Hogwarts, Halloween, and Hollywood

We just got back from a fabulous trip to Florida. We managed to do a lot in 7 days! We visited Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmeade and shot at aliens (Men in Black ride - a new favorite) at Universal; ate dinner with Mickey, Pluto, and Chip'n'Dale at a revolving restaurant in Epcot; and rode the Rock'n'Roller Coaster and Hollywood Tower of Terror (except Joshua, who bailed on that one at the last minute...twice) at Hollywood Studios.

We also had fun swimming, feeding alligators (hot dogs!), eating ice cream (lots), and dressing up in costume and going trick or treating in the golf cart...well, the boys did that with their grandparents while Stuart and I stayed at home!

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Joshua Can Du

Joshua raced in his first duathlon this morning. He took it very seriously, making sure he knew where to run and bike, and practicing before the event began. He had to run 1/10th of a mile, bike 1 mile, and run 1/4 of a mile. Most of the kids were doing the triathlon, so they started with a 25m swim instead of the first run. The organizers timed it perfectly, so that the swimmers were running down from the pool to transition as Joshua and the other duathlete were finishing the run. Joshua got his helmet on and rolled his bike out of transition very quickly, making sure he didn't mount his bike until the mount line. Then he was off! The bike course was 4 loops of the parking lot and road. Joshua was passing kids the whole time, except for the part on the road where it was single file as they had to stay inside the cones. He rode hard but was very careful! At the end of his 4th loop he made quick work of the dismount, ran his bike into transition and threw it in its spot along with his helmet, and took off running. There was one boy ahead of him and I didn't think he would catch him as he started slowing halfway through the run. I started running up to give him some encouragement and he took off, passing the other boy, who was starting to have some problems of his own, and hammering all the way to the finish line! He finished 1st overall!

Joshua's Duathlon

SR Triathlon

South Riding Triathlon

Alison - 2nd female overall (out of 134) in 1:05:37
Stuart - 50th male (out of 164) in 1:13:13 AND his first tri!

Next weekend: Joshua's first duathlon! All the other 6 year olds had better watch out!

Finally, a New Post

We've been so busy there hasn't been time to post to the blog! Between the boys' activities and both our work and triathlon training (Stuart and I are both competing at South Riding Triathlon this Sunday!) we haven't had a minute to stop and write!

The good news is that we took a few days away from the work and triathlon training (well, it was taper week anyway) to go to Williamsburg. We spent the better part of 4 days at Busch Gardens...with a little side trip to Water Country USA where the lines for the "just ok" rides were very long and, as Stuart put it, one could only look at the masses in bathing suits for a short while...

We didn't take many pics because we were either getting wet or thrown around, hence the camera had to stay safely put away, but we got it out to take a few.

Busch Gardens

11th fastest 8-year old backstroker in Loudoun County!

Daniel swam backstroke at the All Stars swim meet on Saturday. He was in heat 4 of 7 heats for 8 year-old boys. That means his qualifying time was right in the middle of the 40 or so boys who qualified. He swam 24.67, improving on his previous time by over 2 seconds, winning his heat, and placing 11th overall!














Not to be outdone by an 8 year-old (!), I raced a sprint triathlon on Sunday and was 2nd female overall! Check out my unique bobblehead dog trophy!

Vegetables and Chocolate

Ewww, doesn't exactly sound like a tasty combination, but the pictures I just downloaded are of the few veggies I've managed to coax from a very dry garden that's struggling in the extreme heat - extreme even for Washington in July - and Hershey Park, which we visited last week.

Veggies and Chocolate

The boys had a blast at the park, riding lots of roller coasters that at best made me lightheaded and at worst made me want to puke (look straight ahead, don't close eyes!) but I was a good sport and rode with them every time...well, once I got off after 3 trips on the same coaster...the worst part of which wasn't the death-defying drop but the sudden stop it made right before the end! It was a HOT day at the park (every day in July has been HOT!) but we stayed cool by spending some time getting soaked at the water park and visiting the chocolate museum.

Now the veggies... I've just been outside removing a load of dead (possibly diseased) vegetation from the zucchini/courgette plant and spraying it for powdery mildew. Should have caught that earlier but I've been literally running outside, soaking everything, and running back in without looking too closely. We've had a few tomatoes from a very sad and spindly looking tomato plant. Thankfully the tomatoes are very good, even though the plant is suffering! And I finally got some blueberries from our blueberry bushes, which clearly LOVE the heat as they look great. I think the peppers will be good when they finally appear, as the plants that almost died in the Spring when the nights dropped below 60 are just thriving in the heat and humidity.

Wish I were a pepper plant or blueberry bush right now! We are absolutely dying in the heat that has descended on us. I went running at 6am this morning...at Burke Lake so we'd be out of the sun. When I got up at 5am it was already 80 degrees. Doing anything outside involves discomfort and copious sweating. It really is nasty. I took the boys to Chuck e Cheese (indoor playplace that I usually steer clear of because of its germ-infested qualities) yesterday and a movie is planned for today. We've been listening to Halloween music in the car just for fun and all I can say is roll on Fall!!!

Funny Videos

In addition to documenting Daniel's races yesterday, I also took a couple of fun videos before and after he swam. He had a very wiggly tooth (which finally fell out last night) and so was constantly playing with it. He even showed it to the girls waiting in line behind him for relays...talk about ladykiller! ;)