)

I ended up thanking them when we were all done -- I told them that besides Travis, nobody really pushes me like that and makes me work harder (most of the time I have to pressure myself - probably 98% of my training has been on my own). I could use more girlfriends like that around here!!

Sunday night...

These pictures were actually taken a few days ago -- but I thought I would post them now. Evelyn enjoying corn at dinner:Noah in his warm weather attire:

Don't pay any attention to either of their hair-dos... they always have crazy hair when they get up from their naps... guess we didn't bother to fix it.

OK -- only 14 days left until my triathlon. I was a huge slacker during vacation, only ran twice. I have been eating horribly the past week (I will blame vacation on that, too) I have to be honest -- I am still pretty nervous about the swimming portion... but feeling good about the bike & run portion. I am going to do a group swim training thing on Tuesday night where we will swim in the lake and then bike afterwards -- hopefully that will boost my confidence a little more :)