Go Mommy Go!

Well now that the Danskin is done, I thought I'd post a little about how it went and what I've been up to since then. The Danskin was incredible!! I highly recommend it. I was so inspirational to see so many women of different athletic ability take on the challenge and soar. As for me, the swim was a little harder that I thought it would be because the water was a little rough that day, but I finished in 24 minutes. The bike course and run were both beautiful and let's face it, I was just happy to be done with the swim at that point, so it was all good. I ended up finishing in 1:51 (transitions and all), so a pretty good showing for my first time out. I did another super sprint (about half of the distance of a sprint) triathlon the following weekend. I ended up deciding to do that one last minute to be a swim buddy for one of my classmates from my open water swimming class. I think it was just as thrilling to see her finish as it was when I finished the Danskin the week before. Now I'm hoping to do my last triathlon of the season on Sept 19th. The course is identical to the Danskin one, so I'm going to see if I can make some improvements between now and then. Well, enough of that, now the pics.

My wonderful husband had these T-shirts printed for the day of my triathlon...

He had a few issues with the shirts though. "1st" he had an issue with their spelling of "1rst" and then the put down the wrong date. Needless to say, we got a good laugh and a great discount. Seriously though, I could not have done this without Scott's support and encouragement. Thank you honey! I love you and appreciate all that you do for our family.

We have a few pics of the day of the Danskin, but unfortunately we weren't able to get a whole lot because Scott was busy managing Matthew and I was hard to spot since I was wearing black and white, so by the time he realized it was me passing him, it was too late to snap a shot. He's threatened to come up with some type of crazy outfit for me next time so that he'll see me coming.

Getting ready. Do I look nervous yet?

On my way to the swim start. Ok, now I'm getting nervous.

The transition area.

There were about 3300 women participating in this event.

Hard to see, but lots of women swimming.

It's funny because in this pic, the water doesn't look so rough,

but with all those people swimming around you, it was.

And a special thank you to my mom and dad who traveled from Michigan to cheer me on- oh and see Matthew too ; )

Summertime and the Living is Easy

I posted this pic because it reminds me of the lazy days of summer. It seems like this is all that these two do on hot days. Although, I guess I would just lay around all day too if I was wearing a fur coat.

Again it's been a busy month for the Taylor family (I'm beginning to feel like a broken record), but we have been blessed with lots of out of town friends visiting and being able to share our home with them. A few weeks ago was Michael Shaw's baptism and our friend, Tim, his new wife Chris and their girls (Tim's daughters Claire and Abbey and Chris' daughter, Emma) were in town. Tim and I were honored to be Michael's godparents. It was a great time spent with friends and watching all of our crazy kids play together.

Matthew has continued to stay very busy this summer. He's been riding his bicycle and scooter all around the neighborhood and playing lots of baseball. We've also been visiting many of the local kid hotspots, including the Point Defiance Zoo, Seattle Center, the beach and many more. Recently, we made trip out to The Northwest Trek with our friends and Matthew's favorite playmates- the Sobba's. The kids had a great time and were able to see bears, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, buffalo, elk and even got up close and personal with a moose having a little snack (see below). It was a great day and Matthew is still talking about it.

We were also thrilled to welcome home our friend, Tim Burns, from his year-long tour with the US Army in Iraq. We attended the welcome home ceremony for part of his unit and it was a very moving experience to see families reunited after a year apart. Despite one's political views, it gives a new appreciation for the sacrifices these families make to serve our country. Thank you and welcome home Tim and the 3-2!!