Summer Fun

What a difference eight swim lessons can make! Maddy improved her freestyle arm stroke, and back stroke, while Harrison is now swimming under water without me worrying he won't come up! He says he is a "jellyfish"! Maddy is second from the left and Harrison is far right (red trunks). Below is Maddy demonstrating her back float for her instructor. She finished both level 1 and 2 of the Red Cross Swimming Lessons!

Here the the two newest additions to our family... Yes, I finally gave in and got two adorable kittens from the Humane Society. Maddy has named the black one "Licorice". We are thinking about "Wally" for the grey cat. Licorice is also nick named "speedy" because he spends most of his time as a blur between rooms in our house. He is kind of a bully. The little grey kitten is quiet, calm, and very curious. I've nick named him "Smarty". So far, they have easily gotten used to our house without any incidents. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. They are very cute and the kids LOVE them! Below is "Speedy" as a blur.Here is Maddy with "Smarty". The picture will not cooperate with me, so just turn your head to the left to get the effect. She is lying down on her back with the kitty on her front. (Darn computers).Harrison got a new helmet to save his head while he rides his scooter. Here he is modeling it while eating an ice cream treat from the neighborhood ice cream truck...it was 100 degrees this day! Ugh! It's that time of year again!

Ode To Seattle

We just recently returned from a fabulous trip to Seattle, Washington. I love my visits there. My family that lives there always take me on the best sight seeing ventures! Very memorable. This year, I took Maddy and Harrison. They loved it just as much as I always do! We stayed with Grandma Dee...
Grandma always makes the best breakfasts! My personal favorite is cinnamon toast. Somehow hers is better than my own?! Must be that special "grandma touch". Her coffee tastes better too?! Maybe it's because I'm in Seattle?This was Harrison and Maddy's first airplane ride! On the way home, they got to sit up in the cockpit! The in-flight tv's were a huge hit and kept the kids occupied quite well. Although, Harrison did get motion sickness on the first flight out to Denver. He did a great job using the "barf bag". Needless to say, the flight attendant wasn't happy.
Uncle Dave, Grandma Dee, and my cousin, Aaron spent one day together riding a ferry...Taking in views from atop the Space Needle...Eating fish and chips at Ivar's, then playing in the freezing cold Puget Sound....(those are the Olympic Mountains in the background)One day, we picnicked on the beach of the Puget Sound. Harrison and Maddy enjoyed searching for shells, rocks, and crabs on the beach.
Uncle Steve and Aunt Ruth, along with Grandma, drove the kids and I up to Mt. Rainier one morning. It was a beautiful, clear day and the mountain looked gorgeous! We got to see all sides of it. Steve and Ruth know their stuff too! They were great tour guides explaining every little town, mountain fact, history, etc. Even though it was 85 degrees up there, there was still a lot of snow. Reportedly, the mountain got 78 FEET of snow this last winter! I love that mountain. Steve and Ruth, along with the rest of the family, had a bbq at their home one evening. It was fun getting together with my cousin, Jason, and his wife, Sarah. Sarah is a 2nd grade teacher in near Seattle and Jason is one crazy, kid-loving guy! Maddy and Harrison took right to them! Jason and Harrison goofing around.Steve and Maddy making their special cake!Harrison, my little pet lover, found a slug at Steve and Ruth's that we actually took back to Grandma's house in a baggie. She allowed him to put it in her flower garden, but he couldn't find it the next morning...hmmmmm. Slugs are huge pests to plants ya know. Grandma?

Uncle Dave and his wife, Danna, took us on an incredible hike through the woods to see a waterfall. There are some big trees in Washington! It is so lush there! I love all the plants!
Ferns and fronds up close... Snoqualmie Falls...This was my personal favorite this trip to Washington! The roaring sound that these falls put off was amazing! I could have stayed for a long time gazing at the falls.In Kent, Washington, where we saw the movie "Wall-E", there is this giant marble ball that sits upon flowing water. It will roll when you get it going. Here is Dave and the kids playing in the water. I think Dave is just a big kid! He had just as much fun as the kids and they LOVED him!



