Sherpa!?!

My sweet husband has been given the name 'Super Sherpa' after being the best support crew for Katie, Todd and I (as well as some others along the way) for 3 Ironman Triathlons. I had been to one other Ironman as a spectator my self to watch my friend Chris do IMCDA in 2005, I was pregnant with Cale at the time and just watched and cheered her on.

This year my friend Katie was doing IM WI and I decided to go cheer her on. We have been racing together for about 5 years now and we know each other very well. I knew this year I might be able to help Katie's parents be Sherpa's for her in WI. Katie's Dad was having some issues with his feet, so it was going to be a goal to minimize the amount walking on race day.

Race day was a beautiful, perfect weather. We took the shuttle to the start. Katie started to get ready and realized that she had brought Heidi's wetsuit (just a few sizes to small!). My fellow supporters Ron and Heidi kicked in to high gear and got a free rental wetsuit and got her on her way. We then watched the swim. Heidi and I stationed ourselves at the swim out and Katie's parents, Ron, and Linda went to the bike out. Katie threw the rental wetsuit to us on her way by, we returned it before heading to the bike course (I just laughed knowing that Katie had thought up that plan on the swim, I probably would have done the same thing). Then back to the shuttle to the car and out to the bike course. I drove Katie's parents and Ron, Heidi and Linda took the other car. We stopped and fueled up at McDonald's and then out to the spot at ~mile 45, no walking from car to race course at this spot, good to go. We saw Katie and 2 other guys that Heidi and Ron were looking for. Then we stayed there to see them go by again ~mile 82 on the second loop. Then back in the car. I dropped Katie's folks off at the transition area and went and parked the car, no walking, good to go. I actually got a great parking spot! That would be key later on. I go to the bike in and let Katie know where to look for her parents. We all see each other, she looks great and her Mom and Dad were relieved to know she was off the bike. Now we walk (about 2 blocks) to the car and wait on Ron's car to head out to the run course (this way we could keep the key parking spot for bringing Katie home). We get the car from them and I head out to the run course (Ron and Linda took off running the course). We make it just in time to see Katie come through at mile 8, this spot was key, right by a parking lot, no walking. She is ranting about how tired she is 'burned out'! We tell her to keep it up, just forward momentum. We see her again in 2 more miles (from this spot you could see three different spots on the run course). Then we wait and cheer on the other competitors. We were watching her time, she was doing great, we start to get up to watch her come through again and realized that we had not seen the third spot where we could have seen her, it was behind (and about a block away) where we were sitting. We felt a little dumb having been sitting so close and not going over there to see her the third time on the second loop. Oh, well here she comes again. We see her this time and she looks great, we told her we were headed to the finish. Ron and Linda run her in from there, and evidently get the crowds to cheer for her all along the way! I take Mom and Dad to the finish, park the car in the garage under the transition area (I only had to go around a couple of orange cones!), no walking. We cheer her in and make her pose for some pictures. What a great day it was. I get her bike while she gets her bags and then we head to the car. As far as being a sherpa it was a great day, 3 illegal U-turns, minimal walking, lots of TX flags, great parking spots, and cheering on your best friend finish her final North American Ironman (that would be 7 completed). Priceless.

Time at the lake with Grandma!

For labor day JP and I took Cale to see Grandma Sue and Ron at her lake house in Tim's Ford TN. What a great weekend at a great house. 3 days of relaxing, eating and boat and seadoo fun! We got there on Friday night and headed to the lake. My Aunt and Uncle and their granddaughter Caroline flew in about an hour later. Saturday we woke up and ate a leisurely breakfast then out on the boat.

Cale was a trip on the boat. He walked around like a weeble wobble (he even fell down a couple of times!) He would enjoy the wind for a couple of minutes and then fall asleep. He did the same thing both days we went out on the boat :)

We visited Lynchberg, where Jack Daniel's is made. Cale and Caroline just had fun playing around on the grounds.

