La Salette

I remember going to LaSalette when I was younger.  I don't exactly remember the age but I think I probably went with the CYO (Christian Youth Organization) through my church so I must have been around 12-13 years old.  I remembered having hot apple cider and being in awe of all the lights.  Since we don't have Christmas markets to go to here as there are in Europe I decided this was probably the closest I was going to get and it would keep some continuity in our Christmas traditions.  We brought the kids there over the weekend and I'm glad we did.  There were 300,000 lights on display.  The kids loved it!  It was cold out and fortunately it did not take that long to walk though and see all the lights.  We didn't get a trdlo but we did split a dough boy!

Christopher Pop-In-Kins

Christopher Pop-In-Kins is back!  He showed up on Thanksgiving night as usual.  Silly elf was hanging by his foot from the attic pull down.  Sofia thought I had put him there until I pointed out that I couldn't reach that high....I guess he must be magical! :)

Thanksgiving

Family traditions are important, I think, for kids as well as for adults.  It gives a familiarity and comfort of knowing certain things will be the same.  Jason and I had historically done the same things every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas until we moved to Prague.  Being in Prague and away from all of our family left us open to creating new traditions without rocking the boat.  We had to find ways to make these holidays special for our family.  We did that for Thanksgiving, Mikulas, Christmas and New Years.  Of course when we moved back last year all of our traditions got thrown up in the air.  What do we do now? We can't go to Christmas Markets like in Prague and Thanksgiving with friends was not going to happen as everyone here has family to see.  Last year I think we fell into what used to be but that just did not feel right to me.  I didn't want to go back to what life used to be before Prague as though Prague was an aberration.  It was our life and the majority of our children's lives.  It was not a time in a bubble that didn't impact our lives once we left the bubble.  It changed us and that can't be undone and I wouldn't want it to be undone.  We went to our friends' houses for Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas Eve cocktails, Christmas Day brunch and we put on our adult pants and hosted dinner at our home at times.  So, this year rather than fall back into what used to be Jason and I decided to offer to host Thanksgiving at our home.  I recognize that everyone has their own traditions so we ended up hosting my parents, Jason's parents, and Jason's brother Graham and his family.  This meant we had 8 adults and 5 kids.  The day was perfect.  The kids played and had fun.  The adults got to talk and catch up with each other.  The food came out delicious and we had a TON of leftovers.  Everyone left happy and full.  Jason and I made a good team for cooking and cleaning up and then enjoyed relaxing on the sofa.  I'm not sure what traditions we will make going forward since, as odd as it sounds, we are still figuring out our way between what used to be pre-Prague, what was is Prague and what is now.

Ankle Update

So, my ankle ....almost 2 months post race.  The doctor removed the tape and I went a week doing nothing without the tape followed by a week of three 3-mile runs.  My ankle felt good if not a little sore after the runs but not the pain that I had been having.  I went back in for my check up and he said everything looked great.  I still needed to ease back into running and not doing any super long distances for a while.  That is fine with me since for the time being I don't really feel like running more that 6 or 7 miles.  I have been slowly ramping up and have now done a couple five mile runs.  It does not hurt during the run but is still sore after my runs (although not in the same shooting pain kind of way) so I ice it after I run and try to baby it on days I'm not running.  I don't run any back to back days so that it has time off in between runs.  The thing that bugs me the most now is how much cardio I lost in not running for a month.  I know part of it is mental but I hate panting after a three mile run when I just ran a marathon at that pace without panting!  Every run gets a little better and running with my friend Margaret keeps me pushing my pace and not letting the challenge to my cardio slow me down.  She has given me a little mental push as well since she ran a 5K with her family over Thanksgiving and came in 20:49...that's a 6:42 pace!  I'm got a new target to train for and a good friend to run with so provided my ankle cooperates and keeps getting better I will continue to run and have fun while I stay fit.

Crazy Hair Day

Ali's class had crazy hair day so we went to wrk on Ali's hair.  She decided on 2 braids, 3 pony tails with curly hair and 1 pony tail with straight hair.  It was very funny and cute.  She was excited to wear her hair that way to school.  Doing her hair that way reminded me of when she was about 3 1/2 years old and would go out with 5 pony tails in her hair and think she was very stylish.  She laughs when I tell her she used to request her hair in 5 pony tails since now she sees it as very silly.

Soccer

The girls wrapped up the fall soccer season with a win for the final game.  They had a great season and both really enjoyed playing.  Ali had such fun she has signed up for indoor soccer for the winter and spring town league soccer.  It was fun to watch them play this year.  They had good days and bad days and their team won some and lost some.  They didn't seem overly bothered by the losses but they always knew if they won or lost.  It is interesting to watch them at this age because some weeks they would attack the ball with vigor and other weeks they would shy away from it.  It is funny to see how the brain works with fear.  By the last game though they were fired up and they got that there are times something will hurt but so long as you aren't in major pain you can play through it.  Ali took a ball right to the stomach and you could see her hesitate for a minute but she kept going even though it was slightly uncomfortable.  Sofia tripped over the ball which jammed up into her belly,  I could see her dealing with the pain but she got up and was going to keep going but fortunately her coach pulled her off the field.  I think these are good learning opportunities for them to see that in sports there will be times that something hurts and you can't cry off every time you get a bump.  Learning to play through the bumps shows them that there are times when things are serious and times when they just hurt a little bit.  Don't get me wrong, I do not want my children hurt.  I do not want them to play injured.  I want them to understand the difference between slight discomfort that is fleeting and actual pain threshhold that requires you to stop.  If you quit every time something is uncomfortable you will never be the best that you can be.  They are learning to not be quitters and learning what it takes to succeed weather it is in school, sports, work or crafts.  The best part is they are having a blast learning these life lessons by playing games they love.

Halloween

We kicked off our Halloween prep with the carving of pumpkins.  The girls had each chosen their own pumpkin and then they each chose their own design.  They each chose which adult they would work with and as usual Ali chose me and Sofia chose Jason.  I must say I was pretty happy when Ali chose a less complex design.  First it meant less work for me and second it meant she would be able to do more of it herself.  She chose to cut out a crow in the pumpkin so we marked the lines on the pumpkin and I started the cutting to show Ali how to do it and then she took it from there.  Sofia chose a much more complex design and I thought for sure Jason would be doing most of it but I was wrong.  Sofia sat there working on the pumpkin until she had it completed and it came out great.  It is always nice to see the kids make new steps in their development as they get older.

