I am an IRON GIRL!

I survived it!  And I didn't get eaten by the fish!  All week leading up to this weekend the three other people in this house kept making comments about the fish getting my toe and fingers knowing how nervous I was about the open water aspect of the weekends activities.  Well good news.... the swimming was not as bad as I had expected!

14 minutes and 5 seconds in the greenest water I have ever been in... but I survived without holding onto any of the kayaks even with the several kicks in the face and wildly splashing arms around me.  500 Meters in those conditions feel a lot longer than in the pool with chlorinated see through water!  

Then on to 3 minutes and 22 seconds in transition.  Didn't feel that long in the moment but looking at that time seems like a long time.  Changed, socks, bike shoes, helmet, race number belt, grab a drink and head out for a 20K bike ride.  Long slow inclines were fun - haha!  Not bad though... and I managed to not fall.... small victories!  :)  45:14 and I was back into transition for the last time.

2 minutes and 3 seconds to get off bike shoes get on running shoes, loose the helmet, chug some water (by now it is well into the 80's... gotta love Texas heat) grab some sport beans re rack my bike and get down to the other end of the transition area.  Any one out there training for one of these... if nothing else... ride your bike and get off and run!  I couldn't get going!  My legs were not co-operating!  What should have been a 25-30 minute run turned into a 43:45 minute run!!!  ARGH!!!!  I was counting on this being the part I could do which made it even that much more frustrating.  Now I know what to do for the next one  :)

So all said and done... I do believe this was harder than my marathon!  But I loved it!  All ready signed up to do another one in September!  Any one thinking about one should definitely give it a try  :)

Splish Splash.... and other summer fun!

We got an ice cream maker and the kids have been having a lot of fun dreaming up what kind we will make.... EVERY NIGHT!  We love it...25 minutes to fresh yummy ice cream.

The little monkey below thinks it is quite funny to make her mom squirm with the abundance of wiggly teeth.  This morning she thought she was funny by closing her mouth with her tooth still hanging out!!!!  YUCK!!!!

Hahaha... I knew we were onto something!

So the Pope had just finished his prayers when the phone rang.

"Hello, this is the Pope."

"Hello Pope old boy, this is God."

"Truly?  Is it really you, Lord?"

"Yes it is.  I'm calling to give you some good news and some bad news."

"Certainly God, please enlighten me."

"Well, it seems you boys have made a mess of your spirituality with your claims of who has the 'right' religion and who is favored be Me."  "So I have decided that there will only be one religion from now on and I wanted you to be the first to know of my decision."

"First to know, God?"  Well... that must mean, thought the Pope, as his heart started to pound and he felt himself somewhat taller... "well, that certainly is good news God, but what is the bad news?"

"I'm calling from Salt Lake City."

Good Friends + Good Food + Fireworks = a perfect 4th of July!

Here we go...

Jorden is always thinking... 'What are they doing?  Can I do that?'

Here is the boy who is growing up too fast.... and another of his normal state of mind...

And here comes the fun.... mom got smart and bought 5000 glow stick for cheap on eBay instead of from the guys trying to make money at events.  The kids had fun handing them out to all the kids that came by us looking for some... I think we kind of irritated the guys selling them... oh well we had fun!

My goodness the crocs have another use.... works of art!

'Sister Kate' and Linc even got in on the fun... and a quick escape  :)

Alien Jorden glowing from her ears to her toes...

Bart trying on a new family...

Wow look at those fireworks....