Triathlon

Erika, Olivia, and me before the race. We were numbers 141-143 but you can't see my number as it is on the other arm.

Getting ready for my start.

Swimming away.

Still going, only 8 more laps!

At the finish line trying to figure out what to do with my busted knee.

I finished the YMCA sprint triathlon on Saturday a few minutes slower then in previous years but still did fairly well. Jeremy was at baseball with Nick so I only got a few pics from the swimming portion and at the end from my friend Olivia's daughter. I will try to put up some other pics from my friends later. I was doing really well until the last 1/4 mile of the race when I gracefully tripped over my own two feet and totally scraped the crap out of my knee. It hurt so bad. I still got up and finished but the reason I look so disoriented at the end of the race is because I was trying to figure out what to do with my bloody knee. Luckily, my friend Pam who is a nurse finished with me and walked me to the first aid station and helped me clean out my knee including the gravel in it and really took very good care of me. It was so sore I could barely walk all weekend but it feels fine now but it just looks bad. Hopefully, it will fully recover before my next race. I will miss this race next year as it has become one of my favorites and I will especially my good friends that have been cheering me on through out all the training period.

Spring Break

Tossing pennies in the wishing well.

Eating ice cream in Santa Barbara.

Eating burgers and fries at Nick's favorite restaurant.

Nick and Aidan getting ready to ride their favorite thing at the Zoo the Train!

Nick riding the turtle at the Zoo.

Aidan and Nick on top of the hill at the Zoo.

Aidan on the play train.

The boys swinging on a very windy day in Solvang.

We kept busy last week during Nick's spring break. We went to Solvang to buy Great Grandma her favorite cookies for her birthday and played at Sunny Fields park there. We went mini-golfing, or as Nick calls it Wind golf because the course we go to has windmills on it. We also went to Santa Barbara one day and went to the Zoo and out to eat at Nick's favorite burger joint. We went down to Santa Barbara to get an Upper GI done on Aidan but since he is so stubborn they were unable to get him to drink the barium and so we didn't get the test done. So now they are scoping him tomorrow down there. So hopefully soon we will have some anwsers as to what is going on with him. So it was a busy week because in the middle of all of that I had a birthday and triathlon training sessions and two going away parties. So needless to say I needed a vacation after the vacation and was ready for school to start again. Only about a month more of school for Nick. He is ready for the year to be over and can't wait to spend his summer in Minnesota with his Grandmas and Grandpas and the rest of his extended family!

Easter in Ventura

We went down to my Aunt Carmen's house for Easter. They have been so fabulous over the last 5 years to our family. They have really been our surrogate family for every Holiday over the last 5 years. We never have to bring anything and they always spoil my boys rotten and yesterday was no exception. They bought Nick a basketball hoop and him and the big boys had a blast turning their living room into a gym. The hoop worked great until Aidan found the ball and while hiding under a blanket ate big chunks out of it. Luckily, the big boys found other things to do with Nick like baseball and football in the backyard. They got Aidan a Lightning McQueen remote control car. He played with that thing all day. The only time he stopped playing it was to go orange picking in the backyard and he picked every orange they had on their tree. They also gave everyone huge baskets full of candy and the boys got Easter eggs filled with money. We had a wonderful ham and roast beef dinner with all the side dishes you could imagine. They also had a cake and balloons and presents to celebrate my 30th b-day which was so sweet! It was very hard to say good-bye knowing it might be the last time I get to see them all for a while. My boys have loved Mikey and Jimmy like their own cousins. We will miss everybody down there so much!

Easter at Home

Easter morning was pretty relaxed at our house. Aidan was up bright and early and found his basket right away and started tearing into it. Nick slept in a little and had a hard time finding his basket. The Easter bunny hid his basket so well Mommy couldn't even find it. Luckily, Daddy was able to point him in the right direction. I made french toast and bacon while they looked through their baskets and watched one of the new movies they got. We went to Easter Mass which was a disaster because Aidan would not sit still and when we got up to go play in the toy room some guy who was late took our seats and it was so packed that we couldn't find any other seats. It worked out o.k. because Aidan had no intention of sitting through a really, really long homily. After church we changed clothes and Aidan devoured his chocolate bunny and got it all in his hair and his ears etc. So he took a bath before getting his play clothes on. Then we headed down to Ventura to have a family Easter celebration.

Easter Egg Coloring

On Saturday we colored Easter eggs. I really should have made 2 dozen eggs because the boys loved coloring them so much. Aidan and Nick were fighting over who got to color the next one. Plus both boys dropped a couple eggs and smashed them after they were colored and dried while we attempted to put stickers on them so it would have been nice to have a few extra ones. Jeremy is eating up all the eggs because I hate hard boiled eggs.

Boys will be boys

All 5 of the neighborhood boys were outside playing last weekend when they realized if you add water to unsealed tar on a hot day it makes it soft and you can dig it up. They got this entire patch of tarred sidewalk up and made huge holes in it before any of us could stop them. They thought it was great fun just like a sandbox. Unlike sand though tar doesn't come off your clothes and really doesn't come off the skin very easily. It took me almost 3 days to get tar off of the two boys. Note to the construction company seal the sidewalks after you lay tar or you will end up having to do it again!

The Super Hero Bowling Party

Nick's friend Grant A. had a Super Hero Bowling party for his 5th b-day last weekend. Both boys had a great time bowling. Everyone was supposed to wear super hero costumes so Nick wore his Spiderman outfit from Halloween and Aidan wore a little cape with a Spiderman mask too but neither one stayed on for more then a minute. Aidan loved bowling so much that we had to get him his own lane because he wouldn't wait his turn. Jeremy and him bowled by themselves for quite a while. Nick was enjoying himself so much that he wouldn't even stop bowling to have cake. Sadly, his best buddy Grant moved to Virginia this week so Nick is sulking around this spring break without him. We are glad we got a few fun last days with them though and really enjoyed them as neighbors and friends over these last 4 years.

MOPS Easter Egg Hunt

Aidan chilling out with his candy stash.

Aidan collecting eggs.

Aidan still getting more eggs.

Aidan digging in his candy stash.

Aidan running to get more eggs.

Aidan finding his first egg.

Aidan and his buddy having a very serious conversation.

Aidan and Jack playing peek a boo with the bars.

My MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group had an Easter Egg Hunt on Wednesday at Cocheo park. I took Aidan and Jack (my friend Kathy's son) to the egg hunt. I hiked up to the park with both boys in the double jogging stroller. Jack was being so sweet and saying he loved me and that he was going to miss me when he moves next week but that it would be o.k. because he will still invite me to his 4th birthday party. Aidan definitely understood what was going on this year and went after the eggs and immediately wanted to open them up and eat the candy. The group provided breakfast and treats for after the egg hunt. We also won the door prize which was a large prefilled Easter basket. The boys had a blast playing at the park and running around with all the kids. They didn't want to leave when it was time but were thoroughly exhausted as they didn't say much on the walk home.