Scofield Tri 2010...& the kids first race!

Ever since the kids have been old enough to run around the block with us, they've wanted to race in their own triathlon. Our one condition has been they have to be old enough to ride their own tw0-wheeler. The other silent condition was that we needed two of the three older kids to be able to finish the race on ther own (good thing we did too). Hallie has been ready for years...one down. Motivated and focused, it took Jake about 5 minutes to figure out how to ride on two-wheels and tell us he was ready to sign up for his race!

So we found a race close to home that Jamie was already signing up for and signed up Hallie, Jake, and Mason too. Even better, we were able to camp right at the race site...a win on all fronts.

We left Friday afternoon, checked into the race, and setup camp. The kids were a tremendous help!

Then we prepared the all-important pre-race meal (Smores of course!) to ensure everyone would be feeling great for the race the next day. After dinner it was off to bed!

Jamie's sister Trisha came to do the race as well, and here are our first two athletes ready to go early on race morning.

Of course we needed to get a picture with mommy before the race started. Here we are just before Jamie headed down to get in the water.

The entire race venue was great for spectators. We camped in a spot where we could walk 2 minutes in any direction and watch the swim, bike transition, run transition and finish. Perfect for me and all the kids.

I pretty much couldn't handle taking quality pics and herding the four kids off the race course though, so I missed plenty of great pic opps. But here is one of Jamie and Trisha as they came out of T2 headed out on their 6 mile run (our camp site was just behind them to the right...sweet!).

The base elevation for this triathlon STARTS at 7300 ft and rises well over 8000 ft during the race...the tallest triathlon in the US! Here's a pic of the kids above the lake where they all swam, waiting anxiously for mommy to finish the race.

And here she comes! The boys (and Hallie too if she weren't in the bathroom) were so excited that they ran out to cross the finish line with her. Great race Jamie!

The race didn't stop there. We rushed from the finish line straight down to the kids starting line to get them in their race gear and their transitions set up. I lost sight of Jake, but here are Hallie and Mason ready to jump in the water.

And they're off! It was a mass start for the kids, who raced around the buoy and back to the ramp. Jake a Hallie did it on their own and did great. Mason did great too, with the help of a not-so-little motor propelling him through the water (ME).

Transitioning all three kids at the same time was a bit chaotic, but all of them managed to get out in the order they came in and start off strong on the bike (me included).

Hallie was the first to make it back, throwing off her helmet and racing off on the run as quickly as she could.

In the end, all three kids finished the race and loved it! Hallie was our first finisher with Jake just two minutes behind. Mason, although very enthusiastic to be in the race, wasn't as motivated to push through to the end without a little help from his personal training assistant.

Besides, it's WWAAAYYY more fun to swing to the finish line then to run to it!

And here are all of our successful racers for the day. They even all got their own medals and water bottles! Way to go team!

As for the non racers? Well the day took it's toll on us too, but only one of us got to take a break from all the excitement when the race was over.

All American Tea Party

I let the kids have a "friend party" for their birthday every other year and this is an on-year! I love letting them get their creative juices flowing while they plan out the details of the party and then helping them put it all together. Hallie loves her Felicity doll and has gotten a lot of fun American-Girl Doll stuff from her Grandma this year so she wanted to have an American Girl Doll Tea Party. The guest list started with a few close friends and quickly spun out of control to almost 20 girls!! Only 14 (+2 little brothers) ended up being able to come which was just perfect. Hallie even got on the computer with me and I let her design the invitation, here is the finished product:

When the girls first arrived they sat down and made tea-party food for their dolls and stuffed animals out of play-dough.



Then they (Kyle, Trisha & the girls) went out back to play some old-fashioned games (pillow-case races, three-legged races, ring toss, hula hoop etc.) while we (Mom, Isabel & I) baked their doll food to harden it and set the table for the tea party. We set out our "fine china" with a little menu and place card on each plate, and a little plate at each spot with their dolls food on it. We served scones, little sandwiches, cookies, cupcakes and ice cream. I found the menu online here. Here is the version I came up with (x3 for printing): I simplified everything, added Hallie's All-American Cup Cakes to the menu, exchanged crystal and china for paper and plastic and it all turned out great. It was really cute and fun and I think the girls enjoyed it. After they ate Hallie opened presents and then the girls made shoe-lace jewelry for their dolls. They each got a colorful shoe lace and got to string beads on it to make a belt, necklace, headband, or whatever for their dolls.

We got all that done in just two hours--a feat I definitely couldn't have pulled off without the help of my Mom, Trisha & Kyle. It was a fun way to continue Hallie's month-long birthday celebration. We had her B-Day on 4th weekend, the party on the 20th, and we still have her baptism coming up on August 7th. Party on Hallie!!

Great to be 8!!

Our little Fourth of July Princess is 8!!! We are all still kind of in shock. Or maybe its just me. I can't believe how fast she went from our beautiful little baby to "We don't want to play princesses, we just want to talk..." AAAHHHHH!!!! But she is still our sweet, innocent, fun-loving little girl and we LOVED getting to celebrate another 4th of July Extravaganza Birthday Weekend with her. We are so blessed to have her as part of our family.
Sorry about the sideways pic, here she is looking through her American Girl Doll books from grandma and trying out her new rollerblades!! And these are from her Birthday BBQ that we had with her local cuzzies (missed you Alexis, Logan & Froggie!! ) on Saturday.

Birthday Girl Fashion Show.

One of the main events at the BBQ was the Hallie Fashion Show, mostly courtesy of her Nana. Here it is....Eliana Style :)

The show started with pieces from the "Popsicle Collection" This versatile shirt can be worn with stylish capris for a day out with the girls...Fun and festive bermuda shorts for a weekend at the beach...


Or throw on the skirt for a night out on the town.

In an unexpected moment of craftiness I made all the little girls 4th of July TuTu's....go me!!4th of July Chic (that's sheek not chick)


This darling Sunday dress came courtesy of Kelli and TJ

Out of all of them this is the outfit that seemed to just yell "hallie!" and the one she has been seen in the most times since :)

Vintage Country Girl (check out those cute boots btw)

And we finished off with the Butterfly Collection.

Just can't get enough of those giraffe print bike shorts...

I couldn't tell who had the most fun, Hallie or Nana :)

Thanks!!!!

4th of July 2010

After the bbq Saturday we had fireworks at Mom&Dads courtesy of TJ (aka The Firestarter). Monday morning we were up BRIGHT (some of us not so bright) AND EARLY! to go see the balloons and eat pancakes.