As with all vacations, it is always sad to leave. We had such a great time! So many memorable moments! I enjoyed seeing my family and taking in the beauty of Washington! I will be back! Special thanks to Grandma Dee for all that she did to make it a special family vacation! : )

Remember Me? : )

I'm not going to even apologize for the delay this time. If you are one of my friends or family members who are checking this neglected blog of mine, thank you for continuing to check it! I just need to be better about updating!

Here is what has been happening in the last two months!

I met my goal (barely) of $3250 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Part of the money came from this garage sale I hosted with my friend and teammate, Judi. She also did the triathlon!

It rained a LOT in the month of June this year. It was nice because it greened everything up and brought lots of worms out which Harrison LOVED! The boy loves his worms! We had several as pets. There are probably a couple dried up somewhere in my house since Harrison liked taking them out and playing with them! Ewww!

Whom ever my little "angel" is that sent this in the mail along with a few other things, thank you!

Harrison and Maddy have been playing T-ball this summer. They both love it and have taken to it very easily!

I attended my favorite party of the year...Robin Macy's Summer Soltice Party at the Bartlett Arboretum. The all-white attire affair is lots of fun and always a great way to ring in summer! Maybe one of these days I'll actually have a date for it?! In the mean time, my gal pals, Denise, and Kerri were great stand-ins! (Jaime too, but she wasn't in the pic!)

I taught a summer school class called Mini Med School through Duke University's TIP program (for gifted students). It was a hit!I competed in my first Olympic distance triathlon in Philadelphia. Here I am standing next to the Schuylkill River (pronounced "Sku-gull"). The next day I swam (kind of) one mile down this once-polluted river. Then I biked 25 miles and ran a 10 K race to the finish! It was an awesome experience! I did it with my TNT team to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma. This is the bike transition area looks like. You run in from the river, find your bike, peel off your wetsuit, throw on your helmet and bike shoes, then GO!!!Me with all my gear on race day morning...and I do mean MORNING!!! This is what time my roomate, Ria, and I got up the day of the race...Ria, my roomie and friend. Our team photo op the night before the race...Rocky....Amy.... I was here at the top of the Rocky steps for all of 2 minutes, then had to run and catch the correct bus back to the hotel where my team was waiting on me. Luckily, I found the right bus!Sight seeing after the race....Liberty BellTeam Kansas always stays until the very end of the Post Race Party and livens things up. Here we are doing the "YMCA" dance. A team fave!

That's June in a nutshell! July is coming next! Maybe I'll it up before August arrives! (Just kidding!

Finally...Another Update!

Been Busy! Summer is almost here, so you might start checking more frequently! I'll be able to update more often...promise!

Here is what has been happening in my world....

Maddy lost her first tooth on May 8th! She had shown me that her tooth was loose after school one day and that evening, she lost it! Then, 4 days later, she lost another one! The best part of it all, was seeing the look on her face the morning after the "tooth fairy" had visited and brought her a gold dollar coin....priceless (wish I had a photo of it)!

Mother's Day Celebrations

Although I believe EVERYDAY is Mother's Day, it was nice to be made to feel so special and enjoy some time with Maddy and Harrison at their school Mother's Day functions. I ate breakfast with Harrison at his school (Maddy was there too). Then, I had a picnic lunch with Maddy at our school. Of course, I got special handmade gifts which I will treasure forever!

River Run 2008

My favorite road race is the River Run. This year I did the 10K on my own (not pushing the kids in the baby jogger this year Adam). Since I've been doing all this tri training, I thought I'd be a little faster, but I wasn't. I finished in 48:04, which is around 7:45 minute miles. I was averaging around 7:20 minute miles last fall. I think after school is out and I'm running a lot more, I'll get back up speed. Funny thing happened after the race. THE RUNNING GOD of Wichita, who organizes the River Run caught up with me and asked me to help him coach the cross country team at my school with him next year! I was so honored that he would ask! Unfortunately, I had just finished the race and was feeling like I was going to puke, so I said I'd think about it and moved on. Didn't puke. Probably will take the job. :)

Maddy did the Tot Trot for the 4th year in a row! I love watching her run. I hope she will love as much as I do. Here she is with her medal! Harrison was not in the mood to run this year.

