I've Missed Mother's Day, B-day, and Race!!

water thief....

hurry up mom

now let's get bbq...

Lucas & Gwyn waiting...

Finally here I come, with no glasses :(

Rowan out of it thanks to Gwyn keeping him up...

Yes, I am cool...and I am in trouble....

I knew this blogging would be tough to stay up with! To backtrack, I had a great Mother's Day--I got the best gift a girl could ask for--a maid for a day! Oh, I am still in heaven! While I'm fairly neat and can't stand clutter, there is only so much cleanliness I can achieve with two two-year-olds running around with grimy hands. We'll see how long it lasts....

On Thursday my old teammate and swim extraordinaire Sara Mclarty got to spend the day with us. She was racing in Oklahoma City so she took the time to stop by Tulsa and chill with us. Poor girl--"chilling" with Rowan and Gwyn are not conducive to pre-race relaxation. We had so much fun and hope she can come back soon! Maybe some swim lessons for the kids next time, hint hint! :) Pictures to come, but Lucas took the camera to work today....

We took off for Memphis on Friday. We made pretty good time and for the first car trip ever the kids were not totally crazy. They got antsy a few times so we actually had to stop and let them out to run around. Now I see why Mapquest directions take so much longer than what I use to think was "real" drive time! We arrived at the State Park and I told the kids, "This is when we find out if Daddy is a big hero or a big zero." I wasn't so sure about staying in a cabin. Lucas and I agree that after being in the Army camping is totally ruined for us. We have no desire to rough it in the wilderness, desert, or even the back yard. Give us a bed and shower and roof, please! Luckily, while the cabin was not glamorous, it had all of this and plenty of space for the kids to run around and they were in a separate room. This came in handy the night before the race as Gwyn decided to scream at the top of her lungs every 45 minutes. Since it was my birthday and I was racing the next day, my lovely husband sat with her at 1 am for an hour until she calmed down. Oh, and my kids also learned a new trick! It's called "Crawl Out of Your Pack-n-Play!" We are doomed. Hopefully they won't be crawling out of their cribs at home!!

Saturday some friends of ours that Lucas went to high school with came to visit. Nathan and Beth have a beautiful new baby boy and it was fun to see them on my birthday. No cake, though--I'm still waiting for that. Lucas better deliver tonight...

Race on Sunday had the Pros starting after everyone at 1030. While the heat was not a factor this year, the wind was out of control! Memphis in May is one of the oldest, most established triathlons out there. One reason we came back this year is it is always put on so well. This year was no different. I had a blahhh swim, I felt good on the bike although I do feel a bit "slower" since training for the longer stuff. I actually felt great on the run and ended up withe fastest run split. I've been really trying to dial in my run as this is my strength but it hasn't appeared that way in my last couple of half ironmans....slowly but surely it's coming around and I know to be patient. I ended up 3rd behind Pip Taylor and Michillie Jones. I'll take that anyday, they are studs...Oh, my sad news is that I hook my Oakleys onto my bike and put them on while biking. Well, I looked down and they were gone! I am so bummed!! Soooo, if anyone out there forgot my Birthday gifts--as in all of my siblings, yes I say I do not care about gifts but now I actually need something--you know what I need!! Ha ha ha, it will be a cold day in Baghdad before this happens...............I'm putting some photos from the race. Thank you Beth and Nathan for the beautiful photos!!