Half Ironman

Jake starting the 13.1 mile run.

On August 9th Jake completed the 5430 Long Course race in Boulder, CO. This was his first half Ironman. A half Ironman consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run.

What's the deal with the number 5430 you ask? I did! That's the elevation of Boulder.

It was a beautiful and hot day! The kids and I packed a lunch and headed to Boulder to cheer him on. We were in a rush to get there on time. I had the kids in their car seats put the key in the car and NOTHING HAPPENED!! I thought for sure I was having a bad dream so tried to start the car again and of course nothing happened!! UUUGGG!! It was so early I hated to go knocking on doors for help. Thankfully I saw our new neighbors garage door open. I tapped on their door and and he came to help. Why on why do they have to be our new neighbors!! I felt horrible. I couldn't get the car in neutral to back it out of the garage. SO neighbor D and I had to take the billions of strollers (ok just 5 but still + trikes + tractors + garbage cans + mower + boxes...you get the drift). Have I mentioned that this is our new neighbor that we really don't know well AT ALL. Well we moved all the stuff so he could fit his car in the garage and jump my car off. Thankfully it worked but man what a way to start the day. And what a way to get to know your neighbor. Now I feel we have bonded!! Come to find out it was all Jake's fault!!! Isn't it always (haha just kiddin jake). Jake put directions in my GPS the night before and left the key slightly turned in the ignition.

Oh and Spencer's comment as we drove off, "That was so nice of that neighbor man to come help you move all of that JUNK!"

Thanks Spencer for reminding me how embarrassed I should be.

Anyway, back to the Half Ironman. We had a fun time. Jake did great. We got to see him running and biking. We did miss the swim part of the race...you know the car thing and all. The kids ate their lunch and mine too! Spencer asked if he could share my granola bar and next thing I know the thing was gone!! Next time I know we need to take extra food and extra water.

After the race I got a little emotional when I saw Jake. I think I was in denial about what a big deal the race was. It made me get even more worried about the full Ironman. I mean who in their right mind would want to double this distance??? I could tell the half was tough enough!!

I swear after each race I feel like I've completed one myself. Taking care of kids during these things is tough work. This Ironwife was one worn out gal! Oh did I mention we also took a wrong turn on the way home. I told you it was a long day.

Thankfully the kids slept on the way home. Peace. Quiet.

Spen playing IN the sand. Just one of the many ways we entertained ourselves while waiting on Daddy to finish.

Campbell took a short snooze. Oh and Spencer is seen here "sharing" my granola bar or shall we say...taking it all for himself.

Jake nearing the finish line. He finished in 5 hrs 25 min. Good Job Daddy!

Spencer found a huge rock and presented it to Jake when he finished the race. It was so sweet. He kept saying it was Daddy's prize for doing such a great job.

Wordy Wednesday

Spencer eating an ice cream cone in the car. I make a sharp turn.

Spencer: "Oh, That was very nervous for my ice cream."

Thankfully the ice cream didn't fall off the cone. Not like it would have made a difference though. He and the car seat were covered in sticky ice cream drips.

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I told Spencer..."pull up your panties, I mean undies."

Spencer: "It's okay Mama. You can say that. They ARE panties right now because I'm playing Mama now."

I was so honored he was playing ME because he is always playing Daddy.

Here he is playing "Mama"! Just kidding I SWEAR I don't wear those shoes with that outfit!
The boys love playing with our shoes. I don't know why we bother to even put them back up...oh yeah, we don't!!

Pretty in Pink

My mama says REAL men love PINK!

And I LOVE my PINK cup!

Wordy Wednesday

We have been enjoying Tuesday evenings at the Aurora Reservoir while Jake participates in the dip and dash (swim & run). The boys and I have a picnic and then play in the sand and water. Personally I always hope they don't get in the water. I just really hate packing up wet sandy boys, but they love it and I guess that's what matters.

It was a gorgeous day yesterday but really windy, especially near the water.
Spencer: "Mama can you make the wind stop winding on me?"

Campbell has become quite the chatter box himself. Here he is screaming "plane". He was excited to see lots of them last night.

Leadville, Colorado

A few weeks ago we ventured to Leadville, CO for another one of Jake's races.

Leadville is North Americas highest incorporated city at with an elevation of 10,430 feet. It gets about 310 days of sunshine each year with temps rarely over 80 degrees. Leadville is a legendary frontier mining town with lots of history.

Strolling the streets
We found a fun little restaurant, High Mountain Pies. It was perfect for us. Picnic tables in the back with a play ground set and big yard for the kids to run wild.

Campbell hadn't had pizza yet, but he screamed his head off threw his food off the table and climbed onto the table to GET him some pizza. Can you tell he found it quite yummy.

We had a fun time. It was our first stay in a ONE room hotel room. Their idea of a suite is just a big room, which for some reason had a big jacuzzi tub in it. As you can see the boys didn't mind the tub one bit.

But, putting kids to bed at their bed time makes for an interesting situation when they can see each other. Finally, after moving Campbell's pack-in-play as far away from Spen's bed as possible they went to sleep. And well, so did we. I woke up at 12am and felt like I had slept a full night. I should go to sleep earlier more often.

Waiting to cheer for Daddy. I think Campbell was taking a quick snooze! They had fun playing in the dirt with several other little boys. I think they had enough sand in their clothes to fill a sand box! Jake did great. He came in second in his age group and missed first by only 2 seconds! He was 10th over all.

A big highlight of the trip was that we got to see one of my Mom's best friends from college, her son, daughter-in-law and grandson!! Small world!! She was in Leadville visiting her son and his family who have lived there for a while. It was great to see the Costilows! Spencer loved Gabriel and keeps saying he has the best tow truck ever! I absolutely hate we didn't get a picture with them!

It was a fun weekend. I love getting to see different places around Colorado.