Pterodactyl Tri and Tree Farm Relay, another 2 race week

This week was another super fun busy week for us. It was another week where the family attended multiple races. This time we had the second of the T-Rex Tri series, the Pterodactyl Tri on Wednesday, and then on Saturday, we had the Tree Farm Relay mountain bike race for both Ryan and I.

On Monday we started out the morning with a really fun storytime at the library. It started with a greeting from Beaks. It was a pirate themed storytime today.


Miss Kathryn had these huge tubs of packing peanuts for the kids to search for buried treasure. Keira did a much better job of finding it. Soren mostly brought peanuts to Miss Kathryn.



That evening, Ryan did a training ride at Lakeshore and I took the kids over to Greg and Ellyn's. It was Greg's birthday, so we enjoyed some of Linda's quad layered birthday cake and ice cream. Keira and Soren absolutely love playing with their cousins too. Sharon provided the entertainment by pulling everyone around the block.


On Tuesday, we went to Kensington to go to the farm center. Keira wanted to go to Domino's Farm, just because we saw it on the way home from Greg and Ellyn's, but was fine once we got to Kensington.

Wednesday was the big day of the Pterodactyl Tri. It was not quite as hot as the last one, but still pretty hot. We didn't do much during the day at all leading up to it.

I did come downstairs while getting ready and find a rather guilty looking Soren....He had gotten these off the counter himself. You would think I would have learned by now to keep the bananas out of sight.


We got to the race and got everything set up without any issues. I met up with Valerie before the race for a quick picture.


I had a faster swim time, despite nearly losing my Garmin wrist-strap in the lake (my garmin unit was safely and securely mounted to my bike already). I was trying to save time this way but I think it cost me some time.

The bike went fairly well. I wasn't quite as fast here this time around, but it just leaves me with an area to improve.

The run went great. I was really pleased with how it went, and had my fastest run time by far.

I was a bit disappointed to have a PR, and place worse overall in my age group. Thankfully, after reviewing the results from both races, only one person from the last race was new to being ahead of me this time, and not by much. The rest of the ladies were either already ahead of me last time or new to the series, which means I am probably still OK for the overall series, as long as I can continue to improve next race. Colleen from TIA really gave me a run for my money, as she was way ahead of me after both the swim and bike, and I didn't catch her until the last half to third mile in the run. She was a bit frustrated by this, as we had learned of each other's position at the 2 mile turn-around point and she was ahead. It was a great motivator to know how much time/distance I had to catch her. Cristina did really well, placing 2nd in her age group.

On Thursday, we had an insanely busy day, especially considering we had a late night due to the race. We left the house at 10 am with my mountain bike attached to the truck and a ton of stuff for the rest of the day. It would have been even busier had the weather held out for another hour or so. We started the morning by running Keira down to Linda's school for a special Leslie Park Science demonstration. There was a hissing cockroach and a box turtle that Keira really enjoyed. Soren was absolutely destroyed that he couldn't stay at school with Keira and Linda. He did get over it when we went over to Shannon's house for a presidency meeting and he was able to play with Luke. I met up with Linda and Keira after the meeting at Laurel Park mall to pick her up and get a quick bite to eat. The kids got to play for a few minutes.

After the lunch stop, I dropped off Keira and Soren at her friend Lorelai's house. Again, Soren was a bit sad. I had planned for him to nap there, so I put him down for a nap and he slept for the next 2 hours. While he napped, I met up with Cristina and did a lap of Lakeshore Park in preparation for Saturdays race. We beat the rain, and I got Keira picked up and home right before it started to rain. Ryan's biking plans were foiled by the weather, as well as my plans to have the kids play on the playground with a friend we met at the gym. We had such a full day already, I let the kids play in the rain a bit, and then made my mom's good fried chicken, since we were in for the night.


Friday was much needed low key day. We pretty much went to the gym for a swim (for me) and then got some last minute items for Saturday. We had some tu tu issues as well as rain tent/ canopy issues, that causes a lot of phone calls and a bit of running around. I did get to meet up with Lori for a few to pick up her canopy, but we ended up not using it. It was good to see her, but I wished I would have had more time to spend with her. It stormed off and on today, so it was shaping up to be a messy muddy race tomorrow.


Saturday was the big day of the Tree Farm Relay. Ryan and I each had our own mens and womens sport teams. In keeping with Dances with Dirt tradition (as we are all veteran DWD trail runners where costumes are encouraged), my team donned tulle tu-tus, and were called the Tu N Tu Bellas. Michelle, Kristel, and Cristina were my teammates, the same as last year. Ryan's team was the 3 Special_ed and 1 Giant based on their bikes. Rob raced with Ryan last year, but Tom and Eric were new to Ryan's team. It rained quite a bit through the night and the morning, but did stop for a few hours as we were arriving and getting set up. I was the lead off leg for my team, and got to experience the Le Mans style start.

It started to rain during my leg, and the trail was pretty wet and slippery. I was pleased that although I had to pop off my bike a couple times due to it skidding out or me getting off the trail, I didn't actually have a crash where I went down at all. I felt like the conditions were limiting my speed more than my legs towards the end. My team had a solid race, and we finished in second place for the women, behind the Dark Horse Racing team, which we didn't really expect to beat anyway. Ryan's team did very well despite a crash from Eric that resulted in some major bike issues. Eric went down really hard on a wet wood bridge and bent his chainring very badly. He had to find someone from the patrol to help him bend it back in order to be able to finish riding, and lost substantial time. It was dissapointing to their team, because had this not happened, their 7th place finish would have likely been in medal range. It was still a very fun day.

After the race, I rushed home to get cleaned up and take Keira and Soren to Katie and Luke's combined birthday party. However, I missed the message that they postponed the party to Sunday due to the bad weather. The kids hung out for a few minutes and they exchanged presents anyway. We then rushed back home to get a decent meal as a family.