 
The girls had been looking forward to trick or treating since about November 1, 2012! They have periodically over the last year thought about what they wanted to be and how they could dress up.  We took them over to the party shop to look for costumes.  This was a bit tricky since Ali is so small but didn't want a princess costume.  We found an outfit for her at the second shop we went to and both girls were outfitted.  Sofia wanted torn between being a vampire and Cleopatra so she became a vampire Cleopatra.  Ali stuck with just being a vampire.  They looked so cute and once I had put their make up on it surprised me that with eyeliner on I could really begin to see them as teenagers...very frightening!  We (the girls and I) went to our friend's house right after school so the kids would have time to play and then they got all dressed up together.  More friends arrived and husbands showed up from work and the party started.  The kids played and the adults hung out until it was time to head out the door for trick or treating.  The men took the kids out while the ladies stayed in to answer the door for trick or treaters.  I like this method because even though I think it would be fun to go out with the kids to trick or treat I think it is a good time for the Dad's to spend time alone with the kids.  They all arrived back at the house to review all their loot.  I was surprised to see how many full sized candy bars were in their bags!  I don't think I ever received a full size candy bar as a kid!  The hard part is that even though the kids are over the top excited about giant candy bars there will never be a time I tell them "yes, eat a king size snickers!".  They can barely contain themselves with the sugar in a snack size snickers!  Oh well, they had so much fun and have already started talking about next Halloween.

Cousins

Now that we are back in the States and Jason's brother is back in the states we are only two towns apart.  It has meant that we have been able to see each other more often.  We have all been trying to be able to be more casual about visits meaning that it doesn't have to be a big scheduled event in order to get together.  If we are out and about we can just call to see if they are around for a quick visit and vice versa.  The kids have really enjoyed seeing their cousins more too.  It is fun to watch them play together and as they play more together they start breaking off into groups...Alex flits in and out of groups since he is older and is on the cusp of playing with the little kids and having fun and being bored by the younger kids.  Sofia pairs off with Justin and Ali pairs off with Keira.  They come back to together and play as a group at times but when they head in different directions their playmates seem pretty consistent and it works out well.  We went over to visit for a little bit while Graham and Beth were away and Grammie and Grampa were watching the three kids.  The kids ran off to play the minute we arrived and then all came back together for lunch followed by s'mores.  The s'mores were a real treat and my kids LOVE them.  S'mores is definitely a good lure to bring all the kids back in close. 

Ankle Pain

After running the marathon my ankle started to bother me.  It didn't hurt during the race but the next day it was quite sore.  I figured it was from changing my stride for the last two mile to compensate for my knee pain so I took it easy and figured it would get better.  It got a little better and I decided to test it out on a short run 8 days after the marathon.  It was a little uncomfortable for the first 1.5 miles at which point I turned around to come home and then it hit...the excruciating ankle pain.  It hurt to run and it hurt to walk.  Unfortunately for me it was the one time I did not bring my phone with me.  My best hope was that my friend was still in her driveway waiting for the bus.  I hobbled back to her driveway but she was gone!  With no other option I jogged back home but only landing on the ball of my foot.  I managed it but it wasn't pretty.  I gave it another two days and it was still quite painful so I called the doctor.  It just didn't seem normal to me since at two days post race all my other muscles were back to normal.  My ankle did not look that bad to me so part of me felt like I was crazy to think it was anything really bad but I couldn't align that with the amount of pain I was feeling.  Anyway, I went to the podiatrist.  I told him about my test run and his response was, "I could have told you just by looking at your ankle that that wouldn't have gone well.".  That made me feel better since he could see that something was up.  He felt around my ankle and sent me for an ex-ray.  He wanted to make sure I hadn't sheared part of the bone.  Fortunately my bones were all intact.  Unfortunately my peroneal tendons are quite inflamed and my ligaments around the front of the ankle are also swollen.  The doctor taped up my ankle to provide support, told me to wear sneakers and take it easy.  I had to ice it every night and absolutely no impact sports.  I did as I was told and went back in to see him on Thursday.  The tendons are doing better but are still inflamed so its another week of tape and no impact.  He did say I could bike so I may have to do that this week so I don't lose my mind.  I'm hoping this is the last week with tape and then one week without tape and I'll be back to running.  Dang that Baxter Boulevard and its camber...it did me in on the last mile.  Oh well, at least I beat four hours!!

School Assembly

The first school assembly took place last week.  It is old hat for Sofia but all new for Ali.  Sofia's class never went in front of the whole school last year but Ali's class started off the year up in front singing Apples and Bananas.  Ali was very excited and very nervous.  She was very giddy and silly when her class first went up to the front of the gymnasium but once the music started she tensed up and her eyes darted around.  She did sing and did the hand gestures but she was definitely nervous.  The lyrics to the song are as follows:

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays

I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays

I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees

I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees

I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and bi-ni-nis

I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and bi-ni-nis

 

I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos

I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos

 

I like to ute, ute, ute u-ples and bu-nu-nus

I like to ute, ute, ute u-ples and bu-nu-nus

 

Once the kids got to the "i,o,u" the audience started to laugh and Ali's eyes got big.  I guess she didn't expect laughter.  After school she mentioned it and I told her it was suppose to be funny and that it was a good thing everyone was laughing.  She seemed better once she heard that.  All in all it was a nice was to start the year in assembly.

 

Weekend in Maine

We decided to go up to Maine for the long holiday weekend.  It was nice to see Jason's parents and the kids always have fun at their house.  We also took the chance to go to the Fryeburg Fair again this year with the kids.  They enjoyed it so much last year and we enjoy the fair as well so it is a fun activity to do together.  We had to indulge in fair food...dough boys (fried dough), hot dogs, sausage, fries and maple sugar cotton candy.  It is always yummy at a fair.  The kids love cotton candy and it is definitely better when it is made from maple sugar in the sugar shack!  This year the kids really wanted to go on some of the rides so we bought our tickets and headed to the ferris wheel.  This always seem to be the first request for the girls.  Now that they are older it isn't quite as stressful for me to have them up there (with me of course).  We ended up having perfect timing for the ferris wheel since when we were on it we could see the fair parade around the track.  It was a perfect view with no one blocking the kids.  After the ferris wheel we headed to the area with most of the rides for the younger kids and the girls chose to go down a slide.  The slide was FAST!  Ali ended up getting some air off of one of the bumps but really seemed to enjoy it.  With $25 spent on ride tickets they had one ride left to choose and they chose to go down the slide again because it was so fun.  Here is the video of their first trip down the slide.

