Jinkies!

Our costumes for the kid's parade at the county fair this week.

We won first prize for our category!

We need to solve the mystery of the absent blogger!

Our vacation was wonderful, not as restful as I would have liked as it is never restful to travel 8 hours at a time in a car with a bunch of meddling kids.

There also were adventures abound starting from our overnight stay in Pittsburgh in an “off the beaten path” motel. Our family of 6 crammed into a 10x10 room with one double bed and all of our camping gear. Cheese did not want to sleep on the air mattress on the floor with SwissMiss and I gladly traded her as I did not want to sleep on the bed! (I am kind of a hotel snob – this establishment really gave me the heebie jeebies). The decor of yellow fixtures in the bathroom, tobacco colored lampshades, and dark wood paneling were newly “remodeled” according to their business cards.

Our subsequent accommodations in the Shenandoah National Forest and Chippokes Plantation were much more to my liking (tent camping!)

The Spie-mobile loaded for our epic adventure!

The gang at the National Cemetery in Gettysburg.

It was really, really hot. Can you tell?

The view from our campsite in the Shenandoah Forest

The Wildlife

Our Hikes

Day at the Ocean

Jamestown

After a week of recovering from our vacation and resuming workouts, we now are gleefully or woefully (depending on whom you speak to) inching towards the start of school. School begins week from today and my last triathlon race (another HIM) is a little less than 2 weeks away!

Undoubtedly, more excitement and adventures await for us all! (One of first adventures for the family are haircuts for No I Son and Captain D!)

Lo and Behold

Well, not all race photographers are art school drop outs. Out of the 6 photos there are of me racing, five were acceptable. As I never post photos of myself, this is a rarity, to be relished and recollected for perpetuity...

I love this picture. It is the classic hitting of the watch. Other things of note is the expression of the athlete next to me... It is priceless, that is if you are not blinded by my the glare off of my very pale body... Guess who takes those sunscreen/skin cancer warnings seriously? ME!!!! That's who!





I can't remember exactly where the bike photographers were.... Although it needn't matter as my expression is the same in both bike pictures. I am sure that it was probably the same throughout the entire ride with the exception of when I was yelling "Thank you" to all the volunteers and police and when I finally was done with the ride and able to dismount --that picture would have definitely had a look of relief.




Look at the bounce in that step! This picture was taken shortly after my potty stop. I am continually looking for options for my hair. This year I have tried hats (too hot), the elastic band (which I am sporting here and not quite a fan of the full force forehead), and a visor (which I left in transition as it was not sunny and I haven't really become accustomed to running with it yet). I think that for my next HIM, I will be sporting the visor as the forehead (at least for me) is a bit too much!



My finish photo.

I really don't think that the camera man could have been any farther away. I had waited to stop my watch, hoping to get a good finisher's photo....Oh, well at least I can tell it is me crossing the finish line -- or at least I think it is me.

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In other news..

This week our family is gearing up for our big CAMPING VACATION. Each year our family along with family friends go for a camping adventure. Four adults, seven kids, and two-billion pounds of gear. Last year we tackled South Dakota, leaving Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, the Badlands, and Sturgis in our wake. This year we are off to the Virginias...

The East will not know what hit them.

I am sure I will return with many a funny story about Captain Destruction and the rest of the superhero gang!

Until then, eat well, train smart, and recover with a vengeance!