We need to get out to NC to get Cale and Caroline together again soon!

Travel Anyone?!

The last 2 1/2 weeks have been a whirl wind of new jobs and travel! JP started his new job on the 24th and I started a re-assignment at work that same day. That Friday we took off to see my mom at her lake house in Tim's Ford TN. We had a great time as Cale got to meet and spend time with his 2nd cousin (my cousin's little girl) who is about 3 years old. They were so cute together all weekend. JP and I tried to relax, knowing that the next week was going to be extremely hectic. It was a great time with family, very fun. The next week was very hectic and frustrating. I was working a lot and having to work some off shift hours to do some training. On the triathlon front things have come to a stand still. I have managed to make 2-3 swims and the Wed night ride only for the last 3 weeks. I just did not have the time, and did not want to sacrifice time with Cale and JP to workout. This past weekend I traveled again, this time to Madison WI for Ironman WI. This time not to race, but to be support for my best friend Katie. I will write more about my Sherpa experience later. I am now happy to say that we will be around for a few weekends, although I still have a couple more trips planned for this fall. Hopefully JP will settle into his job and my new assignment will end sometime in October. Now I just have to think about what I want to do next...

Sleeping?!

Well, Cale has done great in his big boy bed, but it has been a funny transition for JP and I. We have learned that it is better for us (and he doesn't seem to mind) if we close his door when he goes to sleep. There was one morning where JP woke up to him playing out in the living room, he did not bother getting JP up, he just headed out to play. Another morning I had gotten up and was ironing clothes for work, he had quietly walked all the way across the house and was standing in the door way of the laundry room---'Mama!' about scared me to death. Then yesterday he had been down for a nap in his room for about 2 hours, it was still quiet but JP and I decided to peek in on him. He was asleep on the floor between the chair and ottoman in his room! JP and I were laughing so hard it woke him up :) Last night we shut his door when he went to sleep, he just knocks in the morning when he gets up. He knocked from the inside this morning, I opened the door, he was standing right there and I heard 'Mommy, shoes', still obsessed with shoes, he wants to put them on first thing in the morning and then he brings JP and I our shoes to put on. He makes me smile :)

Big Boy Bed

Well Cale is officially a big boy. We bought him a race car bed off of Craig's list and put it in his room next to his crib. Sunday night was the first night in it. He was so tired from the trip he went to sleep right away, and slept just fine in his new bed until I woke him on Mon morning. Tues night he repeated, went to sleep with no issue. He did have a little night mare and JP went in and held him for a minute and he went back to sleep. Tonight he did it again, no issue at all! He is the perfect little guy. We took the crib out of his room tonight. We will see if he figures out that he can get out of the new bed any time soon. He is a great little sleeper, great putting down, and we pretty much have to get him up in the mornings. The pictures are from the morning we moved it in!

River Cities Triathlon

This past weekend we traveled to Shreveport LA for the River Cities Triathlon. I have done this race every year since 2001 (I went in 2005 when I was pregnant but just picked up my packet!). My dad came over to spend some time with Cale (and watch me race). I had a good race, no PR but I will take it. I ended up 1st in the Athena division and would have been 5th in my age group.

Katie beat me by 40 sec, passed me on the run, luckily she is racing in the Master's Athena division now so we both got a chance to place first! That was fun. Cale had a blast playing in the sand/dirt, and running around outdoors for the whole morning.

He played so hard he was pasted out in his stroller! He looked so comfy we thought about just leaving him in there and just strapping the stroller into the back of the truck (just kidding!).

Cale!

These days we are hard pressed to get Cale to do anything that we want him to do, typical toddler. The current challenges are to get him to eat (other than crackers and juice) and to brush his teeth, get dressed, or change his diaper. We recently had a break through with the teeth brushing. He is doing it himself with the help of a step stool so he can see him self dance around in the mirror and reach the faucet.

We also got him to start eating a few more foods. He can now say 'waffle' and 'fre fry', so much for starting him out healthy :)