After using up all our ride tickets it was time to make the rounds of the fair ground.  We headed to the school house where Jason's grandmother went to school.  She donated the school to the fair grounds and they moved it there from Jason's parent's land.  It is always fun to be in that school house knowing that many of Jason's ancestors went to school there.  Grammie's picture is up on the wall and I like that the kids have this public place where they can always be grounded in their family history. 

A little blurry but the here are the girls with
Clementine

After the school houses we headed to the tractors and animals.  It is an agricultural fair so there are a lot of animals...pigs, cows, oxen, sheep, goats, horses etc.  This year we didn't go into all the barns but we did see a lot of them.  The main focus this year was to find Clementine, a horse they had seen last year.  Clementine is a black Clydesdale with white fur on her feet.  She is a beautiful horse and the kids just loved her last year.  I was surprised that even a year later how vivid their memory was of the horse.  We went through a few barns looking for her.  On the third barn Ali stopped short and said "that's Clementine".  I didn't have as vivid a memory so I asked the owner if it was Clementine.  Sure enough Ali was correct!  I'm not sure what about Clementine stood out to her since we had walked past other black Clydesdale's but she got it right.  They were also happy to see Clementine's baby in the stall next to her since she was pregnant at the fair last year.

The fair was a hit but after four hours of walking around we were all tired and ready to head home.  We checked out the pigs on the way out and played one more game in hopes of winning a bigger stuffed animal and then headed for the car.  Another successful year at the Fryeburg Fair.  I'm sure we will be there next year!

On Sunday we decided to go apple picking again since we had already eaten all the apples we had picked on our last outing.  We went to Pietree Orchards which is nearby and which Jason's parents have been to before.  The farm store was great with fresh baked cookies and apple cider donuts, fresh coffee and hot apple cider.  We were excited before we even got out to the orchard!  It was pretty late in the season for apple picking in Maine but we were apple to pick red and golden delicious as well as macs and cortlands.  We took the hayride out to the orchard for fun since it really wasn't that far.  The kids had fun using the picking rakes for the first time to get the apples up at the higher parts of the tree.  I let them do most of the picking and just held the bag open for them while I enjoyed my hot apple cider.  After picking apples we hopped back on the hayride to go back to the farm stand.  They had a hay maze that the kids wanted to do so we watched as they headed in to the maze at two different spots.  We weren't sure which was the start and the finish so we just let them go.  It was funny to watch them figure it out.  Sofia figured it out first and crawled under some hay to complete the maze.  Ali was not down with getting her dress (very appropriate attire for apple picking) dirty so she kept looking for another way out.  When it was time to go Sofia ran through the maze and under the hole in the hay while Ali decided she was making her own path and climbed over the bales of hay!  I can't say I blame her though since I would not have gotten all muddy either.

The rest of the day was just time to play at Jason's parent's house.  Fortunately the rain that had been called for all weekend held off and the kids could play outside.  Since the leaves had already started to fall the kids had a blast raking them up into a pile and playing in them.  They jumped in them, buried themselves in them, snuggled and napped in them and made themselves a nest.  It is amazing the endless imaginations they seem to have.  It also makes me happy that they get along so well. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday.  It's not quite as exciting anymore but I still enjoyed the cake!  I went for a morning walk with my friend Margaret.  Yes, I said walk.  I know that is unusual but after running the marathon on Sunday and my ankle still sore I decided a walk was about all my body could deal with.  It was nice, as always, to be with Margaret and have a good chat.  Since it was my birthday I tried to be as laid back as possible but the kids only have a half day.  While Ali was off at a friends house after school, Sofia was home with me.  I thought it would be good for her to have some down time and it was give her time to read, do math facts, and practice piano and still have time to do what she wanted to do.  Of course this meant it wasn't particularly relaxing for me but such is a birthday of a mother!  Jason worked from home so I was able to pick Ali up from her play date and leave her at home when I took Sofia to swim lesson.  One of the highlights of the day was after swimming when Jason cooked and did the dishes.  I didn't have to lift a finger which was very nice.  I got to enjoy veal saltimbocca with spinach followed by chocolate cake with cannoli filling.  A nice way to finish off the day.  Here is  picture of me with my jewels and crown courtesy of Sofia and Ali.

Maine Marathon and Half Marathon

This last weekend Jason and I headed to Portland to race.  I ran the marathon and Jason ran the half marathon.  Ever since running the Newport Marathon I knew I would run another marathon.  I was just not satisfied with my race time from the Newport Marathon.  My time was way below what I had trained for which was disappointing so while I knew I should just be proud for finishing the marathon I was not happy.  I wasn't sure when I would be ready to run another marathon but I knew it would happen.  I began looking for marathons within driving distance of home.  I had considered the Maine Marathon because it was close to home and it had a bump out in the course than made it run through the neighborhood that Jason grew up in.  It was a fun thought to think I could run on the same roads that Jason ran around on as a kid.  I had tossed around the idea for a little while but the September 30th race date made me hesitate since that meant my longest runs would be in the height of the summer heat.  I decided to start my training program after I had completed the triathlon and if I stayed with my training program until my sixteen mile run during beach week then I would sign up.  Beach week came and I completed my sixteen mile run in the ridiculous humidity of Point Judith and signed up.  My training went great.  I was able to train at a good pace and with only a minor hamstring issue completed up to a twenty two mile run.  I was ready for the race.  I knew that I should break the four hour mark.  That was my goal and I wanted it!  I was a little nervous since I felt pretty confident that I could reach my goal I knew I would have some bitter disappointment if I didn't make my number.  Jason put in his training time as well and really stuck with his running plan despite losing a few toenails along the way. (I'm glad my toenails don't turn black on long runs!) He had to overcome his disappointment from his first half marathon when he became dehydrated just short of the finish and had a finish time over two hours.  This was his chance to really see what he could train for and complete. 

