Drama

Sometimes Hunter can be soooo dramatic. Today he and I were playing his new favorite game, Monopoly, and I asked him if he wanted to buy any houses for his properties. In the most dramatic fashion he said, "No...I do not want to lose any of my big dogs!" (meaning his $100 bills) and then he put his hand over his eyes (palm facing eyes) and shook his head back and forth.

Official Triathlete

I finished my first Olympic distance triathlon this morning. I had done two sprints prior but this one required more stamina as it doubled the distance (1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run). The weather was super horrible...worst conditions EVER! It was cold and rained most of the race. The rain started as I was setting up my transition area and so I quickly donned my wetsuit to try to stay as warm as possible. Of course, I didn't notice the rain while I was swimming but I did notice the decent-sized waves! A few times as I was attempting a breath I got a mouthful of water. I was super excited that I actually had passed a few of the half-ironman competitors in the water. Not sure how that's possible! All in all, I was VERY satisfied with my swim. I finished it in under 30 minutes (28:52)!

The transition to bike took forever because not only did I have to take my wetsuit off but I chose to wear running pants for warmth; however, getting those things on with wet legs is difficult to say the least! Not to mention all of my things were wrapped in plastic bags to keep them dry. Why I tried (or anyone did) is beyond me though because everything was soaked within a few minutes of biking/running.

The bike itself was the worst. First of all, I have a $5 bike that we bought at a rummage sale and while we have put some money into it to make it road-worthy it is still from circa 1983. Bike technology has changed a bit in the last 30 years. So much that while I was trying to have a quick conversation with a fellow racer she was sailing by me while coasting and I was pedaling my butt off just to keep up! How embarrasing! A guy even passed me on a MOUNTAIN BIKE! I passed maybe 12 people and at least 127 (give or take 50) passed me. YIKES! Clearly I need a new bike if I want to continue doing this sport. But to be fair I did spend the least amount of time training on my bike. The results showed. The rain hit us hard on the latter part of the 25 miles. Believe me, biking in the rain=not fun. Not only is it hard to see because of the rain drops pelting your face but it's dangerous! There were quite a few people who had wiped out and injured themselves pretty badly over a set of very slippery railroad tracks. The officials were making us dismount and walk over the tracks after that happened. Another bummer is the spray from the other bikes coming at you. At one point I rode past a Garage Sale sign and turned to another racer and said, "You wanna hit it?" She laughed. The route was very picturesque on winding, hilly tree-lined country roads. I wish the weather had been better so that I could have enjoyed it more.

During the transition to run another racer asked me if I was breathing okay. I thought that was odd and after telling him I was breathing fine I asked him his reasoning for asking me. He said my lips were blue. I said, "Yeah...it's because I'm freakin' cold!"

The run leg was SUPER challenging. The Lake Geneva Triathlon (actually held in Fontana) is known for "Frank's Killer Hill" so I had expected one tough hill to climb...not six or seven! WOW is all I have to say. These hills were ENORMOUS! I didn't mind the rain so much on the run leg. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was refreshing because I was still dang cold but I will say that it was a welcome distraction (Note the rain in this picture). Running in soggy shoes however was not. I passed a percentage of those racers who had passed me on my bike leg but I had expected that because usually running is the best of the three disciplines for me. Although today I would venture to say that my swim may have been. I did have to stop and tie my shoe at 3.5 miles, which was very difficult to do with numb fingers. I'm satisfied with averaging a 9 minute mile, especially after the swim and bike.

I know by now you are probably thinking, "suits you right for voluntarily signing up for that nonsense!" but I can't even try to express the feeling of accomplishment I had when I crossed that finish line. It's something I've had my sights set on for two years and to see it come to fruition really puts a smile on my face. This triathlon made the top 100 triathlons in the country for 2005 by Inside Triathlon Magazine so I'm especially proud to have completed my first Olympic distance on a challenging course such as this. I finished the entire race in just over 3 hours if you don't count transitions, which I don't because I'm not a super elite racer. I was hoping for under 3 but given the conditions and those ungodly large hills I'm happy with what I've accomplished.

