Boys will be boys...

While I was finishing up some chores earlier today, DH and the boys played a quick game of dodge ball (or some variation of the game).

I took these pictures while standing on the screened porch. Because, if I stepped outside, I just knew that I would instantly become a target :)













God created boys, full of spirit and fun to explore and conquer, to romp and run. ~ Author Unknown

New kayak for Christmas!

We are getting a new whitewater kayak just in time for Christmas! Personally, I don't know much about the different models, but DH and David have been looking at the different models and styles for months now and they decided on the Dagger Mamba (pictured below).

The color of ours is called "rain" (bottom right picture)



The boys can't wait to run the local creeks and rivers this winter (like the picture below). Did I mention this is NOT my sport... I prefer to kayak in a recreational boat or an inflatable ducky :)

"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your element in each moment." Henry David Thoreau

Sunday - Race Day!

We arrived shortly before dawn to set Ryan up for the race.



The Intermediates (ages 9-11) line up for the start of the race.

Ryan running from the pool into the transition area.

Ryan on the bike course.

Ryan (background) leaving transition area for the run course.

Ryan starting his run course.

The finish line is just around the corner!

The finish line.

Ryan poses for a picture with my parents.

I'm not sure the final number of kids that raced, but I know it was around 900. The event was extremely well organized and other than an initial 15 minute delay to the start of the race, the day went off without a hitch. All the kids had their name announced as they crossed the finish line (thanks to the timing chip) and received a medal.

Ryan is now an Ironkid and is looking forward to training for next year. I don't have his timed results yet (I didn't hang around to wait for them). But, they will be posted on the website so he will have a baseline to work with if he chooses to continue with this sport. I'm not sure if Nathan will train for this next year or not. He is not much of a distance runner since he broke his leg snow skiing about two years ago. I might try to find a sport or race that is more suited for his interests.

Busy Weekend

We are in for a busy weekend. David will be attending a Rappel Basics Class. This is the first class in a series working towards a Master Rappel certification. He will have to wait until he is 18 to take classes 2-3 and must be 21 years old to complete the certification with classes 4-5.

David will be in class all day Saturday and plans to spend the night/camp with one of the instructors and then go to church and rock climb on Sunday.

Meanwhile, once we drop David off for his class, the rest of the family is traveling to Atlanta for the Ironkids Triathlon. Nathan has decided that he is not ready to compete, which is fine. However, Ryan feels he is ready and is very excited about the race.

We will arrive at Wills Park in Alpharetta on Saturday to check Ryan in, get his racing bib, timing chip, t-shirt, etc. We will also get course information and racing tips from the volunteers. This is great, because we are not familiar with the intricacies of this sport.

DH and I both have family in Atlanta, so we always have a place to stay when needed. However, we still have to get up before dawn on Sunday, to set Ryan up for the race.

Kayak Roll Class

True Adventure Sports held a kayak roll class in our pool last night. Although we hung out with the class, we didn't participate. The teacher, Cal Breed, owns a local glass studio (Orbix Hot Glass). I'll have to keep this in mind for a future field trip.

Sometime later this week or next, we will be closing our pool for the winter. For some reason, the original home owner decided to plant pecan and maple trees in the backyard - with an inground pool. The combination can be a maintenance nightmare. With pecans already starting to fall, I know it is time to close it down for the year.

Truly Blessed

I was planning on posting pictures of our camping trip. I even had a great opportunity to take a great close up picture of a deer. He must have thought I had food, because he came within five feet of me. I reached for my camera and then realized that the memory card was at home! My camera does not have any internal memory... ugh.

Nathan and Ryan enjoyed playing Frisbee disc golf at the campsite and going on spider hunts. Despite the rain, they found ways to stay occupied. They even ran experiments on the best method of roasting marshmallows.

Meanwhile, David was a volunteer worker with True Adventure Sports yesterday. He worked 14 hours straight and didn't even have time for any meal breaks. He worked with rappelling and rock climbing tours from early morning until mid afternoon. Then he worked with a cave tour and finished up just before 10 pm. He came back to camp exhausted and dazed. What I didn't realize until this morning, was that on the way back to camp, he and another volunteer were in a slight car accident. They were not traveling fast. But, as they were going down a hill and around a curve the driver hydroplaned and hit a small tree on the side of the road. I know that they were not traveling fast, because the only damage to the car was the front fender. The air bags did not deploy and the tree only lost the outer layer of bark. It could have been much worse. Especially considering that they were traveling on the canyon rim road (Little River Canyon National Preserve) and the tree they hit was on the canyon side. If they had been speeding, they could have gone over the edge and ended up at the bottom of the canyon. Although I would never want anyone to be in an accident, this was a good lesson for David. Even though he wasn't driving, he now knows that a small amount of water on the road is all that is needed to loose control and hydroplane . The roads were wet because it had been drizzling and softly raining off and on all day. However, I truly feel blessed that he and the other volunteer were not hurt and the damage was minimal. Hopefully, this is a lesson that David will carry with him as he takes his driver's license road test later this week.

David and DH are both volunteering with True Adventure Sports tonight. They are working on an extreme night hike at Cherokee Rock Village that begins at midnight and will go until the wee hours of the morning. I think David will have plenty of volunteer hours for awhile.

Training for a triathlon

Nathan and Ryan continue to train for their upcoming triathlon. Today, I took them up to our local recreation center to run on the track. I don't think they are worried about any of the individual events (swimming, biking and running). But, after doing all three events back to back to back, I know they will be exhausted! They are somewhat competitive with each other, but are not trying to break any records. Their goal is just to finish the race. Plus, it is something that their older brother has never done. So, that alone seems to be enough incentive for them - along with the t-shirt and medal everyone receives for finishing the race :)

David can't participate in the race because he is too old. His birthday is four days before the cut-off date.









Countdown to race day: 11 days (September 13th)

Saturday Scenes

Rock Climbing at Cherokee Rock Village:

David flipping into the pool

Man vs. Wild Alabama

Finally, after waiting months since production wrapped, the episode filmed in Alabama is finally airing on TV. It is fun to watch Bear "surviving" in the same areas we frequently play around in on the weekends. The canyon, woods and cave system are all familiar to us.

DH even received a souvenir from the show - a torch...

Man vs. Wild Alabama

Next Wednesday, August 19th, a new episode of Man vs. Wild, that was filmed right here in Alabama, will air. This is a show staring Bear Grylls and is shown on the Discovery channel. Our friends at True Adventure Sports were actively involved with the production of this episode. My DH was even involved with some of the pre-production work.

I'm excited to watch the show to see how the story unfolds.