My First Triathlon

Okay....some of you may be thinking Wow Suzy did a triathlon! Let me stop you right there. The event was called My First Triathlon and no I did not do it. I was   merely the photographer for the event. Carmel asked me several months ago if I wanted to do the triathlon. A few of our friends were going to do it. Although it sounded really good...... doing it would be the problem. With my busy schedule due to work, church obligations and family, I knew I would not have the time to train. I am no FOOL! I would not skydive without a parachute or ride a roller coaster with no strap. I am not going to show up and do something I am not ready for. 

My wonderful husband and fantastic son took on the challenge. After a week of camp might I add( which means no training went on there), we headed to Lake Lanier.

The first thing they had to do was a 1/4 mile swim. The beauty of a My First Triathlon is you can stop to walk in the shallow if you need to. There were so many people coming out of the water at the same time that I missed seeing Griffin. Here are a few of Carmel getting out of the water. WARNING: Put your sun glasses on NOW.........

They had to run to the transition area to pick up their bike for the 12 mile bike ride. 

Laney and I quickly walked to the place of return. Here is Griffin returning from his 12 miles.

After returning his bike, he took off for the 3 mile run. I stayed to wait for Carmel to return. I waited.....and waited........and waited. Worried I might miss Griffin coming across the finish line, I finally left thinking I must have missed him.

Soon after I reached the finish line with camera in hand and ready, Griffin came across!

2 hours and 3 minutes

His first words "I BEAT DAD!" Can you tell we have some male competition going on in our house?

Next, we anxiously await Carmel's arrival. 10 minutes...no Carmel, 20 minutes... no Carmel, 25 minutes.....no Carmel. I start to get worried when I see the elderly and the more hefty people cross the line. By now, I am thinking he must be hurt.

But wait...........who is behind the 2 women chatting?

Could it be?

Yes, 31 minutes later it is him. Notice how he quickly ran in front of those women. 

His excuse for being so far back? Are you ready?

The wheel on his bike fell off.......so no I had not missed him coming in before...... he was busy borrowing a tool to fix it. But wait there is more!  Once he got it fixed, a ladies chain came loose. My gentleman was not going to leave the lady stranded so he helped her.  After getting her up and riding, his chain fell off.  

Carmel and his best friend Scott.

Scott, his wife Jessica( who I never saw) and their kids.

Carmel and his friend Jeff.

After a quick shot of our family, it was time to head out.

My 2 guys did a great job and I am proud of them both for what they accomplished that day!

Maybe next year, they can take over my spot as photographer.

AP Camp 2011

This year our family minus Ella with Ashton added were able to attend the Apologetics Press Camp.

My friend Cheryl and I were counselors to the 7,8, and 9 year old girls(Laney's age).

Here is where we stayed.

Here was our group of crazy girls.

Laney said she really loved camp! She must have because this is about the only time I really got to see her.

A typical day consisted of ......

Early devo

breakfast

First class

Second class

Singing

Lunch

Activity time( sports, crafts,swimming, creek)

Supper

Worship

Nightly activities

Devo 

Bed

Here are a few highlights from the week.

We were split up into teams and played each other in kickball, soccer, basketball, frisbee and volleyball. At the end of the week, the points were tallied and Carmel's team ended up winning.

The kids who did not want to play sports could make a craft. They made things like......

1. A bracelet

2. Tye dye pillowcase

3. Hand stitched bag

4. Basket weaving

I think the bracelet was the most popular among all the campers.

After sports, the girls could swim first and then the boys. Laney and a couple of her buddies Ashlyn and Madison.

Some chose to go to the creek instead to swim or canoe.

We were able to make time for a quick date while we were there.

For the nightly activities, we played games like guys racing to  dress up....

in women's clothing.

As you can see, we had a lot of fun activities to choose from during the week but the best part about attending a Christian Camp is the spiritual growth.  If you are not familiar with Apologetics Press, you can go here to find out more. 

www.ApologeticsPress.org.

 

 Several different men came to speak during class and at night for worship. Each one spoke of evidences to prove that God does exist. It is amazing that there are people willing to  believe we arrived here from nothing rather than from God.

As we ended a wonderful week at camp, we had to take a few more pictures to capture the lasting memories we made together.

A few from our youth group that went.

Several churches from Montgomery attended this camp. We were so excited to see several familiar faces. These girls were in the same cabin with Laney. In the middle of the week, I overheard one of them telling someone else her last name. Once I heard it, I knew exactly who she was. Her family and ours attended the same church while we lived in Montgomery. Laney and her were babies together. Once I told Laney about this connection, they were instant friends.

Carmel announced, "Griffin would like a picture with some of his friends."

LOOK who all came running!

My friend who helped me keep all those 7,8, and 9 year old girls in line.

We can't wait for next year!

The Lake

While we were in Birmingham, we went to the lake to cool off a bit. The guys all went to the SEC Baseball games so it was just us girls.

I thought the water was a little to cold for me but Laney, Ella and Emma enjoyed it.

Emma was so funny.......she did not like the sand so she stayed on this towel and would not move. 

It is hard to resist something cold to eat when you are relaxing in the sun.

So we took a shaved ice and popsicle break.

We had some great girl time!

SEC Baseball Tournament

For the past several years, we have traveled to Birmingham, Al for the SEC Baseball Tournament. Since my sister lives right around the corner from the ball field, we stay with her. For the past several years, we have made it a family weekend with my other sister and parents joining us as well. Usually, the girls do not go to the games. We like to hang out and do more important things like swimming and shopping. 

This year due to post planning at school I had to join the family later in the week. My wonderful hubby took the kids with him. Knowing how he is about his USC games, I was glad that my sister decided to step in and help.

My one request when he took the camera was to make sure he got a few pictures of the kids. A few of them may not be the best but HEY at least he tried.

Laney cracks me up in these pictures. When you finally get her to agree to take a picture, it is a whole other ballgame to get her to smile.

The game was Auburn vs South Carolina. You know what that means.............it may get ugly!

What is baseball without a mouth full of sunflower seeds.

In the end, a few in attendance were not happy. I will let the next picture show who won. It is hard for me to say!

Why I love people who recycle!

We had another successful day of digging today.

My helper in the background eating a well deserved bowl of ice cream.

Do you see all those stacks of coupons? It is hard to believe what only an hour of digging will get you.

Here is my biggest stack. There are probably over 200 inserts. These were all in the newspapers which were laying on top. Hardly any effort at all to get them.

I also scored several of these.

I will not use all of these so I will be sharing with friends. 

I also share the inserts as well. I have been asked by so many how to coupon. Instead of teaching one or 2 at a  time I have decided to offer a class on the basics. These inserts will come in handy to give for the class. 

I may have to keep my new find a secret or we may  just have to have weekly parties at the RC. Just so you know we did ask and it is perfectly legal to get the coupons.

Home Sweet Home!

I am finally back home after being gone for 2 weeks. I am very exhausted so this post will be short. My 2 weeks were filled with a baseball tournament, the lake, a funeral, a week of camp, triathlon, dropping Griffin off in 1 city and picking Ella up in another and a visit with my parents. I think you  see why I will wait until tomorrow to post on my adventures. 

I AM HITTING THE HAY!

Or should I say my comfortable Select Comfort bed that I have missed so much!