With all our hope in mind we headed north to Portland on Saturday.  We met Jason's parents at our hotel in Portland and moved car seats and duffel bags to their car and sent the kids with his parents for the night.  We went out for an early dinner and hit the bed early to get a good night sleep.  When we woke up in the morning the weather man said that the rain should hold off until after most of the racers finished.  This was great news...an overcast cool day for a long race...perfect.  Unfortunately the weather man was wrong!!  As we stood at the start line it started to rain.  The rain got progressively heavier. By the time I was out by mile 8 it was down right pouring.  My shoes were completely waterlogged and I could feel them squishing around with every step.  I didn't let it get me down though.  At least it wasn't hot and sunny!  I kept to my pace and just kept telling myself I could do it.  By mile 22 I knew I had it and could make my time.  At mile 24 my right knee started to hurt so bad and my leg started to feel a little numb.  I wasn't going to let it stop me from finishing and I wasn't going to let the last two miles beat me and put me over 4 hours so I just sucked it up and ran through it.  As I came around the final bend to the finish I saw my family.  I called out to Sofia and she ran out with me followed by Ali and they ran with me to the finish.  It was awesome to cross the finish line with my girls and know I had finished under four hours.  I got what I trained for....3 hours, 56 minutes and 33 seconds!!!!  Now I'm satisfied...the marathon didn't beat me!!!  I won't say that I will never do another one but I don't feel the need to complete another one since I reached my goal.  Jason and his parents reached me at the banana table.  It was great to have everyone there.  After getting a few things to eat Jason and I headed back to the bag check while his parents took the kids back to the hotel.  We picked up my bag and walked the 3/4 mile back to the hotel which, while still raining and cold, was a nice way to cool down my legs after running for so long.  

Jason made his time goal as well and finished his half marathon at 1 hour 44 minutes and 16 seconds.  Once we were in the car I had to laugh when Jason said, "maybe I'll do a marathon".  This is how it happens...you make one goal and you see the next accomplishment and the seed is planted.  If he does decide to run a marathon it will be fun to be the one on the sidelines cheering him on knowing all the work that goes into it.

After School Activities

With the school year kicked off so did the after school activities.  This year Sofia is swimming, doing gymnastics, playing soccer and piano.  Ali is doing gymnastics and soccer.  Our schedule is crazy but the girls don't want to give up any of their activities and while we feel they can maintain their schedule without their school work diminishing we will let them continue to be as active as they want to be.  I was going to have Ali swimming as well but she really hates swimming laps and I can't blame her since I don't like it either.  I don't know where Sofia gets the love of swimming laps.  Since Sofia has the extra sport of swimming Ali gets to take a an extra day of gymnastics.  Sofia swims three days a week, has gymnastics twice a week, soccer practice one a week and one game a week, and piano once a week.  Ali has soccer practice and game (fortunately they are on the same team) and then gymnastics three days a week. 

The first swim practice of the season was a tough one after having not done any lap swimming for two months Sofia had to get in the pool and swim laps for an hour.  She was tired and her stomach hurt but surprisingly it took her only a week of swimming to get right back into the swing of things.  Yesterday at practice I timed her fifty meter freestyle and was impressed to see she swam it in 55 seconds.  I really don't know what the standard is but that seemed pretty good to me!

Gymnastics started off well for both girls.  They both moved up into the intermediate one level class.  Unfortunately the Tuesday Intermediate one class was not available so they are in the lower class on Tuesdays.  Fortunately both of their coaches know that they should be in a hire class so they push them more than the other girls.  They only have a couple things to achieve such as the back bend and handstand to bridge before they can pass into Intermediate Two level.  I'm not in any rush for them to change though because it means juggling the schedule around and they are happy with their current instructors.  Ali has Sergy again for her Friday class.  He loves her and always has good things to say about her abilities.  I was happy when Sergy ended up teaching a Friday class since he was not originally on the schedule to teach any girl classes since his schedule was full teaching boys.  I had to laugh last Friday though when he commented again on how good Ali was and that she will be a champion and then he followed it by asking me if I had any boys.  Apparently he was hoping I would have been breading multiple gymnasts and one that he could teach every session. :)  I had to disappoint him though and tell him I only had girls.

Soccer is also going well.  I thought for sure this would be the girls last year of soccer since they have never seemed to love it.  I was wrong because this year they both love it.  Sofia has really picked up the game and gets right in their to take the ball away, defend the goal, or dribble all the way down field to score.  She has been practicing her sliding kick and really enjoys playing.  Ali enjoys the game and the practice.  She gets into the mix much more often this year but isn't quite as aggressive yet as Sofia.  When she is given the chance though she does a pretty good job of taking the ball down field. 

Piano has been amazing for Sofia.  She stumbled a little bit with her practicing when the music didn't come to her with ease but we have worked through it and fortunately I can read music and can help her when she gets stuck.  She is already playing Lean On Me and the first four pages of Memory which just seems crazy to me.  Her teacher is great with her and pushes her to be better without making it seem like he is pushing her.  He sets an expectation and gets her to agree to it without any problem.  When we first mentioned that there would be a recital in January I thought Sofia would put her foot down with a strong "NO" but she only hesitated a little bit.  When he explained it to her she became excited to perform in front of others and started thinking about who she should invite to the recital.  I couldn't believe it!

 



 

Next up....Softball.  Sofia requested after being at sports camp this summer that she be able to play softball in the spring.  We agreed she could play.  I found out a couple weeks ago that there were tryouts already for spring softball!!  A friend of mine remembered that I had mentioned Sofia's interest and called me to tell me about the tryouts since her daughters were going.  We immediately went out and bought Sofia a helmet, ball and glove.  Jason took her out back and played catch with her to prepare her for the tryouts since she has never played softball before.  She was a little nervous at first for the tryouts but she did great.  Her pitching was not the best which upset her but she recovered and did well catching some grounders and pop flies.  Now we wait to see if they put her on the 8U or 10U team.  Both have there pros and cons so we will see what comes our way for the spring.

Cooking/Baking

Since the girls started school and they have so many activities at night I decided that they needed to have a nice big breakfast.  Often times by the time dinner comes around the girls are tired and don't want to eat a big meal.  With all their activities though they need to intake of calories so I would make them eat their dinner.  Now that I can feed them their big meal at breakfast I don't mind so much if they go light on dinner.  Of course this means I have to be prepared at night for the following morning and I have to get up and get downstairs while the kids are climbing out of bed but it is worth it.  They really enjoy it and I know they are getting the nutrition they need.  They would like to have french toast every day but I do not oblige.  Their breakfast ranges from scrambled eggs, fried eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, french toast, overnight baked french toast, to breakfast burritos.  I add ground flax and nuts into all the bready products so ensure they are getting their omega 3, proteins, and fiber and they don't even notice it.  On the weekends we let the kids have a little more leeway and we let them make an apple/cheese pastry.  They did a great job following the instructions right up until the end when they smothered the top in cinnamon rather than the light dusting but at least they had fun making it.  We did find out though that the recipe definitely tastes better with berries rather than apples.

