Oceanside 70.3

He did it!  My husband is a Half Ironman!

On Saturday, we woke up super early to get ready before his 6:53am swim start.  We walked down together and I said good by while he entered into the transition area.

I was so bummed that I left my memory card at home and my phone died seconds after snapping the top pic.  I stayed down at the docks to see Jeff off and watched him swim out until I lost track.  I walked back to the house to hang out with Kenzie and Shannon while tracking Jeff on the laptop.

We were really fortunate that the bike portion went right in front of my aunt & uncle’s place.  When the tracking indicated Jeff would be riding by, we all went outside to cheer on the riders.  Kenzie was a master of cowbelling and made it look cute!

We worked that bell so much…I gave myself a blister.  Hahaha, only me.

The run was the leg I was most worried about for Jeff.  He had been working on his swim and was doing great!  He’s a strong rider and his legs would be pretty fresh (he swims with mostly his arms).  But the run…on dead legs.  I was worried.

But I didn’t have to be – he did AWESOME!  He ran the whole 13.1 miles without walking once.  That is amazing!  Especially after riding 56 miles.  We made it down to the finish line to see him cross. 

And not only did he finish strong, he finished in under 7 hours.  I’m totally impressed!

We went back to the condo for a quick shower and then out for some pizza.  Jack who made it down and was able to support Jeff by catching him 5-6 times on the course went with us.  I was so happy Jeff had someone who was running all over to catch him.  Kenzie kept me limited to certain spots, so having Jack down there was a blessing. 

The next day we headed to Joe’s Crab Shack for a celebratory lunch. 

Jeff has already started talking about next year’s race.  I have to be honest, I’m excited to spectate too!

Congrats Jeff, you are a Half Ironman!

To the Ocean{side}

It was finally here.  Jeff’s Half Ironman.  He had been training months for this race and we were finally headed to Oceanside.  We drove down Friday (my birthday!) to drop things off my Aunt & Uncle’s condo and check in.

You could see the buoys at the start of the swim from their balcony. 

We put Kenzie’s new TOM boots on and headed down to the pier to check Jeff in and pick up his race gear. Kenzie hated her boots by the way. 

The Ironman organization is massive!  It’s obvious that it’s a huge organization and that they have put on hundreds of races based on how smooth the packet pick-up process went.  Jeff was in and out before Shannon and I finished our fish tacos.

The day before they had an Ironkids race-next year we are entering Kenzie!

Once we finished with everything at the pier, we headed out to find a Mexican food place.  It was day before race tradition!  Kenzie protested her boots some more.

Shannon joined us for the week and it was such a help!  She snapped the below picture-my birthday/Jeff’s pre-race meal.

Jeff went to bed early, just before 9pm since he had a 4:30ish wake up call & 70.3 miles to complete!

One for One

Every year Toms has a huge warehouse sale by us.  The shoes are 50-70% off, but the lines are long.  Thankfully we went on friends and family day and were able to get in and out. 

Shannon met me at work with Kenzie and we went shopping!

We walked around for about an hour and Kenzie did great!

One of the reasons I love Toms is that for every pair of shoes you purchase they donate a pair to a child in need.  Not 5% of the proceeds, donate the entire pair of shoes.  Love that.

Can’t way till next year.

Amy’s Farm

Recently Amy’s Farm has been advertising they abundance in black kale and their offer to pick your own kale for free.  Since Danny and the girls were coming over for the afternoon, we decided to head over to let the girls have some hands on fun.

Amy’s is a local farm that grows organic fruits and vegetables but also has some farm culture classes for young kids.  Noelle actually took the classes and really enjoyed them!  Part of the classes is taking care of the farm animals below.  B & K wandered around the animals for a bit when we first arrived.

Eventually we headed over to the kale patch to pick some.

Once we had our pick of kale, we headed home to hang out while Jeff cooked it. 

I love the picture of Kenzie below – it’s such an accurate picture of her crazy hair!

Marilene’s 1st Birthday

I cannot believe my friend’s baby is already one year old.  I remember the day she told me she was pregnant and then the day this sweet girl was born.  An now, she’s walking! 

Her birthday was a cute cupcake theme.  And I loved that she enjoyed her smash cake.  No crying here!

Happy birthday sweet girl! 

Bundles of Joy

I’ve never known someone personally who’s having twins…until now!  A couple of weeks ago we celebrated this beautiful momma-to-be.  She had a cute invite, pink and blue!

The shower theme was an afternoon tea outside.  Instead of the traditional games, Vanessa had mini scratchers made – the winner uncovered the 2 peas. 

Sadly, I did not take any more pictures.  But here is one of Vanessa’s.  She makes such a beautiful expecting momma.

I can’t wait to meet her little ones!