To Tri or not to Tri .....

The 1st leg of the race: a 1/4 mile swim in Lake Lopez



So earlier this month I competed in my 2nd Triathlon since labor, Scott Tinley's Triathlon at Lake Lopez. I was highly debating if I should continue doing these races. I have less and less time to devote to training and when push comes to shove all I really want to do is mountain bike. I only compete in races that have mountain biking courses (which are few and far between) so why don't I just start mountain bike racing and ditch this tri crap? I was debating this question as I started my early morning drive to my race. Martin and the kids didn't make this one because well ... frankly ... it's a lot of work just so I can hear "Go Mommy" at 3 different points in the race.


I competed in the sprint distance: 1/4mi swim, 12mi bike & 3mi run. I was sure I had stumbled in enough places during the swim and transition to write the race off. After passing a good chunk of people during the bike I started to feel pretty good about myself until I was re-passed during the run. I wasn't even going to bother to get my official results until a girl I had been leapfrogging with during the race convinced me that I had done well enough to check it out.

Well, surprise surprise .... I got 2nd place in my class (Females 30-34) and 10th place overall (Female competitors). It was a totally small race (8 in my class and 32 females) but it was enough to make me totally ditch the idea of not racing anymore. I stayed for the awards ceremony because realistically, when am I ever going to get to stand on a podium again?!?!

Now I'm busy trying to convince Martin to sign up for Wildflower with me in December. Now if I can just place at that one .....

Auntie Natasha

I love the Fall around here! The weather finally gets warm, the tourist go home and friends come to visit. My best friend Natasha came to visit and the poor girl was launched into Mommy-hood the whole time she was here. Her and her hubby are thinking about heading down that baby path so I guess it's not the worst thing I could have subjected her to.

We started our day out by going out for THE BEST pancakes EVER at Seaside Cafe in Shell Beach. Yummy! With full tummies we went to toddler music and watching kids dance to totally hokey songs with a women who either really digs kids and music or has an espresso machine tapped into her viens ... quite possibly both. That was enough to send us back to the house for naps .... Natasha included.

It was great beach weather so we headed out for a walk on the beach with the kids. It was low tide and tons of tiny harmless jellyfish had washed up. Nolan and I had a great time poking at them.

Since I didn't have to have a hawk eye on a 2 year old I actually snapped a ton of pictures of Gabby. I got so many good ones but I really liked this one. She is such a bubbly happy girl it was neat to capture a picture of her looking thoughtful. She was really taking in the sand and sounds.

That night was probably our worst night EVER trying to put the kids to sleep. Neither one of them was going down without the fight of their lives. I explained to Natasha that it's not like this all the time. I hope we didn't single handedly halt their walk down the baby path!

Ode To Gigi

Our dear sweet girl is turning 6 months on Oct. 4th and she has fallen victim to "second child syndrome". We have no baby book for her whatsoever, fewer pictures and no newsletter. The poor thing ... so neglected. So here we are, at the half year mark, and I feel a need to share a little bit about our beautiful mystery child who is always on my hip.

Gabby helping to pick apples at Avila Valley Barn

Her big blue eyes are amazing! She is so alert and awake to the world, especially her big brother. She watches Nolan with an intensity like nothing I have ever seen. Big fat tears rolling down her cheeks seem to stop midstream when he walks into the room. She is so bubbly and cheerful. Her laugh is hilarious. It is a cross between a cough and an old man hacking up something lodged in the back of his throat. Her laughs have caused strangers standing in line around us to utter things like, "Bless You" "Ooh do you have a wittle cough" and "Is she okay? Does she need help?"

As you can see from the above picture, she is a drooler. That could have something to do with the top left molar she decided to make her first tooth. It looks as though her top left molar will be her second tooth. I'm guessing this is the reason she still doesn't sleep through the night, although she is a great napper. She has fully embraced eating solid food and gives a good screech every time the spoon leaves her lips to travel back to the bowl. She has refined her dinosaur growl and frequently has dino "talks" with her big bro.

