Summer Happenings Take 4

So here is why I haven't blogged much this summer...it's just been too fun to be with the girls and doing ANYTHING else other than sitting in the basement on this computer. I will get much better now that Fall is here. :)

I feel like I have good updates on here already for June and July. So all I'm missing is August I guess. The busiest month of all!!!

Well the month (KIND OF) started with a women's only triathlon on July 26th at the Centennial Quarry in Sylvania.


It was an event that 5 women from my church all did together. We did a few training runs/bikes/swims together throughout the summer, but a lot of the training was done on our own. I enjoyed the bike trail of good ol' Toledo, OH quite a bit on those cool summer mornings. PERFECT! (A good friend of mine let me borrow her road bike- makes SUCH a difference). I swam in the open water of Devil's Lake when we were up there at the cottage. I felt that really helped prepare me for this race. And running--well I just did that whenever I could. RD was such an incredible help when it came to the training, what I should do, for how long, how intense, etc. And on the day before the Tri, he was AWESOME. He went out and bought me everything else I needed. He got me all setup and walked me through exactly how to do each transition area. The morning of the race I was a nervous wreck, but ultimately the event was one of the neatest things I've ever done. I had NEVER participated in a race of any kind. It was a great experience.
I had a huge cheering club and seeing the girls when I ran out of the water and up some stairs to my bike about made me cry. RD was so great...he was such a good coach throughout the whole race. I did pretty good as far as timing. Better than I thought at least. 1 hour and 21 min. Yippee!! It got me hooked.



AND SO....I did another one two weeks later (August 9th). Ha! Not quite as enjoyable as Tri #1 because of the extreme heat, but I managed. The swim leg was also different. Rather than starting alone, every 5 seconds, like my 1st Tri, we started in massive groups. I started with my age group, which was about 10 minutes after the official starting horn went off. That allowed for 10 min. of extreme fear of being drowned by the women standing next to me when we all ran into the water. It wasn't horrible when we began swimming, but it definitely wasn't easy. I certainly had to kick a few people in order to stay on top of the water. Crazy! Overall, I was a few minutes slower in my time probably due to the 90 degrees, (1 hour 24 min) but I was still so proud of this accomplishment. :) Yaaaay! Fun times!!

Besides swimming, biking, and running this month I/we did do some other things. We spent a lot of time at the pool, and El has improved tremendously on her swimming. She is much more confident and can doggie paddle/free style all over the place. It is the strangest feeling watching my peanut do that. She used to be my baby and she is now fluttering around in a pool. Wow. She also was the flower girl in two weddings. One good friend of ours from church, and then my sister's wedding of course. :) Here area few shots from her first flower girl adventure...

(taken by my sister in law- sarabethphoto.wordpress.com)

El and I also had a girl's day this month. We went to the Ohio State Fair with my dear friend Beth and her daughter Clara. It was so fun. The girls had an absolute blast...and it was one day I actually didn't care at all about spoiling El with treats and junk food. We both loved it!! We then spent a night and a day in Columbus visiting with RD's mom and siblings. (Rd and Ems drove down to Columbus with El and I. ) It was great to be together...we hit up yet another pool! But the Dublin pool was far better than where we typically go, so the girls were certainly entertained.

The lake is always a part of our summer weeks, so I can't forget to mention that. We were there quite a bit this month as well. Both of the girls truly enjoy their time up there. When we get 'em out of the car they start running toward the water. El has gone tubing this summer but we didn't try the skis...just ran out of time I guess. Ugh. She also loved the wave runners this year. Ems...not so much.

And last but certainly not least...my sister's wedding. Kiki (Katie) Moan became Katie Moore on Friday Aug. 21. It was a SUPER fun wedding week and a super special wedding DAY on the 21st. Katie was truly a princess. Jack, El, and Ems all agreed. El was the flower girl along with Dave's niece, Grace. They did great...loved the attention. Dave was a basket case during the ceremony as they became man and wife. Ahhhh...perfect.
Enjoy the shots!

Night of Rehearsal Dinner...

Morning of the wedding @ the salon...

At Nazareth Hall getting ready...

taken by sarah: sarabethphoto.wordpress.com

taken by sarah: sarabethphoto.wordpress.com

El wanted to dance with Daddy SO BAD. She missed the reception (bedtime) so they just had a Daddy/daughter dance time beforehand...

And then there's us... :)