Kiddie triathlon

This summer, Kyle and Emily competed in their first triathlon. It was amazing! The kids loved it! Well, after they got over the fact they were up so early in the morning (we had to wake them at 6:50 - yes, that's very early for us). It was put on by tri4schools.com and it was a fantastic race. The youngest participants were 3 years old! 

Kyle and Emily were in the 3-6 year old division. And they were further grouped with the 5-6 year olds. They swam 25 meters and could use a noodle if they chose to do so. Kyle and Emily both did, but knowing that (a) they can actually swim and (b) the deepest part was 3 feet so they could stand and walk the whole way and it only got more shallow in the way out as it was going toward the zero depth side. Then they had a 300 meter bike ride which was incredibly short for them when our rides to get places averaged 2-3 miles this summer. So no problem biking around the corner and back. Then the run was 50 meters from the transition area to the center of the football field. It was perfect for their intro to triathlons. When they finished, they both asked when they could do it again. They had soooo much fun, it's an understatement! And all this despite a 2 hour rain / thunder / lightening delay at the start where we sat in the car waiting for the weather to pass. They really put on a great event and the kids loved it. They wore their medals for several days after the race as well, telling everyone how they did a triathlon. Pretty awesome to be 5 years old and do a triathlon! 

Professional race photos: 

Swimming:

http://events.krakorastudios.com/Tri4Schools/Ages-3-6/Tri-4-Schools/18732939_x94XRJ#1449451079_4GHH94H

http://events.krakorastudios.com/Tri4Schools/Ages-3-6/Tri-4-Schools/18732939_x94XRJ#1449452125_qKT689B

http://events.krakorastudios.com/Tri4Schools/Ages-3-6/Tri-4-Schools/18732939_x94XRJ#1449453485_N5bzxHL

Biking:

didn't have any

Running:

http://events.krakorastudios.com/Tri4Schools/Ages-3-6/3-6-Run/18739534_pRzmC9#1449502236_M97GksH

http://events.krakorastudios.com/Tri4Schools/Ages-3-6/3-6-Run/18739534_pRzmC9#1449504064_r3hCnJL

Our photos and videos:
Pre-race

On the elevator to get to our car in the morning

Kyle less than pleased to be awake and already going somewhere by 7:15am

Emily getting her numbers painted

Emily getting her numbers painted

Kyle getting his numbers painted

Kyle numbers

Maybe the rain delay is over?

Swimming
Kyle and Emily swimming

Ready for the swim!

Emily ready to swim!

Kyle ready to swim!

Got the noodles and ready to swim!

Emily is in the water

Kyle is in the water!

Emily out of the water, running to transition

Biking

Emily on her bike leaving transition

Emily biking

Kyle leaving transition for the bike ride

Kyle riding

Kyle biking

Running
Emily running

Kyle running

Emily running!

Run, Kyle, run!

Post-race

All done!!

A well deserved cup of water

Posing with Daddy post-race

Well done Kyle and Emily!

Kyle and Mommy post-race

Emily and Mommy post-race

Congrats Emily!

Congrats Kyle!

Princess camp

And this week was princess camp for Emily. The girls worked on a little play all week and presented it to the parents at the end of the week. This was a fun camp for Emily for many reasons. First it was with girls ages 5-7. She seems to always befriend the older girls and relishes those friendships. Second, it was princess - need I say more?! Well I will. Third, they got to do hair and make-up! 

Emily was Majestic Mint princess. Their play was about a bunch of princess sisters who have to come up with a name for their baby sister princess. It was a cute little play and each girl learned and spoke their  lines very well. 

Emily's first lines. Sorry the audio is very hard to hear, but she did say her lines!

All the princesses do their dance

Emily's second set of lines. 

Kyle flipping

This go round in gymnastics camp, his instructor taught him how to flip into the foam pit. He sure loved showing me how he could do his flips. And thankfully it was into a foam pit... this time...