Gabby all bundled up for an early morning walk with mommy ... just the two of us. A rare moment.

She is my music girl! She loves music so much. Her whole face changes at the sound of anything that even resembles a song... humming, whistling. She lights up like a Christmas tree. She moves with the music and "sings" with the music at any opportunity. She is so frustrated by her little body, she wants to do so much. She rolls over ... over and over again ... to get to where she's going. Gabby loves us to hold her hands as she stands and even tries to move her feet around like she's just itching to walk.

Gabby and Daddy at the park after a train ride into San Luis Obispo

Our dear sweet Gabrielle has brought so much joy to our home. She makes us smile with just one little glance and her little snuggles make any bad day turn into a good one.

Our "Luvable" girl

Wine Sales 101

So last night we were hanging out at our friends house and they are all in the wine/spirits industry that I use to be in. Someone found this awesome video that is so true! This was exactly what my life was like month after month for YEARS, first as the sales rep and then as the boss man. I laughed until I cried! Take a peek at my old life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ3218_SQ-A&feature=related

Dum Dum Da Dum

Over Labor Day Weekend Martin's best friend Bob got married! Yeah Bob!

Martin was the best man and Nolan was the ring bearer. I may be partial but Bob really couldn't have picked two better guys to be in his wedding. Martin took his responsibilities so seriously! He had the death grip on the wedding rings from the moment they went into his hand. He couldn't think about anything else but keeping those rings safe and he was a very cute nervous wreck. The night before the wedding I woke up at 2 a.m. to an odd scratching noise only to see Martin laying on the floor using the bathroom light to edit and re-edit his best man speech. It was beautiful and made me cry when he read it to me in the morning. He even had to go the extra mile and revamp an unapproved Star Wars themed groom's cake just moments before the cerimony.

Nolan walked down the aisle like a pro! It helped that he fell madly in love with the flower girl and followed her like a little puppy dog. He even stood by her after the cerimony and fanned her while she waited for pictures to be taken. When she left to take pictures Nolan's exact words were... "Jayden, no leave me! Come back here to me." I tried to explain to him that begging was never an attractive quality in a man. A bridesmaid laughed at me and said, "I think he's pulling it off".

Grandma and Grandpa Fletcher had their first babysitting gig with Gabby. They walked her around the wedding site (out of ear shot) during the cerimony and the she partied it on up with the rest of us for the reception. She did great being passed around to baby adoring guests and Nolan stayed glued to Jayden dancing with her the whole night. He tore it up on the dance floor! This left Martin and I free to dance it up too. It was such an incredibly fun night for all of us.

Monterey Monday

We had an amazing opportunity to go visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium this week. My dad had a seminar in the area this week so .....

1 Free Night in Papa's Airstream Trailer + 2 Free Child Admissions to Monterey Bay Aquarium + 1 Starbucks Gift Card = ROADTRIP

I was very nervous about the trip because:

A. Martin had to work and couldn't go

B. Gabby can't stand being in a baby carrier (go figure?!)

C. Nolan is recently potty trained

I was really questioning my abiltiy to handle both kids alone in such a public place with dark rooms and public toilets....Yikes!

Papa decided to join us which made a world of difference and the kids had a blast with him.

Nolan and Papa take a picture with "Dory" (from "Finding Nemo")

Gabby was LOVING Papa's "Airplane Ride"

Nolan was so excited to get a picture with "Nemo"

All in all it was a fantastic trip. Nolan was a great listener the whole time, Gabby fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn and Papa was smiling all day long. Who could ask for a better day?! Ohh, and the marine life was pretty cool too! Especially the Daddy Sea Horse we saw giving birth to babies ... they just flew out of his belly! Ohhh, if it could only be that easy!

Just another day...

In case you're wondering what we do around here....