New England Danskin Triathlon

My friends Anne and Paige and I just finished our first triathlon! We had a blast! I finished in 1:45. The swim was awesome, I was in the top 20 % with a time of 11 minutes. I was really worried about doing this because I‘ve been sick since 7/3, and wasn’t able to talk or do anything physical for 2 weeks. I was even waking up in the middle of the night needing to use an inhaler-it was awful and I thought I might have to scratch. Plus, I had just got a used older Trek road bike from a friend right before I got sick, and had only ridden a wicked easy dial shifting mountain bike, so I missed a lot of time being able to practice and learning how to shift the gears on the road bike. Even last Thursday when I went swimming, I could only go for 10 minutes and had to breathe every 2 strokes instead of my normal 4 strokes before I started to wheeze and had to stop. So I was most worried about the bike since I hadn’t been able to practice or go for long rides-I know I was being watched over-the bike was the easiest-I felt so comfortable and found the gears most of the time, and even hit 30 miles an hour going down some hills-(love my computer that tells me such things!)I thought I’d need to coast the hills and just take it easy, but I was passing everybody and felt really strong, which I haven’t felt in a month. I had to go a bit slower on the run, it took me 33 minutes, but I could feel a cramp in my side starting and so I walked a bit here and there to keep it at bay…overall I am so happy, I had been hoping to do it in 2 hours before I got sick, and even the day before I thought I’d be lucky just to finish. Plus it was really nice to raise money and do it for a good cause, in this case the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Paige and I found another one to do on September 14th-we are hooked!

"Ethan, pet the jellyfish."

Words I never thought I'd hear myself say, but on our last trip to Rocky Neck State Park, nonstinging moon jellyfish had invaded. There were a few stinging ones out there, but they had red in them and we watched out for them. There were hundreds of them, kids were picking them up and putting them in buckets of water. They were really cool to handle and watch.

Camp Joseph, Vermont

We had a great time camping in Vermont! We loved playing in the river, picking raspberries, and visiting the Joseph Smith birthplace.

What is wrong with this picture?

This afternoon when I went to get Ethan after his nap, he was sitting on top of his changing pad, which is on top of his dresser. Finding him out of his crib and on top of the pad last Saturday is the reason we switched him to a toddler bed in the first place! Not only that, but somehow he managed to reach the wooden letters on top of the shelf that spell his name, and throw most of them to the floor. He had also emptied his wipes container. You can see them on the floor and on the bottom drawer. I think I have a monkey for a son. Maybe we should rename him Tarzan?

Hanging out

Ethan loves to sit in the hammock! He sits and swings, for about one minute, then he's off and running.