About a week after learning his new trick, he tested it out outside. Not good. He was up on a concrete block on the capitol and when it came to an end, he ducked down and tried to flip the 2 feet down to the ground. The ground of concrete is not nearly as forgiving as a foam pit - especially when you don't rotate all the way around. He landed smack on his back - and not his head thankfully - and was pretty hurt. Thankfully Papa was there to check him out and make sure of no serious injuries. That sure was scary to watch in what seemed like slow motion and there was just nothing you could do. But we're pretty sure Kyle learned his lesson - that concrete and foam are very different surfaces.

Michigan reunion

This weekend, I took the kids down to Grandma's house so we could go to a family reunion. Jeff had to stay back and work so we were flying solo. Grandma, Karen, the kids and I set out Saturday morning for Michigan to see family on my dad's side that we hadn't seen in some time. We had a lot of fun catching up with aunts, uncles, cousins and more that afternoon. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves as well with loads of food and playing and movies. 

Watching Tangled

We got caught in an intense rain and thunderstorm so we pulled over and had McDonald's ice cream cones to let the storm pass. This is how Emily ate her cone. 

On the way back to Madison, the kids and I took the scenic (errr not so scenic) route back so we could stop at the Jelly Belly factory. Admittedly, this is somewhere I've wanted to visit for many, many years so it only added an hour to our return trip so we went for it. Here we are on the Jelly Belly train through the warehouse / factory.  

And here the kids are posing out front by the Jelly Belly bug with their free bag of Jelly Bellies from the tour. 

Fairy ballerina recital

Emily was at Fairy Ballerina camp all week. Talk about her dream come true in a camp! She's been asking for princess camp for years - okay well 1 or 2 years - and this was her summer. She started with fairy camp and then had princess camp the following week. Fairy camp was ballet based while princess camp was acting based. 

An excerpt from their ballet dance

Dancing with Daddy. Emily tried to get Kyle out to dance with her, but he wasn't having it. It was nap time and he wasn't in the mood. 

Bouncing boy

Kyle has been doing gymnastics camp this summer while Emily has been doing fairy camp. What could be better than bouncing and bouncing and bouncing...

How we roll

We did a lot of biking this summer. This is how we liked to roll: Camelbacks on for hydration. Deedee and Miko tucked into the back to join us for the ride. And off we went!

Fairy of the wind

Emily is at Fairy Ballerina camp this week. For as long as I can remember, she's been asking to go to princess camp. Well when we determined that we were heading to Madison for the summer, I started my annual Google search for a princess camp that may or may not exist. To my surprise, in Madison it sure does! And as luck would have it, there were a few spaces available for her! She's been looking forward to it all summer, frequently asking, "is it August yet? In August I go to fairy ballerina camp!" 

So for this camp, it's 3-6 year olds and they are fairies doing ballet. Talk about a little girl's dream! On day 1, they were all assigned their fairy name. Emily is Fairy of the Wind. And each day, they have their fairy naming ceremony. And here it is here:

The mikos need to learn to read

This morning Kyle told me that the Mikos are at school. They need to go to school to learn to read. So he sent them. And here they are learning to read, like any good monkey should!

What better book than the Jane Goodall book - "Me...Jane"!

Paging Dr. Kyle...

... Wound Care Specialist.

After a spill on her bike, Emily needed some treatment. Kyle was very knowledgeable where everything was kept to treat her owies. In this episode, the young specialist helps to fix his sister's owies.

In his second installment (from 30 seconds later), Dr. Kyle gives Emily's owie some cream and a band-aid. A special surprise when we learn about Hello Kitty's friends. 

