The Fair!

On Wednesday, the boys and I joined my parents for an afternoon at the State Fair of Texas!  Sadly, Justin had to work, but he was happy that we all got to go.  We love the fair, and went regularly until a few years ago. This was the boys' first time (obviously!) and they seemed to enjoy it!  We were there through their afternoon nap time, but they stayed wide awake and were just taking every detail in!

Grandpa and Gigi with the boys 

Mommy and the boys

This is Big Tex, and regular at the fair here.  He talks every so often, welcoming people to the fair, and the boys loved hearing him say, "Howdy Folks! I'm Big Tex!"

Can you see us right under his feet?

The boys would hardly turn around for a picture...
they were wanting to look at Big Tex!

Justin was born here in the Dallas area and lived here until he was 5, and his parents have told him that he liked Big Tex too!  How fun that the boys are following in their Daddy's footsteps!

We sat down to eat (I LOVE fair food!! Thank goodness it's only once a year!) and Jack did a brand new thing... he started clapping on his own! Some music came on across the way, and he just started clapping! He was so proud of himself! And Mommy, Gigi and Grandpa were super excited too!

 As we walked through the Midway, the boys were all eyes!  They couldn't believe all the colorful toys hanging everywhere, along with the people yelling for us to come play.  I told the boys their Daddy would win them toys next year. =)

I think they liked this booth best!

My Dad sat down with the boys to listen to some country singers/yodelers (sp?) while my mom and I walked around a bit more.  They seemed to like them!

 I thought for sure, after such a long day, that the boys would conk out immediately when we got in the car.  Nope.  They stayed awake for quite awhile while we were stuck in traffic.  But by the time we got home (1 1/2 hours later!) they had thankfully both gotten about 30 minutes of sleep time, but boy did they sleep well that night!

Jack was a happy boy in traffic!

Such fun to take my boys to the fair for the first time!  I'm sure we will have many fun times as a family at the fair in the future!  I have great memories of going to the fair growing up, and I want my boys to have them too!

Wave of Light --Remembering our babies

Today is Pregnancy, Baby & Infant Loss Awareness Day.  I'm remembering our Sweet Jonathan Paul, along with our 4 other precious babies who went to Heaven much too soon!  I'll never forget you, sweet babies!  I can't wait for the day in Heaven that I finally get to meet you!

Join me tonight for a Wave of Light around the world from 7-8pm.  Leave a candle burning bright to remember all the precious babies that left this world much too soon!  People all over the world are doing this, and it will create a continual Wave of Light remembering these sweet miracles! Check out this website for more details.

If you know someone who has lost a child or lost anybody who's important to them, and you're afraid to mention them because you think you might make them sad by reminding them that they died.  What you're reminding them of is that you remember that they lived, and that's a great, great gift.

~Elizabeth Edwards

My First Triathlon (Almost!)

I don't feel like I can honestly say I did my first triathlon, since I was technically only a third of the team and was done pretty quickly. But, I completed my part, much better than I thought I would, and I was pleased to have done it!

Now triathlons are definitely Justin's realm, and I have really not had much of an inkling to try to do one myself.  Earlier this year, I briefly entertained the idea of training for one by my 30th birthday, but between packing, chasing and caring for two busy boys, moving, and unpacking, the required training never happened. But two weeks ago, Justin asked me if I wanted to do the swimming leg of a triathlon he had been planning on doing in October.  At first I thought, "No way!", but then thought that I just might be able to do it.  So I went to our local pool and did a test swim ... I swam 200 meters and was exhausted!  I was a bit nervous thinking that I'd have to do 350 m 11 days later.  But as I waited the next few days to see if Justin could even switch his registration to a relay team, I figured it wasn't going to happen so I put it out of my mind and didn't do any more swimming.

Then soon after Justin got to work on Monday (as in 5 short days before the triathlon!) he called me with exciting news ... he switched it and I was officially on the team!  Gulp!!  So there it was, 5 days until I was swimming in my first triathlon!  I decided that since I have been walking about 4 miles a few days a week, I would swim at 6am on T/Th to be ready!  Those two days swimming in a 25m pool were definitely a challenge, I was was convinced after watching the clock, that my time would be around 12-13 minutes.  Plus I was nervous because I knew the pool at the triathlon site was a 50m pool, which I have never practiced in.  I used to lap swim more when I was younger, and I have always thought of myself as a good swimmer.  But after 15+ years of life, not too much regular working out, plus many years on the fertility roller coaster and 2 pregnancies, has definitely made me realize that I do love to swim, but more the type of swimming where you are just lounging in a pool and not swimming laps! =)

But ... I did it!  And I actually did it in 9 min 38 seconds!!!  About 3 minutes faster than I though I would!  Plus, I felt pretty good swimming it, and didn't really feel tired until almost halfway through the 5 lap (of 7)!  Can we say adrenaline??  Anyhow, I did it, our team did well, and I really had a fun time enjoying the day with my honey! We had so much fun being there and competing together!  And ... I might just do it again sometime!  I can't believe I'm saying that!

So all in all, I guess I actually did participate in my first triathlon at 30!  Yay!  Now for the next one, I'll train more than 3 times, and I will definitely be investing in more appropriate triathlon swimming attire!  Notice the light blue, orange hawaiian flowered bathing suit!  There was not one other suit like it in all 300 participants! =)

Enjoy the pics ...

About to leave ... 6:30am!

The team all ready to 'tri'!
Justin-bike, Me-Swim, Aaron-run 

Waiting to start . Honestly, here I was pretty anxious and
quite embarrassed about my suit! (Silly, I know!)

The start.
I was #139, but I think I ended up going more by the 160s.
(I figured I would be passed a whole lot less if I started back a bit!)

Lap 4 ... had to dodge a lot of hands and feet!

My cutie about to start the bike

Both of us done with our legs, happily modeling our triathlon shirts!

Aaron finishing up the run!

Go Team!!

All in all, we completed our triathlon in 1 hour and 26 minutes!!

Great day!  Stay tuned to see if there are any more triathlons in my future!  We'll see! =)