John came out to root me on which was really encouraging and fun to have someone to hug after it was all over with. He is my biggest cheerleader and has been such a wonderful support for me while I trained this summer. His confidence in me never wavered! I was very nervous about this race feeling like I hadn't trained enough and even contemplated dropping down to the sprint distance last week. I really was doubting myself and voiced this to him. I am sooooo glad he talked me out of it and gave me the boost I needed because I really would have been disappointed in myself had I done that. We got a bite to eat before returning home and I really enjoyed this alone time with him. Mark (my brother) was taking care of the kids at home. All in all I am very pleased with how I raced my first "real" triathlon and I'm looking forward to beating this time at next year's race. I still had energy at the end of this one so I know I can do better next time if I push myself harder. Hopefully the weather will be better.

Autumn has arrived!

Today during Tyler and Brody's nap Hunter got the bug in him to put up Halloween decorations. Since it is technically still summer until the 21st I decided to draw the line at "Fall" decorations only. So we put out some pumpkins and leaf-related decor. No witches or ghosts at the Collins household just yet. Two solid months of Halloween decor is a little much. I allowed him just one little bat that he could put on his window if he liked.

We had just finished up when Tyler and Brody awoke from their nap. I must say that we have some very observant babies! They were entranced with the transformation.
I could barely get them to eat their lunch because they kept reaching for the gourds! I think they enjoy the change of scenery!

Successful first day!

When I picked up Hunter from his first day of Kindergarten his comments were, "School is AWESOME! I love Mrs. Stanioch! I stayed on the green smiley face all day!" He said he met a new friend but he doesn't know her name. I'm not sure why his friends are always girls (with the exception of Quinn but that friendship has been imposed on him through my relationship with his mother). He sits at the "green table." He also had music class and met Mrs. Nokavich (not sure of the spelling?) and learned a new song with lots of movements. He was SUPER excited about everything. YAY!!! That is such a relief.

I made him a "Welcome Home" sign (right) and sent the pic to John at work for him to see (on his phone). I also told him that I used Hunter's window markers to decorate his side of the van with "Yay Hunter K5 man!" He replied with, "How about sky writing...got any of that?"

Big time Kindergartener

I just dropped Hunter off for his first day of Kindergarten not long ago. I cannot believe this day has arrived. Over five years cannot have already passed from when the doctor laid him on my chest and told me "it's a boy!" That went WAY too fast.

He was BEYOND excited. In fact, two days ago he told me "Tomorrow I get to go to Kindergarten!" When I explained that he'd have to wait two days he started crying! I couldn't believe it. Earlier in the week he learned that there is a library at school and by his reaction you would've thought he just found out that he'd been told that we were taking a trip to Disney! What can I say? The kid loves books!

This morning I had no trouble whatsoever waking him up. He jumped out of bed and started telling me about some "really great" dreams he had been having. One was about being at a fun place with trains and waterslides with his buddy Quinny. He wanted to eat breakfast with his backpack on and I agreed that it was a fun idea. I packed his lunch. He requested a tuna fish sandwich, grapes, and bbq chips for a treat. I threw a pickle in there too since he loves them so much and of course, a special note that said, "I love you Hunter! Love, Mom See you soon!"

He told me on the way to school that he was a little nervous about meeting new kids. I reassured him that all the other kids were feeling the same way he was and that I was sure he would make friends easily. He said, "Maybe I'll even make friends on the first day!"

The drop-off went very smoothly. We all assembled in the gymnasium and he was able to meet his teacher (Mrs. Stanioch) there. He insisted on bringing her a quarter. She took it and acted very excited to receive it. She said, "What's this for? It must be for good luck! We're going to have a great year!"

I wasn't emotional until I got home to an "empty" house. Hanging out with *just* the twins today. I miss my little BIG guy already.

I *only* took 43 pictures to mark the occasion. No joke. Kindergarten is BIG TIME. Never thought I'd be saying that.