one more triathlon

this post is mostly for my mom. she never gets tired of hearing about my fun, right?! the rest of you can read if you wish.

my friend just emailed me this as i was getting ready to post this. again, i will never figure out how to get the pictures in a reasonable order.

gotta have one picture of me with my trusty steed.
okay, here' s the original post:

i forgot to put the pictures in reverse order. someday i will actually figure out this blog thing. that's okay--the finish line is the best place anyway, right? might as well start with it......

i really enjoyed this triathlon. a couple of friends did it with me this time, which made it extra fun. i was in the "mom" division--it was an all-women triathlon, so they had different divisions. so, that was fun too.

it was the same course as the first tri i did, only the swim was 300 meters longer, because it wasn't my first one. they figure if you don't drown the first time, you can handle a longer distance the next time. i beat my original time by 3 minutes, even with the longer swim--hooray for really hard workouts! also, I DIDN'T HATE THE RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes, that deserved to be in all caps. i'm not saying i liked it, i just didn't hate it. which means i didn't have to say a million "you will keep running"-type things to myself. it was nice not having to have a stern talking-to with myself.

anyway, here are some pictures of the big event:

us at the finish line. you're lucky you are just looking at us and not smelling us. we are pretty sweaty.

holding our medals (i got 1st in the mom group/4th in my age group/21st overall)
trying to flex?
loren likes this picture because he says it looks like i'm ready to beat someone up. i'm not. i'm just making a goofy face. i put it on here just for loren.
waiting for the award ceremony
running to the finish line
my face might look like i'm hating it, but i'm not. i'm just concentrating hard.
a blurry bike picture. it's my only one. oh well.
running to the transition area to get on the bike
getting out of the swim part
waiting for the tri to start. the water's cold. well, for florida.
waiting for it to start! now i'm wondering why i'm posting pictures of me in a swim cap for all to see. i have no pride left, obviously.

the johnsons come to visit

my mom and dad and two brothers came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. it's taken me this long to put the pictures onto the computer. laziness! i got into vacation mode while they were here and it's been a struggle to get back to real life. we had the best time while they were here! the highlights of the visit are as follows: we went to the beach twice in the 4 1/2 days they were here (see, i come by my beach-worshipping honestly-- it's obviously genetic); the menfolk and the children rented boats and went alligator searching (pace and i took a 15 minute ride to get enough of the experience for pace to talk about riding in a boat for days after, and then my mom and i and pace went home to relax/cook dinner/put pace in bed/talk/clean); my mom played the piano in sacrament meeting for the primary program (i am the chorister and we have no piano player........does anybody who plays the piano please want to move into our ward?)....................................i am going through family withdrawals now. who wants to come visit next?

why i love being home with pace

earlier today, the whole time i was checking my email/blogs, pace gently drove cars on my back and legs. it actually felt really good and i spent more time on the computer than was strictly necessary.

i love it that pace follows me around the house as i do my thing. he carries all his toys with him and plops down wherever i am. he doesn't ever mind when i'm cleaning the house, because he just follows along behind. he also loves it when i do "sgetches" (stretches/exercises) on the exercise ball. he gets his own ball and does them all with me. he'll breathe all hard and act tired and he loves to say "ooh, i sweaty".

i love having a little buddy all day long. i'm always surprised at how much i love my 2-year-olds. i shouldn't be, since he's my 5th--i must have a short memory.

i know this is on the cheesy side, but i was just thinking how lucky i am that i get to stay home with him so that he can follow me around and drive cars on my back.

not to say that i won't also love it when he goes down for a nap in 15 minutes.

pace's toenail polish

some of you have wondered about my son's toenails. yes, they are quite frequently painted. such are the consequences of living with 4 older sisters. i do have a rule that they have to be painted a manly color--blue, green, etc. loren tries not to panic.

saturday morning date

loren and i did a 5k together last saturday. it was such a great way to start the day! we got some fun medals--loren got 2nd in his age group, and i got 1st in mine. gwyneth took our picture--the kids were very proud of us!

pace's shoe fetish

pace is a shoe boy. he loves wearing shoes. it doesn't matter if they're his own or not. i think it's cute (of course, i'm his mom). here he is in gretchy's flip flops:these are all the shoes he owns (minus a brand new pair he just got, featured further down)
being a princess/gas station guy
liesel's sunday shoes
flipper baby
these are his new shoes (jumping illegally on a bed). he loves them. LOVES THEM. he refuses to take them off unless he's going to bed. this makes it awkward when we visit somebody who has a "no shoe rule" in their house. oh well. he shows me every day how he can run and jump and gallop and sword fight and do all other manner of cool things in these shoes.
these pictures have nothing to do with shoes. i just thought they were cute. pace got a new swim tube (he graduated from his old one to one that requires more effort on his part to float). we tried it out at the beach this week. he was a pro.