Princess conversation

So the other day in the car while we were in Indianapolis, the kids had the following conversation:

Kyle: Emily, where do you want to live?
Emily: I want to live in Indiana!
Kyle: I want to live in Ohio!
**We had just spent the past 3 days in Ohio at the farm before to heading to Indy.**
Emily: Oh me too. I'll live in Ohio. Plus, I'm going to be a snow princess when I grow up and I am going to marry you so we will live in Ohio together.
Kyle: Well you can only be a princess if you marry a real prince.
Emily: No, you are a princess when you put on a long dress and get married and then you are a princess.

Of course! Love it!

Farm reunion

For some reason I only have these pictures from the farm family reunion weekend this year. Well, probably a few reasons for that (a) I don't carry my phone around the farm so I didn't have a camera and (b) I was trying to stave off nausea so not thinking about a camera at all. But alas, the farm was good fun. The kids had a blast too. We always love the farm family reunions. 

Kyle and Ryan on the tractor

At Ryan's house after the farm reunion. We spent a few days in Indy with them. It was great getting to see their new house and visiting their play stomping grounds. We hit up the local splashpad, Monkey Joe's for some indoor (read air conditioned) bouncing fun, the farmers market restaurant and just had a good time relaxing with Kristin, David, Ryan and Evan. 

Good night I Love Crystal

Emily and Kyle are taking good care of Emily's doll, I Love Crystal. At bedtime, they tuck her into her cradle and sing her a song. 

Blue Grass Festival

Once a week on campus, they put on a Blue Grass concert. It was a different band each week. We only made it to one of them, but it was a fun time. The kids had a blast dancing to the music. 

And then eating ice cream by the water.

Dancing monkeys

Three still dancing monkeys.

Gymnastics Camp

We found a great little gymnastics gym here in Madison for the kids. They have a camp running a few days a week and let you drop in when your schedule suits it. So today we checked it out and the kids had a BLAST! And they were actually the only 2 kids in camp today! So they basically had private gymnastics for several hours! They sure were beat afterwards, but they got to bounce, climb, flip, and jump to their hearts content! 

Look Mom, watch us flip!

Horse Track

It sure was HOT today. Like 100 degrees and then some hot. We went with Papa's hospital to Arlington Park Racetrack for the afternoon to watch the horses race. We've been to this even before and it's always a great time. This time was no exception. Despite the sweltering heat, the kids had a blast watching the horses run, getting tattoos and ice cream. Jeff also loves this event - not for tattoos and ice cream, but for the betting on horses.

Run horses run!

It's HOT out!

Cooling off in the sprinkler at Grandma's house

More sprinkler

Happy 5th Birthday Kyle and Emily!

Kyle and Emily are 5! It's hard to believe it's been 5 years already! Seriously, where has the time gone?! Everyone told me that time flies with kids, but seriously, I never could have imagined just how fast it has gone by! To celebrate, we had our family up to our apartment for a birthday celebration. What fun we had! The kids ran around and played with balloons, played cornhole, colored monkeys, played pin the butterfly on Curious George, and ate. The adults got to hang out and catch up and, of course, eat too.

Four kids actually sitting still... for a while at least

Addison

Emily getting ready to pin the butterfly on Curious George

Emily's Hello Kitty cake

Kyle's Curious George cake

Wednesday nights in Madison

Wednesday nights in Madison are full of activity! Each Wednesday in the summer, the city puts on a concert around the Capitol building. It seems like everyone comes out for these evening concerts and picnic on the square. This past week, we sat on the steps of the Capitol with our Merchant picnic and enjoyed some bluegrass music. 

Camelbacks

All ready for all weather - humid weather - bike riding and running around here in Madison! The kids can now carry their own water on their backs and have easy access even while biking. And there is a nice little space for Miko and Deedee to ride along (though they don't really get to ride along for my fear of them getting lost). 

Emily and Addison

Emily has been the only girl cousin for the past 5 years. She now has a girl cousin to go along with her 9 boy cousins! 

Slip and Slide at Grandma's

Wahoo! Slip and slide at Grandma's!! What a perfect summer activity! Mind you, the video below is the best of many, many slide attempts.