Family Bike Ride

After 2 hours of trying to get out the door we finally made it out to the bike trail. I admit I was pretty grumpy leaving the house. I mean 2 hours after we decided we shall go biking - I wasn't so patient anymore. Papa had to figure out how to get the bike rack on the car, we had to go and pick up a friend's bike so Sophia could ride with us on the attached child seat, the girls all had to have a peanut and honey sandwich because now they are hungry, they have to go potty once again, etc.. etc... BUT...it was so worth it. The girls did GREAT riding on the pathway. Papa and Rachel raced ahead and I hung back a little with Alex while she admired the butterflies, the cows in the field, the pretty red plane that flew overhead. She kept giggling everytime she went over a pothole. She freaked me out when she let go of one handle bar and the bike started to wiggle violently side to side. When I asked her why she let go of one of the handle bars she said that she had an itch on her leg that she was trying to reach. haha. Anyhow it was super fun and we are going to go out often now that we can all go together as a family. We rode for 1/2 an hour. Hopefully next time, we can decrease the time it takes us to leave the house and increase the actual riding time.

We woke up early this morning to watch the start of the Ironman race. There were over 2700 athletes competing today. They have to swim 3.8 km, then bike 280 km and then after that run 42.2 km (a full marathon!). CRAZY! When I run 5km for a workout I am exhausted. Then again I'm wimpy. I can't believe what these people put their bodies through. They have to finish by midnight tonight. Which is unbelievable considering they started at 7am. A whole day of pushing your body past their limits.

Waiting for the swim portion of the race to begin. The girls were more excited about throwing pebbles into the lake. A man gave the girls these free hats. We were happy. Doesn't take much to make us happy.

I love watching the swimmers. So much action. Not that I would ever be able to do the Ironman but if I was competing I think I would hang back a while and then enter the water when there isn't hundreds of people surrounding you and kicking/elbowing you.

The bikes all lined up waiting for the athletes to finish the swim and start the next portion of the race. I loved seeing all the water bottles and stuff on the bikes. The 'stuff' that the athletes placed on their bikes to help them get through the day.

We know a few local people in the race this year. So we picked a great spot to watch the swim/bike transition to cheer on our friends.

After about 2 hours standing outside we were starving and headed for breakfast. While we ate we watched more and more people biking past the restaurant. Papa and I were happy we weren't one of them as we sipped our warm coffees.

Swim classes finished today. Yahoo. The girls had so much fun.

Rachel's goofy sunglasses have been officially passed down to Sophia. haha They are so goofy looking but the kids love wearing them.

Alex and Rachel ran their 2nd Ironman kids race yesterday. They now have 2 medals in their medal collection. There were hundreds of kids participating. So much energy and so much fun. We celebrated afterwards with sushi dinner and a huge ice cream cone.

And a very exciting part of our month is that the girls have both learned how to ride a two wheeler. They ask to go biking all the time because they are so excited to have learned a new trick.

It's been hot this past month. We have been going to the beach and playing in the sand under a shady tree, playing outside after dinner when it is a lot cooler, and enjoying the last few weeks of summer before school starts. Well mostly enjoying the summer. I mean it's not completely blissful. One of my girls (I won't mention who) totally broke my heart the other night. Out of the blue, she tells me that she doesn't think that she likes me. What?!!! Then she proceeds to tell me that she doesn't love me. OK...I'm totally surprised to hear this but I don't get mad. I just tell her that that's her choice and I'm sorry to hear that she doesn't love me. Then she digs the knife a little bit deeper and then proceeds to tell me who she would rather have as a mother. One of my friends! I agree that this friend is super duper and does make a good mother but it totally hurt my feelings that my girl thought that she would make a better mother to me. Then we proceeded to eat dinner in silence. And then this daughter of mine starts to feel bad and tells me Wait....maybe she likes me better now. She's not sure. Jeesh! Totally ruined my whole night. Now...2 days later, I can laugh about it. Sort of.

Here are pictures of my daughters looking cute and innocent. Jeesh...who knew that they could hurt my feelings with such words.

When it gets a little nutty inside the house (the house starts to go downhill fast by the afternoon - so so messy from 3 busy girls) it's amazing how easy it is to go outside and let them release their energy running around. They can be loud and active and it doesn't drive me crazy.

So there it is. A ranting post with cute summer pictures. Does every parent start to feel like this by the end of August?

Sophia Getting her Ears Pierced

Untitled from Audrey Ahn on Vimeo.

She's wanted to have her ears pierced for weeks now. She touches her earlobes and asks me, "Earspierce"? With a funny baby accent of course. Papa brought home some of that gel that numbs the skin (the one he uses before giving the needle - you know the one that is so archaic looking) and we put it on Sophia about 20 minutes before her appointment.

Sophia was being very excited and brave UNTIL she was sitting on the chair waiting for the two ladies to get everything set up. Then she started to bawl. I had my moments of doubt that this would end successfully but it did. So nervous watching Sophia get her ears done. She is so happy with her earrings and especially if someone mentions it...she beams!

July 2010

We took so many pictures on our trip to Vancouver/Tofino that it's overwhelming. Especially since I didn't blog along the way. So I will just post a few of my favorite ones.

We stopped by Sophie's (childhood friend of ours) parents house on the way to Vancouver. We managed to get a group shot (minus the hubbies that were taking the pics). June, her mom and her baby are in the pic too.

Cathedral Groves. A park with HUGE trees halfway from Nanaimo to Tofino. We stopped there very briefly since Sophia was sleeping in the car. This is the same spot we stopped and took pictures (remember Joyce?) about 9 years ago.

Sophie and her family came out to join us in Tofino. So happy that it worked out that we could see them again this summer. We celebrated Halmoni's 70th birthday in Tofino. So special since Halmoni and I love Tofino.

Papa and his girls at Cox Bay.

Me and my girls!

The 5 amigos on the beach standing on thousands of washed up shells. Sophia didn't make it into this picture because it was naptime.

We have a similar picture of Sophia at the same spot last year. I can't believe how much she has grown.

Tofino was great. I just love the sound and smell of the ocean. I don't think we will be headed there any time soon though. It just seemed so far to get there. The drive to the ferry, the ferry itself and then another 3 1/2 hour drive to the most western point of Vancouver Island. All with 3 young kids was a challenge. We did break up the trip and spent a few nights in Vancouver but still. Also it was so strange how much Cox Bay had changed in 12 short months. The tide didn't go out as far as it did last year. How in the world is that possible, eh? We were able to walk all the way around the rock formations last year but not this year at low tide? So strange. Also, all the hundreds of starfish were gone. We only saw a handful this year whereas last year there were hundreds clinging to the rocks. Does the tide change constantly all the time? We went at the same time of year last year. Anyhow, it was still beautiful. The sun even managed to come out for a couple of hours every afternoon. Usually it is quite foggy.

Blog2Print

I am so excited that I found a site (blog2print.com) to print out my blog into a soft bounded book. It will include all the posts WITH the comments. I treasure my blog now more than ever because of the comments that Haraboji left for me. I bit the bullet and ordered the blog even though it cost a little more than I hoped. For the 4 years from 2006 to end of 2009 the cost was $250.00. I scoured the internet looking for some type of coupon I could use to get a discount. I'm not good at stuff like that so every coupon I tried did not work. After my order was placed I got a coupon that I could share with my friends and family. So here it is in case any of you wanted to print out your blogs.

15% off your next Blog2Print book: B2PCC719

Expires on August 31, 2010