Triathlon in Austin

On Labor Day weekend we drove to Austin so Deven could compete in his first Olympic distance triathlon. It began with a 1.5 kilometer (.93 mile) swim, followed by 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) of bicycling and concluded with a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) run. And HE DID IT!

Instead of chasing Deven around, the kids and I hung out at the transition area waiting for a chance to cheer him on. Off with the helmet... on with the shoes... "go Dad!"

Just as a side note; while enjoying the beautiful weather of Austin and waiting for Deven to finish the Tri, Trenton through up all over me on a park bench and Allison had a poop explosion. Other than that it was a perfect day.

Deven and I have been wanting to go to The Salt Lick restaurant for a long time. It was brought to our attention by a show called Man vs. Food. The parking lot for this restaurant (in the middle of no where) looked like a parking lot for an amusement park. Luckily we only waited an hour to eat some famous BBQ.

We were happy to have the Newman family there to enjoy it with!

Lake Travis

Our friends let us stay at their lake house for the weekend. This turned our trip to Austin into a vacation. It was so nice to get out and play in the water and swing on the swings and just be out of Tomball for a few days. Deven got a lot of bonding time with the kids as well.

On our way home we had to detour around the wild fires that popped up all over Texas this year. It was so sad to see this!

Oh, I can't leave this picture out. The night before the triathlon Trenton tried on Deven's swim cap. We laughed so hard...

Summer of Seals III

On August 27th we wrapped up another Summer of Seals event. Summer of Seals is a friendly team fitness competition for people of all fitness levels, designed to motivate and strengthen each participant. Deven and a few friends started it a few years ago and it is attracting more and more people each year. How does this sound for your morning work out;

500M Swim

Max Push Ups

Max Sit Ups

Max Pull Ups

1.5 Mile Run

This year we had 112 participants compete and over 30 volunteers on the day of the event.

First each person swam a timed 500 meters. The average time for men and women was 12 minutes and 50 seconds... Not bad.

5,990 push ups were performed that morning.

6,354 sit ups...

Oh, and don't forget my favorite...

608 pull ups were pumped out by both men and women...

The competing participants average run time was 14 minutes for a mile and a half. Of course this was done after the swim, push ups, sit ups and pull ups. These Seals are strong!

This event really is challenging. What I love most about this competition is that it encourages average people (like you and I) to take their fitness routine a step further and push their bodies to do something they didn't think they could do, or just didn't have the motivation to do. And because it is a team event, each person has a support group to help them through it.

Deven put so much time and effort into organizing the event, and still made time to compete. Trent, Allison and I got there just in time to see him finish his last lap.

After everyone completed the Summer of Seals challenge they had a little award ceremony. Each team was awarded points based on the completion of their six week work out (4 times a week), weight loss, and their performance in each of the 5 events the day of the competition.

It was a really great to see all of these people participate in this fun event and see Deven's hard work paid off when he passed out medals. How did my Accounting major husband end up running fitness events when I'm the one with a Fitness and Wellness degree? I tell ya, this guy can do anything and anything he does he puts 110% into it.

Admittedly I haven't been working out, but chasing this guy around and pacing the house with a crying baby is enough for now. After the event Trenton jumped in the pool to try out his new "floaties"

...and Allison finally surrendered to her car seat.

Trenton turns Two!

Hooray! Trenton turned two! I feel like I've had a two year old forever because I could never imagine a one year old doing and saying all of the things that he does. Two suits his personality much better.

A family who lives on our street owns this little basketball bounce house. I thought it fit the sports theme of his birthday party and would be tons of fun for six two year olds to jump around in. Too bad it was 103 degrees or Trent would have been out there all day!

Check out that line up! There were two more boys there that weren't in this picture... so Trent was in heaven with all of his friends over and all of the attention he was getting. I was debating on having a party like this because I am still in quarantine mode with a newborn, but he really needed and deserved it. I have two kids that both seem to demand all of my attention and unfortunately the baby wins most of the time. So I was happy to take a full day to focus on my crazy and fun two year old! (and cleaning the house!)

Baby Blessing

On August 7th Deven gave a name and a blessing to baby Allison in church. His dad, Loren, was one of the priesthood holders who stood in the blessing circle along with friends and members of the bishopric. It was a beautiful blessing that really invited the spirit of the Plan of Salvation. We really have a special spirit daughter of our Heavenly Father.

The beautiful blanket was hand made by Allison's great grandma Later.

It was so nice to have Loren here for the weekend. He is so easy going and we just love him. Trenton ate up every bit of attention grandpa gave him! Allison seemed pretty content in grandpa's arms as well.

She is a pretty lucky girl to have these men in her life.