During the week I try to keep dinners healthy and quick.  I also try to ask the kids if they have any dinner wishes.  I love that they really enjoy bruschetta.  With our farm share we started to get a lot of tomatoes at the beginning of September so bruschetta was on the menu regularly.  As I was also trying to find ways to use up all the lettuce we were getting from the farm share we also occasionally had BLTs for dinner.  This picture was a night I couldn't decide what I wanted the kids wanted different things.  Since both are easy to prepare Ali had bruschetta and Sofia a BLT.

On the weekends we like to make bigger meals for dinner and let the kids try their hand at baking.  Jason made a coq au vin that was delicious.  It was a challenge since the recipe usually calls for onion and I can't eat onion.  He left out the onion and put in extra mushroom.  It was so yummy and a huge hit with the kids.  I was doubtful Ali would like it since she is not a huge mushroom fan but she loved it and asked for seconds.  Jason was going to take the leftovers for lunch the next day but then forgot it in the fridge.  It was lucky for the kids though since it meant when they came home and asked for the leftovers for snack they were available!  This recipe definitely made it into the "keeper" cookbook.

First Day of School/ Settling in

Yes, this is a month late but better than never!  The girls started off the 2012 school year at the beginning of September.  Ali started 2nd grade and Sofia started 3rd grade.  Since our town splits the schools up this is the "together" year when both girls are in the same school.  This is exciting for them becuase they have the chance to see each other in the halls or at lunch or at recess.  It is exciting for me becuase they get to get on and off the buss AT THE SAME TIME!!!!  This means I get a longer day to get all my jobs accomplished.  It means that after school activites can be scheduled earlier.  It means I don't have to crock pot meals 4 days a week!!

Since there are so many kids in our town there are about 230 kids per grade which translates to about11 classes per grade.  With that many teachers I had no way of knowing what to expect from the girls teachers this year.  When you ask around it seems nobody ever had the teacher that your children have that year.  Towards the end of August however the teachers send a letter home.  This was my first insight into the teaching styles we would be looking at for the next year.  Ali's teacher was very loving and community togetherness and Sofia's teacher's letter came across as very kind but all about business.  There was no expectation of chit chat or playing around.  There would be no whispering to your neighbor through the day as Sofia had last year.  I personally like this approach better.  It teaches the kids discipline, the rewards of hardwork and focus, and respect.  It was however, a tough tranistion for Sofia. 

We knew Sofia was struggling with the transition to third grade but we assumed her acting out was happening only at home or at sports.  (I know, it seems ridiculous in hindsight!)  When I went to curriculum night I asked Sofia's teacher how she was doing and was shocked to hear that Sofia was acting up.  She wasn't listening, drawing on her fingernails during math lessons, playing with her pencils and pencil sharpeners, talking to other kids in class during lessons, etc.  I was shocked and incredibly angry with Sofia for behaving in such a way that she knows is not acceptable.  Fortunately for her and for me she was in bed when I got home so I had time to calm down.  The next night Jason and I had a long talk with her about appropriate behavior and tried to help her figure out what was going on within herself.  Come to find out she was deathly afraid of the MCAS test which I find so maddening.  The schools stress the MCAS so much that it scares the kids when the reality it isn't a test for the kids at all but a test to see how well the teachers are teaching.  So let's stress out our children because we don't know how to assess a teachers ability!  Anyway, she was also having trouble making new friends.  Again our town makes kids change schools every two years.  You would think since Sofia didn't have to change schools this year she was be all set in the friends department but she wasn't becuase not only do we change schools every two years, the kids change classrooms every year.  Sofia went into her 3rd grade class with only knowing one girls from last year.  There are three lunch periods and she didn't have any of her friends at her lunch either accept for Ali and Ali's frind Maggie.  It was like she was starting all over again.  While Sofia portrays herself as a confident child she is actually shy in many ways.  She is afraid that kids don't want to play with her or that they will say no if she asks to play.  We gave her advice on this and how to approach other kids.  We discussed consequences if bad behavior continued in the classroom and that I would be checking regularly with her teacher.  Fortunately, our long talk had a positive impact.  She is doing well in class and has made some new friends.

Ali did not seem to have any trouble settling in to second grade.  She had the luxury of moving to a different school in a different classroom with her best friend.  Her best friend was in her class last year and is also on her bus which made the transition so easy.  She even lucked out and had her best friend sitting at the same table with her in the classroom.  She seems happy to be in second grade and she likes being able to see Sofia at lunch and recess.  They both seem to like being able to chat about things that happen in the school as well. 

We are looking for a fun year ahead now that we have worked out the kinks of the first month.

Southwick Zoo

We hadn't been to the Southwick zoo since before we had moved to Prague.  The girls didn't remember it since they were so little (Ali spent the entire visit on my back in the baby back pack).  It was on our list of things to do since moving back to the States so when my brother said that he was going to go to the zoo with his sons we decided to join in.  The kids would get to go to the zoo and see their cousins at the same time.  My nephew Johnathon was in town from Ohio so I really wanted the girls to see him one more time before he headed back home.  My mom also joined us for the trip to the zoo.  The kids love being with their cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents and they love animals so it was a win all around!  I think the highlight of the day for all of them was watching the rhinos poop but even I have to admit it was interesting.  They all got some good laughs and had a fun time walking around the zoo together.  It is so nice that the kids all get along so well.

Obstacle Races

This year Jason and I added a new challenge to our fitness and started competing in obstacle course races.  We ran the Zombie Race in May and then in July we competed in the Tough Mountain Challenge at Sunday River.  It was a 5k obstacle course that ran from the base at South Ridge up to North Peak and then back down to Barker then over to South Ridge for the finish.  The race was a blast!  We were covered in mud from the obstacles but the challenge was really running up and then down the mountain.  The obstacles like running up muddy sections of trails with snow guns blasting water at you, rolling/crawling in mud under barbed wire, climbing in/out of a ravine were all a lot of fun and broke up the run up the mountain.  The obstacles were not the challenge for us in the race it was keeping our legs from buckling under as we ran down a mountain!  It was keeping yourself in control running down the mountain so that we didn't slip and tumble down instead.  We both put up good times for the race and managed to come in under an hour.  We were tired but had a great time and are looking forward to running it again next year.