After the race, the kids and I walked around downtown to see some of the bronze statues. We enjoyed hanging out with the permanent life-sized people.

Graduation Weekend!

Kelly graduated from Wichita State University!!!

She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Communicative Sciences and Disorders (CSD). Now, she is going to take a much needed vacation to Seattle to see her brothers, Eric and Matt.

Paris Graduated from Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School

She is going to attend WSU in the fall to pursue her dream of a degree in Engineering!

The kids and I attended her Graduation party....

"Old Lady!"

Ok, I have to share something. At my 5:30 a.m. swim practice this morning, a friend and teammate of mine shared with me something that made me a little mad. Last Sunday, I went out to Lake Afton to train on my own while my teammates trained in another town. I couldn't be with them due to the fact that my babysitting arrangements were already made for our original Lake Afton plan, then our coach changed her mind at the last minute to go somewhere else. No big deal. I was going to do the same workout, only by myself.

The workout plan was...a 16 mile bike ride, 5K run, 16 mile bike ride, and another 5K run. I had successfully completed the first 16 mile bike and 5K run when the Kansas River Valley Tri Team showed up out there to train also. As I was finishing my run, they had just finished their swim and were getting ready to bike. I was getting my bike all ready for my second ride, when one of the team members asked if I wanted to join them? So I said ok. Well, little did I know these were some of the BEST riders in Wichita! We got out on the road and they took off never to slow down for the remainder of the ride! I went through a series of emotions ranging from "what was I thinking?!" to "I think I'm going to puke or cry". But, I kept at it and made it through. It turned out to be a great experience and I wouldn't mind doing it again. I say that now that I've had the chance to recover!

On this ride there happened to be a trainer and experienced triathlete from one of our local health clubs. She is twenty-two years old. I have met her a few times and never gotten the feeling that she liked me all that much. Oh yes, and I BEAT her at the triathlon a couple of weeks ago!

Well, last Sunday, I said hello to her and thought this might be a good chance to get to know her a little better, but then we were riding so fast, talking was pretty much out. I was ahead of her for the first part of the ride, but she later passed me and I was perfectly comfortable hanging out in the back with the other boys. No biggie. The ride ended and all was good.

Apparently, she told my friend that I was ahead of her for a while, but she "wasn't going to let some old lady" beat her up anymore hills! She called me an OLD LADY! I still can't believe this comment! Little Miss Trainer Girl better watch out for this "old lady" from here on out! She is going to be seeing a lot of my behind!

Nothing better to motivate me than a comment like that! See ya at the next race Little Miss Trainer Girl!

Thanks for listening everyone. I feel better now!

Weekend Fun!

Friday night with had our friend, Lexi, over to play while her parents attended some social events. We had a lot of fun playing at the park...

Saturday, we celebrated Aunt Vicky's birthday! This is the cake we got for her. It was made by a TNT teammate of mine that is selling them to raise funds for Leukemia and Lymphoma. I thought it was so pretty.

Harrison liked it too! He actually stuck his finger in it after this photo was taken! Can you tell how he is eyeing it?! Sneaky little guy!

It was so nice to get everyone together again, Grandma Fry, Vicky, Kelly, me and the kids! We rarely get a chance to see each other anymore with our busy lives! We've got to change that!

First Try at a Triathlon!

Well, I can now say, "I've done it!" I not only finished my first triathlon without drowning during the dreaded swim, but I did pretty darn well! I finished 6th overall and 2nd in my age group, earning a plaque! It was a very enjoyable experience and I am totally addicted and ready to do another one! I have plenty of things to work on in order to get better. The number one thing would be my swim time. It took me 9 minutes and 30 seconds to go 400 meters. However, for just learning to officially swim in February, I don't think that is too bad. The other thing I need to work on is transition times in between each event. Too much time trying to get my shoes changed really cost me. At least that is an easy fix....practice! I'm just glad to have the first race jitters out of my system. Next race is the 10K River Run in May. It is one of my favorites! It would be a dream come true if I could place in my age group there. Who knows....








My lucky number #71...great year! You know it's a tri when you get permanent markered on your arms and legs! (This stuff doesn't come off easily. I'm still #71)

Here is the TNT team after the race. I'm in the front row, far left. Great group of people!