Dump trucks, dirt, and superheroes

How on earth did I get so lucky to have this much cuteness in my life!?!

In case you're wondering, there is still time to donate to the Walk for a Cure on behalf of this darling little dude. Visit our website at www2.jdrf.org/goto/teamrobby.

*We recognize that the website has a minimum $25 donation requirement, but if you'd like to donate an amount smaller than $25, feel free to send a check to our home address. Make checks payable to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (or JDRF). We will be able to submit those on the day of the event.

Thanks again everyone! We're getting excited for our walk!

Ty's tri

Yep. Tyler got in on the action this summer too! Every year our community hosts a running event that benefits our community storehouse. They have a fun run and a 5K. Several schools in the community compete to see who has the most number of participants, so it is pretty widely advertised and promoted at the school level. After hearing about the run for a few weeks at school, Tyler came home and told me he wanted to do it.

Now let me say here, Tyler hates running. We have never pushed him into this kind of thing because in the past, he has told us how much he doesn't like running and we completely respect that. He likes other sports and outdoor activities and he's an active kid, so we've never really pushed him into running. So after his persistence in asking to do the run, we figured, why not? We would happily support his desires to give it a try. To be honest, we were just hoping he'd have a good time. Sure enough, he had a great time and surprised us all by running the entire mile without stopping. I think he really enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment and of doing something that is difficult for him.

Here are my two handsome finishers...all smiles!

A few weeks later we learned of a kids triathlon being held in our area. When we told Tyler about it, he was all kinds of excited, especially after having had success at such an event and having just watched my triathlon experience (along with all of John's tri training as well).

The event was perfect for him. He still qualified for the youngest age group (4-6 years old), which would mean his tri course would be very easy for him to accomplish and since our main goal was for him to have fun and feel successful, that was important. At packet pick up, Tyler was very excited to get all of his numbers for his helmet, bike and shirt. And John and I laughed at the fact that we had to buy him a USAT (USA Triathlon) license and we wondered if we could get a family pass next time since three of us are now licensed.

The night before the event, Tyler and John very excitedly got all the stuff gathered and ready and then John took a moment to go over the event with Tyler. Here they are looking at the map and discussing transitions and rules. They were so cute.

The big day arrived and Tyler was ready. He woke up bright and early...and very excited. I have to say that this whole thing put the biggest smile on my face. Seeing all those little kiddos all lined up and waiting their turn to start was beyond cute (keep in mind, some of these kids are only 4 years old)! This event was so well organized and both parent and kid friendly. For Tyler's age group, almost anything goes. The kids were allowed to use life jackets, fins, or the help of the lifeguard (there was one for each lane, just in case) to complete their one lap. Yep, that's all he had to do was swim from one side of the pool to the other! I was glad that this would be easy for Tyler and that he would easily feel successful. It was just as much fun watching some of those other darling, little kids with their tiny arms just going as hard as they can in the water and their big goggles propped on their tiny faces. I loved how they each had a lifeguard coaching them along and helping for those little ones who needed it. They were adorable!

Here is Tyler all set to go! (He decided that he wanted to use his fins for this. I think it just helped take the edge off his nerves knowing he would get to the other side really quick with them on). Oh, and don't you love how they even ink the numbers on their arms and legs just like the real deal? Ty thought that was pretty cool.

After the swim, he set off for the bike. Like I said, this event was very parent friendly and one parent was allowed into the transition area to help. Thank heavens because most of these kids can't even tie their own shoes! In fact, the transition area was pretty fun to watch. Where normally you'd see rows and rows of expensive bikes and equipment, this time you see rows and rows of bikes decorated with cartoon characters like Lightning McQueen and Barbie and even lots of training wheels! It was very cute.

The bike was the one part Tyler felt the most confident in. He loves riding and knows he can go fast. I was mostly worried about crashes. Can you imagine sending 50 4-6 year olds out on a one mile bike race?!? But again, it was so well organized, and they had volunteers stationed every 50 feet or so to help out. Tyler finished the bike rather quickly and he told us later that he passed most of the other kids.

And finally, the run. John met up with him and helped him finish the run. Again, I was so impressed with this event. Even the finish line was awesome. They had an official race announcer that announced each participant as he/she finished along with music and other race commentary that was typically quite upbeat and funny. And even a race arch that each finisher got to pass under.

I was so proud of him for attempting something that appeared to him to be difficult and I'm so thrilled that he felt happy and successful. He sure is a cutie!

