5 K 9

So it was Sarah's turn to do an event a few weks ago while I wrestled the littl'uns. Hardly seemed like a fair trade off, she and Fezzik smoked the Friends of Animals 5k in like 20 minutes. It was cool to see all the hippies and their dogs.

And on the 4th she and the kiddos came up and rode the old Fire engine in the parade. I was in a Mexican ambulance, so it really just ended up as a pain in the butt for her. AGAIN. Good thing she likes me, huh? I'm a lucky man.

Lava Hot Springs

Lava Hot Springs...what can I say about you? The cleanliness of your pools was questionable. The company you keep is seedy. The smell of your campsite was nauseating. But the time you gave me with my family was wonderful.
We headed to Lava after the Spudman and stayed for two nights. The girls were scared of riding down the river and Zoe cried the whole way. Ella was tougher, but not tough enough to try it again. They loved the water park, even though they didn't do anything there that they couldn't have done in their own bathtub. That's not true...after much pleading and bribing with a "Barbie Diamond Castle" DVD, Ella finally went down the slides and discovered she liked it! We all came home nice and crispy and oh so tired!


Look at Max peeking out. He stood up all by himself in the raft! You can't tell, but he's buck naked!

I Love My Spudman!

Saturday was the great Spudman Tri and it ended up being a last minute family vacation in the motorhome. Andy, of course, did amazing. Third place in his division, the fastest bike time, and won a coveted Spudman potato trophy!!! He says this is the last year he's doing it, but I personally don't think he can stop until he gets a First Place. (Which was soooo close to happening this year!)


Doesn't he look great in spandex?


This was the only family picture we got the entire trip. Yes, Max is in there, just look harder.

People, this is what we call "T2", or "transition two" to you non-tri-geeks. It's really the only chance we get to see Andy during the actual race. (Turn your sound down, there's lots of screaming! Sorry!)

Should I Be Flattered?

Poo. Yeah, that's right. I said it. In fact, I say it a lot. It seems like every aspect of my life seems to revolve around it. Being parents of young children, and albeit incredibly immature, it seems to be one of our main dinner conversation topics. "Hey, Max had blueberries today so guess who had purple poo?" Color, consistency, time delay, whatever. It's all up for grabs. And, as a nurse, my job deals with every imaginable body substance, poo being one of the least disgusting. So yesterday at work I am cleaning this "stuff" up for the fourth time, and... (I'm sorry, but details are necessary right now) and since it is from a patient in a C-collar,who can't move and with tons of equipment, it was an especially complicated procedure. Half way through, the nurse helping me says, "You're really good at this."......Ooookay? Should I be flattered? Sure, why not. It is after all my expertise. Some people excel in sports, music, poetry. Me, my talent is poo clean up. So, after a day full it, you have one guess to what Max greeted me with when I got home! I'll tell you one thing, it wasn't roses.

Hey, sorry for all the "POTTY" humor!......(Wow. I'm hilarious.)

Return Service Requested

I am sending a request out to one and all,....I am desperate for a good book! If you know me at all you know I have to be reading one, two or three books at a time and I am sick of reading through my collection for the 200th time. ( I have to read myself to sleep, or...I just don't sleep.) Yes, of course I go to the library, but what to pick? I want everyone who reads this to give me ideas, please please please. Any genre, any author, any length, whatever. (Just no Tom Clancy, I hate Tom Clancy.) My sleep depends on you...

Boise Ironman 70.3

We headed on up to the Potato State last weekend for some taters and a little racing on the side. For those that need reminding, this race was a 1/2 Ironman: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run.... Yeah. This race was unreal. 1500 people!! The bikes alone took up a full city block. And all of them die hard racers. We've never been to a venue like this, where none of them are there just to have fun and no "do it just to say I did" types. Intimidating. As you all know, the weather has been a tad wet lately, so we all held our breath that morning until the starting gun shot. Yea! They didn't cancel it! That doesn't mean it didn't rain...hardly. More on that later. His swim was great. The waves were over a foot tall and person after person kept getting towed in on the jet skis, but not my man. He finished great and killed on the bike.(How does one get out of a wet suit and into bike gear in 2 minutes?) Did I mention it was raining? He said at one point it was so bad he couldn't see...of course that doesn't mean he slowed down. The kids were so great while we stood at different points along the course to cheer him on. This is a really long day for them, even without having to do it soaking wet. At one point a nasty lady says to me, "They really need to be under an umbrella." As she stood there with her over sized umbrella covering her pointed head. So I punched her in the face and stole hers and we were dry after that... But I hadn't thought about preparing us for rain, I had just worried about Andy in it. The race finished in downtown Boise, which was really different and fun and a great big party (for everyone but the one pushing a stroller and carrying a 3 year on her back and trying to get a 6 year to "hold it" so she wouldn't pee her pants....in the rain.) But I'm being sarcastic, not complaining (anymore) because it was worth it when he finished soooo well! 4 hours and 57 minutes, beating his last one by over half an hour!!!! (That's a big deal, if you didn't know.) 1500 racers, 100 of them professionals. Andy finished 18th in his division and I don't remember all the numbers, but I think it ended up being 99th overall. Out of 1400!! (Professionals don't count.) Way to go Andy! Kona here we come!

Coming out of the water! (Is that a GIRL behind you, Andy?) ;)

Copping a squat under a tree to eat a hotdog. The tree was the best umbrella I could find. They didn't care! What troopers.

Zoe spent a lot of time here singing in my ear for me. My glasses needed windshield wipers!

Not too wet yet. Poor Max didn't nap all day.

Okay, I know this is sideways, I don't know why, but you see that incredibly long, steep, gravely road? Try pushing a stroller up that! It was a mile long. This was how we got up to the lake. Good thing there were port-a-potties at the top!

A family who trains together

Hi, I'm Andy. Today I dragged my family over to Deer Creek to practice for race day. Sarah made the kids a little picnic and they ate while I swam around "the island."

Sarah started my watch for me (its water proof, but I don't want to find out if that's really true) and I got it when I was done. Thats the big plan for race day. Then I can use it on the bike and run. So today, when I was finished swimming and out of my wet suit, I ditched my wife and kids (yet again) and rode my bike the long way home. It was a good practice. I think I'll count it as a family home evening.

Plus just look at the visual blog fodder. What a great family I have. (apologies to the dog who was not invited)(and the cat - yes, we have a cat now. wanna see pictures? do ya?)