Saturday, June 21, 2008

Battle at Midway

Last weekend we headed to Midway for a fun weekend of races and a family getaway. Courtney competed in the Battle at Midway (BAM) triathlon on Saturday morning, and the girls ran the 3/4 mile kids fun run on Friday night. And Mom? She provided technical support and cheer leading! It turned out to be a great weekend together! The girls did great! Our family philosophy is "as long as you have fun and do your best, you're a winner!" (Last year, Ryenne ran a race at school. I was there cheering her on, and noticed she was at the back of the pack with a few other girls. I had to laugh when she ran by with a gigantic smile on her face and hollered to me, "Hi Mom! I just told my friend, "It's okay. Last the best of all the game!") This race was fun because they got to run in Soldier Hollow, where the cross-country skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics was held. It was beautiful! Even better, they received a bag with a hat and shirt. At the finish, they were awarded a finishers medal and treats. They were thrilled!




Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to go see Dad's race. The girls woke up at 5:00 am in order to get on the shuttle in time to see Dad start the swim. It was only about 40 degrees when we got to the swim transition, so they were quite the little troopers! The venue for the race was absolutely beautiful, and it is always fun to watch all of the athletes come in and out of the transitions. It 's pretty exciting! Courtney did awesome, and ended up placing 3rd in his division. It was a hard race, too! It was an Olympic distance, which means it is a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6 mile run. This was the longest lake swim he has done so far, so we were pretty proud of him! He doesn't get much time to train, so I admire him for pushing himself. He has a lot of fun competing, and we have a lot of fun cheering him on!
Courtney and his girls before the swim start. . .One last, "good luck, Dad!"

Here's Court, asking us if his feet are still there! (It was so cold that morning that on the bike ride, every one's hands and feet went numb! Everyone that came into the transition was having a hard time getting their hands and feet to work. The girls thought it was so funny when one of the athletes was moaning and throwing a fit because he couldn't get his helmet off. He ended up having a spectator next to us help him undo the strap. Pretty funny!) Courtney said he couldn't feel his feet for the first mile of the run!

After the race, we went back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon of swimming. The girls also loved riding the carousel that was at the hotel. That evening, we headed out for pizza. Emmy and Kate were so tired that they fell asleep before our pizza arrived! What a big day!



We were sad to go home when the weekend was over. (Kate was especially reluctant- when we were loading up, she held onto the door of the hotel and refused to come!) It's always good to get away together with our little family. We had a fantastic time!
Ryenne rubs her eyes after a long, busy weekend!

3 comments:

Heather W. said...

Looks like you all had a good time!!! Cute pictures!! You'll have to show me your blog book I'm interested to see how it turned out.

Darcie said...

Sounds fun Kelly. I love Ryenne's comment "last the best of all the game." What a cute family you have... you and Courtney must be wonderful parents.

Oh, and congrats to Courtney!

Breely said...

That looks like so much fun! What an athletic family you have! I love all your pictures especially the ones on the top left, where did you get them taken? I meant to tell you when i drove by your house today, your grass looks really good! Take care!