  Our most recent obstacle race was in mid August.We ran the Spartan sprint race at the Amesbury adventure park (the same location as the Zombie race).  This race was very challenging because of the obstacles.  The race course was hilly but since I run hills on almost every run the hills weren't the challenge.  The challenge was climbing up over 6ft and 8 ft walls, climbing up ropes to ring a bell, carrying a 40lb sand bag up/down a steep hill, flipping truck tires, pulling cement blocks around a dirt track, jumping over fire, crawling in mud under barbed wire and thinking that was it until you climbed over a hay bale and saw more mud and barbed wire climbing uphill.  The race was a challenge and I knew that I would have to make up time on my running since the obstacles would be a challenge.  The walls were a challenge for my short stature and I utilized the men on the course to give me a quick lift up to reach the tops.  The guys didn't care about helping me out and the camaraderie on the course was really amazing.  I don't know how I would have gotten over an 8ft walls with out a lift since the walls were flat and you were not allowed to use the side supports to climb up.  I returned the favor though and helped people with running tips heading up a particularly tough hill climb.  If you couldn't complete an obstacle you had to do thirty burpees.  There were three obstacles that I failed on and had to do burpees.  One obstacle I missed was throwing a spear into a square of hay.  I have never done this and was really not surprised my spear didn't stick into the hay.  The next obstacle I had assumed I would have to burpees on and that was jumping from stump to stump.  The stumps were lined up in rows.  The distance between the stumps was not
uniform and the tops of the stumps were not flat.  I stepped up onto the stump and realized my legs were no where near long enough to reach the next stump so I jumped off and did my burpees.  The final obstacle that I didn't complete were the monkey bars.  I had assumed I could do these but I had not been prepared for the deep mud and then thigh deep water I had to go through to get to the monkey bars.  I was completely soaked and muddy by the time I reached the monkey bars and on my second bar my hands just slipped off.  There was no time to delay though so I quickly did my burpees and carried on.  I pushed the run to make up for the lost time on burpees.  I jumped over the fire and ran down the hill and over the final wall where I knew I was going to meet the final two "spartan warriors" with their pugil sticks.  I had planned ahead to master my "weak girl" look and ran up pleading with them not to hit me.  It worked (despite Jason yelling from the side lines for them to hit me) and they only gave me a light tap and I crossed the finished.  I had hoped to come in under an hour but ended up at one hour and 4 minutes.  I was still very happy with my time as it put me in the top 2% of females and top 10% overall.  Jason finished in 55 minutes and came in top 5% of males and top 4% overall.  Not too shabby! (If Jason downloads his pic to my computer I will add some of him.  He was just as muddy as me!)

Beach Week 2012

We had all been looking forward to beach week this year.  Even Jason has accepted and learned to love the craziness that is the family beach week.  For those that don't know my entire family...my brothers, sister in laws, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins...numbering somewhere around 30 people, gather in Narragansett, RI every year for our family beach week.  Times have changed and we are a little more "luxurious" now...meaning we are a little more spread out.  The houses themselves are not luxurious but when I was a child we had all of those people in one house with 2 bedrooms.  That meant you have people sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor or on the couch (if you were lucky).  Now the families are split up between a few houses but we all get houses next to each other so the kids can run from house to house without worry.  Jason and I could get our own house but for me the memory of being jammed into one house with everyone was part of what made beach week special to me so instead of renting our own we join my parents in a three bedroom house with one of my brothers.  My parents get a bedroom, my brother Joe takes a room with his family and we take a room for our family. (My other brother rents a house across the yard from us).  The rooms are tiny and there is barely enough room to fit two twin blow up mattresses along side our bed in the room for the girls but we manage.  The goal is not to spend time in your room but to be out enjoying time with the entire family.

Beach week is filled with fun activities.  We go to the beach, of course!  I love Sand Hill Cove!!  It is the old person and little kid beach but I have always loved it.  There is not a wave to be seen and I can walk into the water while seeing the bottom the entire time.  Now that I'm a parent I love it even more because I do not have to worry about rip tides or my kids getting slammed by a wave.  The "waves" that our kids love to play in and ride their boogie boards on are laughable to call waves but while they are happy with them so am I.  Between all our rental houses is a pool for use by the renters so after the beach or on days when the weather wasn't perfect for the beach we would head to the pool for play time. Every year we take a day and head over to Adventure land.  Adventure land has mini gold, bumper boats, go karts, batting cages and a carousel.  Some years we play mini golf and some years we don't.  This year we skipped and hit the carousel instead since that was what the kids wanted.  The main reason for adventure land though are the go-karts!  My nephew, Johnathon, tries to beat me every year.  Last year I beat him because his car stalled out on the final lap but a win is a win!  This year I lucked out and got one of the faster cars as well as Ali is older this year and I'm not as worried about her being scared or jarring her neck on a bump so I could hold the gas down the entire time.  Johnathon, unfortunately, got a slow car and we beat him by a full lap.  Such is the luck of the draw on go-karts.  He wanted another race but I know when to call it quits and I only give him one opportunity to beat me a year!  This year Sofia was old enough to go solo in the bumper boats but Ali still wanted to stay with me which was fine.  We all had fun and ended up completely soaked. 

Time at the beach or on go karts or at the pool works up an appetite and time can't be spent down at Point Judith without heading to Iggy's for dough boys (fried dough).  We managed to go to Iggy's a couple times during the week and it was delicious! 

Jason, the girls and I took an afternoon and headed over to play golf with my Aunt Carlene.  I have always loved spending time with my Aunt Carlene and the girls love spending time with her too.  I love seeing them have the same fun that I had as a kid.  Some how my Aunt makes everyone feel special.  Anyway we played nine holes together and had a great time.  We tried to figure out a second day to play but the week just goes by so fast and there are so many things to do that we ended up only fitting in one round of golf.

 Our last stop at beach week was at the Fantastic Umbrella Factory.  It isn't a factory and they don't sell umbrellas.  I do not have a good way to describe it other than kind of bohemian hippie kind of place.  This was the first year that I had brought the kids and Jason to see it.  I didn't remember exactly what it was since I hadn't been in years but I remembered liking it as a kid and we went every year with my grandma.  This year we went with my mom and it is still a fun place.  The kids enjoyed seeing some Emus and ducks, walking in a bamboo forest and getting henna tattoos.  We had lunch while some chickens pecked the ground around our table which just added to the fun for the kids.    All in all it was a great beach week filled with fun activities surrounded by all of our family.

