Captiva Tri

This morning, Jim had another triathlon... on Captiva Island.

And when I was standing on the almost deserted beach (after the swim part ended),

I saw a dolphin swimming and thought, this tri thing is good.

 I did forget my camera, so if you squint below to the left of the cones,

you'll see Jim coming around the corner at the start of the run.

As he passed by, he told me his time was unofficial, since he blew a tire, tube AND spoke...

so he walked the bike back and didn't finish that leg.  Suprisingly, he wasn't in a bad mood about it.  And, God Bless him, instead of quitting, he said "I'm not ready to be done yet" and kept going.

The pic above is a random racer. It occured to me that there were a lot of competitors who *looked* good-- not only because of fancy/matching trisuits, but also good form on the run: even breaths, calm face, nice stride. Then I realized they were smack dab in the middle - or even end- of the pack. Hmm. 

Jim loved the idea of carrying Kaden across the finish line.

I didn't mention that the boy had a wet swimsuit.

Or that the finish line wasn't that close.



But they did it in good stride, anyway.  Kaden was thrilled to get a bottle of cold water (just like the racers, mom).... and the tri medal.  I don't think Jim will get it back ;)

E-R-E spells Everything

Our toddler can read. Sure enough, anytime he wants to correct you, he points to a written word and says "E-R-E. King" or "E-R-E. Cousins" or "E.R.E. Tomorrow". It's his answer for everything right now.

We also have the first (documented) incident of the child working the parental circuit. The other morning, he walked up to me with some clothes: 'Mama, do these match?' I mentally noted that he was ahead of the game by caring if they matched, then told him that he need a pair of green shorts. Ten minutes later, I see him fully dressed in the original clothes. Er?

Turns out Jimdad had sent him in to request the matchy-matchy service, and then Kaden returned to his dad, saying "it's good". Jimdad, slightly incredulous, "Mom said it matched?" Kaden: "yes, see here (pointing to a logo) and here (holding up shorts). It matches." I'm not sure if we should be impressed with his powers of reasoning, impressed with his ability to run around the parentals, or just dismayed at it all.

Oooh- see the stingray in this pic above? We saw some at the beach the other day. I stayed in the water long enough to snap the blurry pic, then headed for some sand castle building.

This pic is of a baby gator (head toward the left, about the middle of the pic). This was slightly MORE exciting, because we were on a boardwalk and not actually IN the water with the little guy. We hit the swamp and the beaches when some family came down- loads of people and loads of fun. And a great excuse to adverture in our amazing wild 'backyard' too!

Dreaming about Beaches and Football

This morning, we had a great park play date with a good high school friend, her hubby and their 1 yr old son. Really fun times, but I forgot my camera, so you have no images of the boys walking together, or Kaden waiting for his turn at the stairs, or Wesley's incredibly cute smile. So I'm recycling beach photos from a few weeks ago :)



The other night, Kade woke up and came out to find us in time for a coughing fit. We re-settled him into our bed. After he was really asleep, I picked him up to move him back into his room... he started a bit, and muttered "I fell out of the car." Then went back to sleep. He is his father's son...

They continue their football training, and now Kaden has a mean look he gives you, right before he bowls you over. Seriously! If you're not paying attention (ahem), he'll knock you down. As I type this, he is napping with "Bucs", a build-a-bear alligator with a Tampa Bay football uniform (including helmet and cleats). Bucs had to take a nap, or Kade wasn't going to.

He is my son, too, as you can tell by his fascination with digging. Any beach, any park, any scrap o' land with sand (and there's a bit of that down here), and the boy starts to dig.

Finally, this last photo of Jim, aka TriDad, who got in a bit of open water training that same day. He saw a tiny shark (2 or 3 feet), and so swam on the other side of the sandbar. Notice that he still swam! He finished the 5k the other day in about 40 minutes, which isn't a great time for runners, but IS a great time for a beginner triathlete who hadn't trained in a week and was literally running uphill both ways (the race was on a bridge)! I'm proud and impressed with his dedication to being active and competing.