Hannah completes the California Kids Triathlon!

Yesterday Hannah competed in the California Kids Triathlon in Woodland. She competed in the 6 and under division and I competed with her b/c it was the parent/child division. Since this was her first triathlon (and mine too) and she cannot swim completely on her own yet we sign up for the p/c division. This is the first year they had the p/c division and Hannah's friend at school Kate and her mom, Heather competed too...which is how we found out about this triathlon. I was a little worried about Hannah being able to complete a 25 yard swim (1 lap), a 1 mile bike, and a 1/4 mile run but she did FANTASTIC!! I was more than proud of her. Here are some pics of us competing in this triathlon...which by the way the main goal of it was to finish not to "place" and everyone who finished got a medal so I really like that about it.

All our stuff set up in the transition area...I was originally going to bike with Hannah but of course my bike had a flat on Sunday morning so I ended up running next to her as she biked...which was the better choice anyway b/c I was able to help her maneuver on/off curbs...etc.



Hannah and I before we are about to start with our numbers written on us...for you bus nerds out there notice my cool bus # 1014. :)



Hannah and I in the pool waiting for our count down to begin and me pointing and showing her where we are going...


And we are off!! Check out that good kicking action going on by Hannah...


And we are still going...there are about 10 pictures of Hannah and I like this (but I won't put them all in)...still going and going SLOWLY in the pool...Hannah was just leisurely kicking her way down the pool...hilarious.


Still going...notice there is no one else left in the pool anymore. :) I love Hannah's non-competitive nature...I on the other hand am super competitive, but I was good and just encouraging her along but not with too much pressure.


Finally out of the pool and running to our bike transition area:


Getting Hannah dressed for the bike ride:


Helmet, glasses, check!


Mommy's turn to get ready for her run...Hannah waiting patiently on her bike:


Almost ready to go! Again...Adam took a lot of pictures of me getting ready while Hannah just sat on her bike and waited...too funny. It is really hard to get your socks on when your feet are still slightly wet!


And we are off on our 1 mile bike/run!


Here we are coming back in to transition to our 1/4 mile run. Along the bike route there were people on the sides cheering and Hannah asked "Why are they cheering for us?". Too cute. In this picture she is really going for it and giving it her all on her bike. Again I am so proud of her:


Here we are on our way to go running. Hannah really wanted to hold my hand...it was so cute. I told her she should use her arms to power her run but she wanted to hold my hand...how could I resist. :)


Coming back in from our run. Notice we are still holding hands. At one point on our run Hannah had to stop b/c her legs hurt. We walked and got some water and I told her when we came around this curve we were going to run again and she did...what a trooper!


And crossing the finish line! They even announced our names...it was very cool. We finished in 24 minutes and 1 second. :)


High Five! We did it!


Posing for a picture with our cool medals.


Hannah's friend Kate who also competed was cheering us on as we came in since they were in the group ahead of ahead of us. Here she is with her friend after they both finished. So cute.


Again I am so proud of Hannah for finishing and enjoying herself. She is excited for the next triathlon and really wants the whole family to compete in one. I told her it will be a few years before Samantha can but we will as soon as Samantha is old enough. And of course Hannah will compete again, but this time it will be Adam's turn to compete with her.

Some AK pics

We have been so busy here and it has been so exhausting with 2 little ones up here that I haven't even had a chance to post pictures. I usually fall asleep every night after reading to Hannah when she goes to bed around 10pm (b/c it never gets dark here)!! Well tonight I woke up after sleeping with her, went to take a shower and I feel like I had a good little nap. It is light outside at 11:50pm...well it looks like twilight so I could get up and start my day again...ha-ha. So here is a little picture recap of our last week:

Sisters happy to be reunited with each other. This is the first time they saw each other when Hannah got up after the day we flew in.



Feeding the ducks every evening at Reflection Lake near my brother's house and afterwards helping my dad and my brother work on his house.





Finding my brother's skateboard is a lot of fun:


Playing at "Hannah's Cove" in downtown Anchorage. After this Hannah decorated her rock and the area with the petals from a rose that was planted near by.



At the Musk Ox Farm feeding the Musk Ox. Both girls really LOVED this. Samantha thought they were big dogs probably and Hannah learned a lot about Musk Ox from the tour. But both girls just kept feeding them and I am sure the Musk Ox really appreciated that.









These next series of pictures are from the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center south of Anchorage. This was an awesome place that pretty much has gives the animals acres of land to roam on and you can drive through the entire center and stop where ever you want and get out and check out the animals you see. It was an incredibly windy day the day we went but it was still very much worth it. The girls again LOVED seeing the animals and it was really cool so see them up so close.


















Here we are on Tuesday in Seward, about 120 miles from Anchorage getting ready to go on a dog sled ride. These dogs run in the Ididarod Race and they keep them in shape during the summer months by having them pull tourists around the forest. Adam and I did this 10 years ago when we came here and it was a highlight of our trip and it once again was another highlight. Samantha being the dog lover the she is was in absolute heaven and Hannah loves all animals so she was very excited too. When you sit down on the "sled" the dogs are going to pull you on all the dogs go absolutely nuts b/c they all want to be hooked up and run but only some of them get to go. As soon as the sled took off both girls were laughing and smiling the whole entire ride. It was rainy day and only about 50 degrees but that is still hot for these dogs so we had to make about 4 stops along the 2 plus mile course to let the dogs "cool off". Each time we did this the dogs would still be going nuts b/c they wanted to keep going and so was my lovely daughter Samantha. Everytime we stopped she would cry that she wanted to go and as soon as we went she was a happy camper...crazy kid. A lot of the workers there were amazed at how much a little toddler like her could love dogs so much...I told them that in about 18 years she would probably be working here. :)



















And now one of the best parts...visiting with the puppies. They were so incredibly cute and Samantha and Hannah were so loving with all of the puppies. Both of the girls could have stayed there all day.











After our exciting visit with the dogs we saw our first real "wild" animals, a baby moose and her mommy. Hannah was very excited although thought it was funny the mommy had a beard.



On the drive back to Anchorage EVERYONE was asleep except of course me who was driving. Although I was enjoying the quiet. :)



I hope to post more pictures before I go...but I am not making any promises. Everyone send good thoughts my way and lets hope my flight home with both kids goes well.