Hair Cuts

The girls have graduated to a proper salon for their hair cuts. Gone are the days of the $10 kids haircut. This was the girls second trip to my hair salon and they love it. They love Brianna cutting their hair and she does such a nice job. This time around they both asked Brianna to blow dry their hair straight. I didn't mind as I like to have my hair blown out straight from time to time but I had to laugh to myself since the girls would quickly learn that blow drying their hair straight on a humid summer day is useless. They were so happy with their straight hair. I too love the feel of my hair when it is straight. I feels so soft and smooth. In any event after watching them preen over themselves in the mirror we went home. As typical of the girls they were immediately out in the back yard to play. When they came in a little while later I said, "well so much for straight hair.". They both had a shocked look and went to the mirror. With sadness they realized their soft straight hair had gone the way of frizz and up in a ponytail it went. I explained about humidity again and told them not to worry we can blow dry it straight come winter time and off they went to continue playing.

Bowling

Jason, the girls and I decided to head to the golf course to play 9 holes but by the time we managed to get to the course we pulled into the parking lot, got out of the car and the rain started followed quickly by a clap of thunder.  We were dissappointed but onto plan B to make sure we still had fun.  We decided to go bowling.  We checked on line for the closest bowling place to the golf course and found some candle pin bowling.  This place was in a basement with only six lanes and had been there, family run, since 1953.  The kids had a great time bowling.  We had to help Sofia learn not to slam the ball into the ground but otherwise all was well.  Given that they had the bumpers up on our lane we all scored fairly well too!






 

Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier

It has been years since Jason and I have managed to get back to Chauncey Creek in Kittery, Me.  We went there before we had kids and then life happens and it never seemed to be a good time.  We finally made time to enjoy this awesome restaurant and we got to share it with our kids.  It is fun to be able to bring the kids places with us and not worry if they will fall off the dock because they just learned to walk or don't understand the concept of falling into the water.  Now even if they did fall in we know they can swim.  They know how to behave in restaurants and order their own food.  They are excellent eaters and are always up for trying new foods.  We already knew they liked lobster so this was a fun place to take them.  We were heading up to Maine for the weekend and this also broke up the trip with a fun place to stop and have lunch.  The lobsters were hard shell and very meaty.  We probably could have split one between the girls and me but we all had big eyes so we each got our own along with fried shrimp and french fries.  A little gluttonous and we were all stuffed in the end and ready to get in the car for the rest of our ride north.

Bike and Run

With the girls home this summer I have had to work my running into our schedule.  Usually I can run early before Jason leaves for work but some days that just doesn't happen.  Fortunately for me I have two kids who love to exercise because it is FUN!  I went for a walk with my girlfriend in the morning so the kids got to play with their friend Abby while Abby's older brother was home to watch them.  I still needed to get in a run though so after walking with my girlfriend I loaded the kids in the car and we headed to the bike path.  It was the middle of the day and it was HOT!....in the 90's and humid kind of HOT!  I hoped that the shade of the bike path would help since I wanted to get in a six mile run.  The kids hopped on their bikes and biked along the path as I ran.  We stopped a couple times to drink since I did not want the kids to dehydrate.  They made it up the one big hill on the path without stopping or needing help.  I was impressed!  After making it to the 3 mile turn around we were all hot and sweaty.  We took a little break for some water and then headed back down the path.  I ended up walking/jogging the last mile because it was just sooooo HOT and I was out of water as I had given most of it to the kids.  I didn't want to risk getting dizzy from dehydration so I made myself pull up and go easy.  Both kids were hot and a little overheated.  We headed to the local price chopper which has a Starbucks inside and treated ourselves to cold drinks.  After being in the air conditioned store and getting fluids in us we all perked back up.  Any overheating headaches were gone and the kids kept talking about how proud they were of themselves and what they saw as accomplishments.....being tired but continuing anyway, making it up that big hill without needing any help and going the whole 6 miles.  It was great to listen to them rattle off all the things that made them feel good.

Nail Time

The girls are really at a fun age.  They are strong, fit, athletic girls who also enjoy down time.  After busy days at camp or running around outside they like to just relax.  It is nice to see them be able to relax and really enjoy it.  After camp one day they were tired and needed some down time.  I decided it was the perfect time to sit around the table and chat about their day.  To make it a little more fun I decided to add a little girly flavor and offered to do their nails.  They always like having their nails done and it is fun to do something together.  The girls each chose their own colors and designs.  Sofia's hand is almost as big as mine!  These girls are growing way too fast!!!

Blueberries!!!

This year we missed picking strawberries as the season was over before I had even thought about it but I was ready for blueberry picking season.  I had asked at the local organic farm where we had picked last year and the owner told me the week of July 4th  was usually when the picking began.  The girls and I headed over on July 6th to see what we could find for blueberries.  It is amazing the difference a year makes in the kids picking abilities.  Ali still only filled about half a container but thats about 1/2 more than she picked last year and Sofia picked a whole container worth and then helped me pick enough to fill up Ali's container.  It was much more fun for me this year since the kids were having a good time and were not complaining.  It was not too hot which was nice as well.  We ended up with 9lbs of blueberries!!  Since picking them we have made blueberry pancakes, smoothies with blueberries, blueberry muffins, and blueberry buckle.  We have loads of blueberries now stored in the freezer to last us until next year.

Camp Camp Camp

This summer we decided to put the kids into different camps to keep them entertained.  Last summer we arrived too late to get into any camps and by the end of the summer the girls were so ready to start school and make new friends.  I wanted to balance out their activities with down time as well because summer is all about being lazy and relaxing.  We decided to give the girls something to so every other week.  We kicked off the summer with golf camp.  The girls went to camp for a week from 9:00 to 12:00.  They loved going to play golf.  They made some new friends and really enjoyed playing the game.  We took them out on the course after their week of lessons and we could really see the improvement.  It was nice to know it was money well spent!  When we play with the kids we play best ball so that they get to hit the ball but we don't spend hours just getting to the green.  On the 9th hole though we let Sofia play through since it was late and there was nobody on the course behind us.  She did amazing!  She shot an 8 on a par 4.  Her drive off the tee was around 100 yards.  Ali also did well but she was very tired by the 4th hole so we still played best ball with her.  Pretty soon I'm going to have Sofia play through on every hole or she will start beating me!

