4th of July!

We love the 4th!  Always a fun weekend - but this year was a little funky with the 4th being on a Tuesday and I did not have Monday off work!  We decided to go to the river just for the day on Saturday.  Rob then took the kids to his Dad's place for Sunday afternoon through Monday while I was at work!  No pictures from that part of the weekend, but I enjoyed a little time to myself Sunday afternoon.  (I do remember a phone call though and Rob saying the kids were playing in the man cave...meanwhile I hear Fielder come running in to tell Daddy he is playing with darts, but not to worry because one hit him in the head and it didn't even hurt. AGH!)  Anyway, back to the river with the Hulchers.  Fielder had quite the to-do list in his head and I think we managed to squeeze it all in.  It was especially fun to see Olivia and Virginia!  A big thanks to all the Hulchers and Masons for making it a great day.  I know they were pulling out all the stops to make sure my kids (and Rob and me) had a great time and got to play with all the "toys" in our small window of time.  Maybe next year we'll be brave and try camping in the front yard so we can stay a little longer?!

So then Tuesday we had the day off for the 4th.  We went to the big pool party in our neighborhood which is always fun (but SO crowded!!)  At least it didn't rain this year!

 Then in the evening, I decided to take the kids to see fireworks for the first time.  Rob got a "free pass" because I called Meredith and she was game to go with us.  It was pretty cute - we had a good set up in the back of the van for the kids to play and wait for the show.  We had found a parking lot with decent views of nearby fireworks (trees somewhat in the way, but it didn't seem to bother the kids.)

 All the driving and planning and waiting was so worth it just to see Fielder's face!  He LOVED it!  All the kids kept asking about the grand finale, but like we had predicted, once it happens you'll know it's happening!  They went nuts when it was finally the ending.

It really was a fun time.  We had to sit in quite a bit of traffic to get home and kids were passed out - but I thought it was all worth it.  I can't remember now, but I sure hope they let me sleep in the next morning!!  I took Wednesday off of work and spent the day with the kids.  Then Mom kept them for Thursday and Friday.  (Saved a little $$ that week!  Hard to pay the same tuition for only 3 days so I was appreciative to everyone for pitching in that week!!)

SwimBikeRun

Last summer I got hooked on triathlon and I've been working hard to prepare for this season.  My first race was also my very first open water swim!  I did 1 practice which went well and then the race - I was shocked that I actually really enjoyed it!  Next summer I'd like to go to some club practices on the James.

Here's Jolene and me pre-race at Robious Landing - we were nervous but excited!

 And here are my super dorky pictures!  I am smiling in all except the finish photos.  The swim especially I am smiling like crazy because I was so happy to be done with that part!

Mike, me, Will, and Jo - after the finish!  We had a blast!!

Next up was Pink Power.  I was really excited to do the same race as last summer - my goals were to get a PR and to run the whole time without walking.  I definitely accomplished those goals and then some!

 And......drumroll.....I got 4th in my age group!!  Crazy!  A small part of me was hoping I might make the podium since they give out awards for the top 5 (and I knew 2 friends that normally make the podium weren't racing that day!)  When I saw the results, I could hardly believe it and was so sure that someone else was going to finish and push me out of the top 5.  But no, I got my very first race award!  And my friends that were also racing that day placed in their age groups!

I came in 32nd overall, out of 280.  I was 4th in my age group out of 38. (Now there were 12 Athena ladies in my age group which I also beat.....so technically that's 4th out of 50!! ha!)  My finish time was 1:20 (a PR from last year's time by 7 minutes 43 seconds!)  I was pretty proud of myself and felt that my hard work had paid off.  

I'm always bummed when my "big races" are over.  Time to set some new goals!!  I'd love to have 1 big running race to train for over the fall/winter and then focus on the next triathlon season.  I'm hooked for sure!

Summer Fun

Summer has gone by in a blink.  We are 1 week away from the start of a new school year....time to catch up!
Summer started with Fielder in camp at Redeemer and Claire going back and forth between Mimi weeks and a couple weeks at Redeemer.  She always has a blast with Mimi - and it's getting harder and harder to convince Fielder that she's at "summer school."  He just asks too many questions, not sure how we'll handle this next summer!  She did so many things with Mimi, I can't list them all.  Lunch with me at work, Science Museum, Cobblestone Park, Meals on Wheels with Papa, swimming at the pool, Skyzone, blueberry picking, Lewis Ginter, and more!





Claire did another summer season of swim team.  She always has a great attitude about it!  My favorite swim team memory would definitely be her smiling and waving to us in the middle of her races!!

 We've spent tons of time at the pool this summer.  Both kids love it and Fielder is pretty much on his own now.  I can actually just sit in a chair and watch!!  His biggest hurdle has been conquering the slide.  He tortured himself with wanting to do it but not being quite ready yet.  After a few weeks and especially after riding some crazy rides at Water Country, he gave it a try and it's been hard to get him away from the slide ever since!  He will also do the diving board at the pool Redeemer goes to - his teacher even sent me a video of him doing a somersault!!

 4th of July party at Redeemer.  It was so cute to go and see both kids singing!

Do you think we look a little bit alike?!?!

7-11 day!  I stopped with my little buddy on the way home from school.  (He loved it, but also managed to spill half of it on the floor at 7-11.)

 Another fun summer activity has been painting and finding rocks for RVA Rocks!  Fielder found the first one and got us hooked.  (I think I enjoy painting more than they do.)  

 Our 4th of July weekend and of course beach trip will get their own posts!  :-)

Last Day of 3rd

 My girl is ready for 4th!!  Here she is after her last day and some crazy-half-day-at-the-Y-hair!

Another year has flown by and both kids were so ready for summer!!  Fielder's end of school was not quite so "final" since he had weeks still to go of summer camp.  (And we're getting ready for one last hurrah at Redeemer for the last week before school starts again.)

 I took the kids to Sweet Frog to celebrate.  We ran into a few friends and even our old neighbors from Abbot's Mill.

Bring on Summer!!  Camp, time with Mimi, vacation, pool, BG & WC, we had a packed summer ahead of us!