I had to give it a "tri"

Several weeks ago, I competed in my first triathlon. I knew I could handle the run and bike portion of it, but the swim...no way. So at the beginning of the summer John volunteered to teach me to swim. I figured he'd just show me a few pointers over at the neighborhood pool and I'd just kind of suffer through the swim with a combination of what he taught me, the back stroke, and a bit of dog paddling and call it good.

Lucky for me, my husband saw it differently. He signed me up at the gym under his membership for the summer so that I would have access to a lap pool and he agreed to be my swim coach. I love that from the very beginning, he believed in me more than I did (he always does).

I'd have to say that that is what I enjoyed most about this whole experience. I loved learning something new and feeling successful at it. I went from barely being able to make it across the pool to being able to swim laps for 30 min! I love that I now have a new sport that I enjoy and a new skill that I can improve.

And so I spent the summer juggling my training between three sports instead of just one, which actually proved to be an interesting problem in resource management (time and energy). It was also an interesting logistics problem in that John is doing the same (only on a much, much larger scale-more on that later). Each week we'd coordinate our weekly training schedules and even worked it out to where we spent many mornings biking on our trainers in the garage together.

The training went fine, but there was one glitch in the whole plan- the HEAT! As I mentioned in my last post, this was the hottest summer in Texas history. There were days where our overnight lows didn't dip below 85 degrees. So when I discovered that the event didn't even start until 9:00am, I was deflated. By the time I would start my run it would be fast approaching the low 100's.

Well wouldn't you know it, the night before the event, a cold front moved in and for the first time all summer, our temps were not expected to reach the 100 degree mark! I was shocked to leave my house that morning and realize that I was unprepared for this weather. I hadn't in my wildest dreams thought I was going to be cold the morning of the event, but I was indeed freezing! In fact, as I arrived at the transition area to get set up, I had to call John to tell him to bring jackets for the boys. We had literally planned for the day to be sweltering hot with hats, shade umbrellas, frozen water bottles, etc. Who knew we were going to need jackets!?! (and the funny thing is, we had two days of glorious, lovely weather and then it heated right back up- I so lucked out on this one!)

With the cooler weather, I was stoked. I knew the wind was going to be a much bigger factor on the bike, but I didn't mind that as much as I would have minded the heat. Overall, everything went well. I was more than a bit nervous before the race started as I looked around and realized that the field of participants was a little more aggressive than I had expected. Not too many people looked like first timers like me! My swim time was a whole minute slower than I had anticipated, but that's okay. I learned what I would do differently next time (I started with slower swimmers and had a difficult time passing in the lanes). The bike and run went fine- Again, I learned a few things along the way that I would do differently, but overall I was pleased with my performance. I have to say, I used to think that triathlons were like exercise ADD because I'm used to doing one thing for a really long distance, but I can honestly say I loved it. It's very dynamic and exciting with all three sports in one event. I love how mentally engaging it is with all that is involved- especially the transitions and all that goes into making them smooth. It was a blast! So, yes, I loved it and yes, I will totally do it again.

Summer's over...THANK HEAVENS!

This summer was definitely one for the record books...literally. It was the hottest summer on record here in Texas. We had 70 days of temperatures at or above 100 degrees. And when I say above 100 degrees, I mean like 108-110 (which is not normal for us). We also haven't seen much rain. I think we went over 6 or 7 weeks without rain. There were days when we'd even just hope for a cloud or two just to give us some relief from the sun. It also didn't cool down much at night. Needless to say, it was a pretty miserable summer. Our AC and water bill are higher than they have ever been and the landscaper around these parts is looking mighty brown and sad.

I'm glad it's over. Here are a few pics and tips on how to stay cool (in case you ever need to know):

1. Choose a house right next to the neighborhood pool.

2. Go there often, but only go before 10 or 11am, after that the pool water just feels like nasty warm bath water and you will literally melt on the short walk home.

3. Take your whole family there and get as soaked as possible.

4. Bring your friends with you...especially if they bring donuts :)

5. Teach your children how to help keep YOU cool.

6. Lay in front of the industrial sized fan with the air blowing up your shirt. 7. When all else fails, freeze a bunch of toys in containers in your freezer, unload your ice cube compartment, and play with ice cubes (this activity may only last a few short moments, but it will keep you cool if you pile them in your lap or down your shirt).
We're so glad summer is over.

Oh, and here is a video of Robby trying to swim. He seriously swam laps across the pool steps. We'd have to make him stop and take breaks in betweeen laps. I love his little arms that flap like crazy!