After a week off over the 4th of July the kids started the town camp.  This camp goes from 9am-4pm Monday through Friday.  The girls are in two different groups as one group is ages 5-7 and the next group is 8-12 (I think 12 is the top).  It works out well so the kids get some time away from each other and can play with their own friends.  They have a blast all day at camp and it has been great for them to be exposed to many different sports.  The older group is more focused on sports and the younger group mixes sports with arts/crafts and time to play on the playground.  Sofia has decided she wants to play softball in the spring because she has really enjoyed playing baseball and tennis racket baseball during the camp.  The other difference in activity is that the older kids get to go to a water park.  Sofia was so excited to go. She kept asking if she could go since her friend had told her about it before camp started.  I had heard nothing about it so I didn't want to get her hopes up but she was right.  Apparently every week the camp goes to the water park.  I was a little nervous as it would be the first time Sofia would be with a group away from me where "stranger danger" lurked!  I started grilling her on what do to in different situations...."what do you do if you get separated from the group?", "what do you do if someone tells you they are there to pick you up?", "what do you do if you don't want to go on a slide because it is to scary?"....I'm sure she thought I was crazy but I wanted to make sure she would be safe.  She was!  She had a great time and only declined one slide because it was too scary.  She was going to go on the slide this week during camp but unfortunately the line was too long and the group skipped it so she didn't get the chance to see if she would be brave enough.  Maybe we will get the chance to go there as a family this summer so she can have her chance and Ali will get a chance to see the park that Sofia has had so much fun at.

The kids have a few week off and then will start a week of mornings at gymnastics camp in August.  I'll post about that when the time comes.

Cohasett Triathlon

Last fall we were at a friend house for dinner and after a few drinks another women at the dinner party started talking about how she does a triathlon every year for juvenile diabetes and she wanted people to join her group.  After a little encouragement I agreed (note: after a few drinks)!  I tried to swim a couple times over the winter but driving the 15 minutes to the pool to change and swim for 20 minutes hardly seemed worth it.  I put off any training until the spring time.  I continued to run every week but given it was winter I didn't ride my bike either.  I managed to make it to a spin class as the club a few times but the schedule for that often didn't fit with my schedule.  As the tri got closer I decided I needed to actually start to do something or I might just drown.  The bubble came off the pool and suddenly swimming seemed so much easier.  Swimming in the sunshine is very different to swimming indoors.  Sofia finished her swim team for the spring and Ali started the swim prep team.  I decided to swim twice a week just before Ali's prep team practice.  I enlisted Sofia to swim with me becuase 1. she needed to keep up her endurance over the summer, 2. It allowed me to swim while keeping an eye on her, 3. She could set my pace and make it fun for me.  I withstood her mocking me with things like, "only 18 legnths mom? that should be for kids!" and "what is wrong with you? why are you breathing like that?".  Of course she didn't realize she was mocking me since to her swimming up and down the pool for an hour is normal.  She probably swims at least 36 lengths of the pool during practice and probably it is more than that.  She doesn't realize what great shape she is in and what a good swimmer she is.  I raced her one length of the pool and beat her by one stroke.  Had I known she was going to be so fast I would have swam harder the first half of the pool (not that I was going easy but I wasn't sprinting) but as it was a sprinted for the second half of the pool to beat her.  At the end she wasn't even breathing hard!!  It was great to swim with her though.  She made it fun for me to do laps and I'm looking forward to a sport we can do together.  Anyway, I started getting some swims in a month before the triathlon.  Better late than never I guess!  I got my bike tuned up and managed to get two rides in before the race.  I made she one of the rides actually had me ride and then get off my bike and immediately go out for a run.  I'm glad I did that becuase it gave me a chance to see what my legs would feel like during the race for that transition.  It is not a good feeling so it was great that I was prepared for it and knew it would go away after the first mile.  The week before the race I signed up for a triathlon clinic at the race site.  I wanted the chance to swim in the ocean in my wetsuit before race day.  It was awful!  The white caps were out there and the waves were rolling in.  Instead of giving me confidence for the race it made me very nervous.  The night before the race I was a wreck and looked at last years race times.  That didn't help my confidence either becuase I felt like I was going to come in near to last!  I tried to calm myself down and accept that this is my first triathlon and the goal was to finish.  Anyone who knows me though knows I have a competitive streak inside myself that can't accept that.  I got everything ready and went to bed. 


We woke up at 4:30am to be out of the house by 5am to get down to the race.  We arrived with no problems and now that race day was here I was feeling a little better but still really nervous about the swim.  I had to ride my bike 1.5 miles to the transition area which was a nice warm up and served to relax me a little bit.  I found some friends and as we prepared for the race we all gathered together on the beach.  It made me feel better to know that I had friends around me.  The race started and into the water I went.  I was glad for the tri clinic now b/c the water was calm and seemed so much easier.  I swam freestyle out to the first bouy with out any problem and didn't feel to crowded but did have to swim around some people.  Once around the bouy I was all about breast stroke, back stroke, and side stroke.  I swallowed a few mouthfuls of salt water and went to mainly back stroke as it is probably my faster stroke and it meant I didn't have to worry about getting enough air.  Once I reached the next bouy and turned for the beach I pushed hard with my freestyle to bring it home.  I ran up the beach and transitioned to my bike. 
I was one of the few people there with a mountain bike but I didn't want to spend the money on a road bike for my first race.  I knew I would have to push hard to be competitive so off I went and never coasted.  I pushed it hard the whole way and made it back to transition, ditched my bike and started running. 
Once I started running I was golden.  I know that this was the easiest leg of the race for me and I just needed to get past the first mile to work out the stiffness in my legs.
 I forgot my hat so had to accept that I probably looked horrible but what the heck...it is a triathlon after all and not a beauty contest!  As I rounded the first bend in the running race there was a photographer wo I gave him some goofy smiles to which he responded, "You're the first happy person I've seen all day!".  That made me feel good since the only reason to do these races is for fun.  If I can't enjoy myself then there is no point to doing them.  I know that sounds contradictory to my competitve streak but I do enjoy the competition and I enjoy being outside and essentially playing.  Anyway, I continued the race and came in to the finish and was shocked at my finish time.  I thought surely I would be over two hours but my clock time was 1 hour 40 minutes!  I was so excited!!  I crushed my expected time.  I went and checked my official time and came in at 1 hour 32 minutes and 12 seconds!!  I swam the 1/4 mile in 12 min 32 seconds, I biked 12 miles in 46 min 11 seconds and I ran 3.2 miles in 28 min 35 seconds.  I was pretty excited and still am!  I'm not hooked on triathlons but would not rule out doing another one at some point.