Rowan turns 8 on Father's Day

It's bound to happen every few years, Rowan's birthday coincides with Father's Day.  This year was one of those years.   Joe and Diane came over after the Run or Dye on Saturday afternoon to celebrate both Father's Day and Rowan's birthday.  Their gift to her was a new bike but she was already using it because she needed it for the triathlon from last weekend.  We did not have a present for her because her birthday party in a couple of weeks is her present.  But we did have cake nonetheless!

Sunday was her actual birthday and Father's Day.  After a morning of dollar store gifts and gym time the weather was nicer than forecast so we went to the pool for a few hours.  While there we learned our friends sons were playing tournament baseball and winning so we packed it up and headed over to see the finish.  Turns our they kept winning so they had to keep playing!  We left between games to grab some dinner and then headed back to catch the final game which they won! New 7-8 couch pitch baseball champs!  First time Hatboro has won, ever!

Run or Dye

Back in January I started on a weight loss/get in better shape journey.  A few weeks later a friend suggested we try our hand at running - enter the Couch to 5K app - took 8 weeks of training but I did it and can now run 5K.  We decided we needed a run to work towards, like magic a groupon appeared way back in early March for something called Run or Dye.  It is an untimed, all for fun 5K - what better way to get started in the world of 5Ks??  So we signed up. Fast forward to last week, the friend who started this whole process quit and bailed on training a couple of months ago - me, I kept going and asked my neighbor Tina to do it with me instead.   What a blast.  The fact that I worked towards it and did it is a bigger reward than I could ever have hoped for.  We are already planning our outfits for next years run when we will take both our families with us instead of having them wait for us at the finish.  Although, waiting for us they seemed to get more colour on them than we did!!

Spring Soccer 2013 comes to an end

So after the triathlon we had to get to Lily and Rowan's final soccer games of the season.  Lily was up first at noon.  There were some shenanigans as is to be expected.  However Lily got not one, but two (!) goals including the very last goal of the game and season!!

 Celebrating goal 1!

Snack time shenanigans

Celebrating the final goal!

Rowan's game was at 230 so we got to go home for a bit between games.  There were 3 kids on Rowan's team who had run the triathlon so the kids were pretty tired.  That did not stop them from trying their best though!  Rowan was sooo close to getting a goal but she plays defense mostly so her chances are few and far between normally.

So that's it - all organized activities have now come to an end.  Next up, the Run or Dye on Saturday for me and Tina and Father's Day and Rowan's birthday on Sunday.

Breathe....breathe....

School's Out Kids Triathlon 2013

Every year in June, usually at the end of the school year, at Simmons Elementary an event called the School's Out Kids Triathlon is held.  This past Sunday was the 7th year and Rowan's first!  We heard about it from friends of ours too late last year so this year we were aware at the beginning when registration occurred and Rowan wanted in.  For Rowan's age category the race is as follows: Swim 50 yards (2 pool lengths), Bike 2.3 miles, and Run 1/2 mile.

Saturday we went over to sign her in, get her bike and helmet inspected and decorate her transition area for the big day on Sunday.

Sunday morning we were up very early and dressed and ready to go. One to get a parking spot, and two to get there and get Rowan acclimated so nerves would lessen a bit.

There were 27 waves of kids of approx 12 kids per wave.  The older kids started first because they have a longer course to complete.  Rowan was in Wave 22 so we had a little time to kill from the start of the first wave, 830am til her turn came.

As the time got closer they started lining the kids up in wave and bib number order.  Rowan was 254, Kenzie was 252.

First up the swim.  Unfortunately Rowan was not aware that once in the pool she had to wait for the starter to tell them to go and as soon as she was in she started to swim right away.  She could not hear everyone yelling at her to stop so one of the lifeguards had to jump in to stop her :(  She was so embarrassed and I think she lost alot of her energy because of it.  She was not the only one to do it but it still broke my heart to see it and not be able to stop it at the time.  They gave her and the other girl some time to recover and then officially started the swim.

From the pool she exited outside to the transition area where Parker was waiting for her to get her clothes on, shoes tied, helmet on and get her on her bike and onto the bike course.  Only one parent is allowed in the transition area so Lily and I went to the bike course to watch the action and cheer her on.

Back to transition where she got her helmet off and took off on her run.  She was pretty tired by this point but she soldiered on.  When she got onto the track at the far end she was walking but with some encouragement from the crowd and some runners on the track she ran into the finish  and I could not have been more proud of her.

Some cooling off from Parker and she was almost ready to smile and show off her medal.

 

 There were 7 kids from Crooked Billet that did the run this year, missing from this picture are Jack and Ava.

Rowan's biggest fan.

Every athlete gets to sign the sponsor thank you card when they complete the race.

Every participant gets a t-shirt as well.  Some wear it during the race but it is a CB tradition apparently to wear it to school the next day for some street cred and bragging rights.  Who are we to break with tradition?

Here's to next year.  According to the results Rowan's official time was 30:00 on the dot.  Next year we aim for 29:59 or better!