On Sunday, we had a pleasant surprise that Kris and Linda were at church with us today. It always makes Sacrament easier when the kids are happy to see their Nana and Papa. I had a meeting after church, and so after I got home from that, I took Keira over to the birthday party. Soren stayed home with Ryan and napped. Keira had a great time, and it was nice to be able to do something with just her for a change.


When we got home, Soren was outside and was just happy to see me and get his goody bag with bubbles from the party.


This week was so busy, I haven't really looked ahead much to what we have going on yet. I am sure we will find some fun activities, though.

Fun in Farmington (& Novi)

This week we did a lot of fun activities around our area. Farmington was having their Founder's Day Festival and there was also the Garden Open House at Tollgate in Novi.

On Monday, we went to the Library for Soren's age group Storytime. Since we are only supposed to go to one per week, we will probably go to this one so that he can be more engaged. Keira enjoyed it too. We also say that Keira is in some of pictures playing in a side show at the library. Christina posted the images here.







I also had a great find today. Our neighbors were getting rid of this cabinet and had set it by the dumpster, so we got it for free! I had been wanting to get something to put in our kitchen for the toys for the kids that they need to play with at the table and not on the floor. It cleaned up pretty nicely. I spent the afternoon organizing, and it felt great.


On Tuesday, I had a presidency meeting that took up the bulk of the morning, and then Soren napped in the afternoon. Keira wanted to wear her track suit today, and thankfully it wasn't as hot (but it was still pretty warm) so she didn't totally roast in it.

Soren was dressed a bit more sensibly today since he doesn't get to pick out his clothes yet. He got a hair cut this afternoon, so here is is before shot. He was pretty scrappy.

Here are some "after" shots. It is like he aged a ton with just the haircut.


On Wednesday, we had a pretty full day. We started the morning at the gym, and then we had a little bit of time between my workout and Keira's ear recheck at the Dr's office, so we went to the mall to get more handsoap. No trip to the mall is complete without a stop at the playarea. Fortunately, Keira's ears looked fine.


That evening, Cristina and I got in our own brick workout prior to the TIA dinner at Bonefish. Ryan rode with Kent while I took both Keira and Soren to the dinner. Since Keira and Soren are usually such good eater-outers, I figured it would be a breeze. Unfortunately, we started off with a tantrum from Keira because we were eating outside, and not inside. It was a really nice restaurant, so I am sure they did not want our loud sweaty crew inside. She was also upset that they did not have chocolate milk. Fortunately, once I got both Keira and Soren set up with some crayons, the rest of the meal went smoothly. We went without issue until it was time to leave, and then Keira decided that she wanted to go to the bathroom again because it was very fancy. We live only a mile away, and I did not want to have to bring everyone back through the restaurant again, so that caused another tantrum. The food was great. Hopefully Ryan and I can go back for a date night in the future.

On Thursday, we had our first day of fun in Farmington. We went to the Heritage Splash Park so I could do my visiting teaching. We met up with Diana and her two girls, and Deborah, with her 4 boys. Keira and Soren had a great time, as well as all the children. Shannon was supposed to come since it was her birthday, but we were unable to get it switched.

On Friday, we went to the Farmington Founder's Festival with Shannon and her 6 children. We had a really fun time. We spent most of our time at the children's area. The Ann Arbor Hands on Museum had an exhibit set up, which everyone enjoyed. There was also an act from the Barnum and Bailey Circus Clowns. Soren was very afraid, but he didn't cry. He "hid" in the stroller. These clowns were really good. They were funny and they had real talents such as juggling and balancing acts. We also stopped by the Detroit School of Rock booth where Soren had a blast with the drums and keyboard.

We also went to Maybury that night. I didn't run, but Ryan biked. Keira and Soren were able to play the whole time Ryan rode.





Saturday was another full day for us. It was really hot today. Ryan rode with his group, and we went to the MSU Tollgate Garden Open House. It is a farm that is only a couple miles from our house. This open house wasn't as big as their fall open house, and focused mostly on quilting and their flower gardens. It was really beautiful. Keira and Soren loved playing in the little toll gate in the children's garden, and there were lots of frogs. We also took a walk to see some of the animals they have on the farm.

Once Ryan was home, it was my turn to workout. I went to Kensington and did a 14 mile run. It was so hot. I drank two entire camelback bladders of my waist pack, as well as finished an entire flask of Hammer Gel. It was a good run, and I averaged just under 9 min/mile, which was fantastic considering the heat. I had a few cooler sections in the shade, more than I would have if I would have stayed here to run. We finished off the night with some pizza and then went to Dairy Queen. It was a very good day.

On Sunday, there was this cool spiderweb on our back patio in the morning.

We went to church as usual. Soren went to nursery, but was still a bit upset about it. Keira was supposed to give a talk in Primary and was very excited about it, right up until she had to speak. She ran up to the podium, and then wouldn't say anything. I gave it for her, which was fine, and a bit expected.

After church, Soren and I took big naps. I woke up just barely in time to make some cookies that are a copycat from my favorite NYC bakery- Levain's. They turned out great! This isn't their recipe, but I found it linked to their page. I am not sure which one anymore, I copied it into a word document, and saved that, not the actual page. Email me if you want the recipe. I probably cooked them a little longer than Levain's, just because the airbake sheets seem to have longer cooking times, but next time around I will keep them more to the minimum time.

Once they were out of the oven, we woke up Soren and headed over to Kris and Lindas for dinner with Ellyn and the cousins. Keira and Bryn have so much fun playing together.


Next week is shaping up to be another really busy one. I have my second T-Rex triathlon on Wed, and Ryan and I are both competing in the Tree Farm Relay on Saturday.