Iron Girl and Dukes Fest

This weekend was a BUSY weekend to say the least!

The highlight of the weekend was the Iron Girl triathalon. I'd registered to partipate before I knew I was pregnant and found out the same week I reigistered that I was expecting... but I knew I still wanted to compete and thankfully my Doc gave me the go ahead!

Julia and I got up Saturday (my sister-in-law came in town from Santa Monica, CA) and headed to Lake Lanier Islands (where the triathalon was) to get our numbers and set up our bikes for Sunday. We got some cool free stuff (I always love free junk- thanks Dad!) in addition to the timing chips and swim caps (sexy).

Sunday was a VERY early morning. We were up by 4:45am and out the door by 5:15am... Seth drove us down (Julia's husband) and served as our pack mule and camera man for the day (thank God- he was a huge help!). Turns out the parking was 1/2 mile from the set up area. Once to the start line we had to set up our transition areas (change of clothes etc). Then we waited until the start. We started according to age groups. Julia was the first time group to start... I was the last- ugh!

The swim was first...

Then Bike.... Then Run....

I expected to finish in around 2 hours and 30 minutes. It took me 2 hours and 32 minutes. Not bad. 750 woman started and 632 crossed the finish line.

Here are some pictures from the event.

This is the tranistion area: Julia and I with our numbers ready to go!Finally... crossing the finish line!After the long walk back to the car with our bikes.So I'd say not bad for being 4 months pregnant ... and Julia had a terrible foot injury prior to this. I can't wait to do this again next year. And hopefully compete in an Olympic length one (probably after this baby is born!). But I still have the Peactree Road Race this Friday!

Saturday Chip and I went to Dukes Fest... It is the 30th anniversary of the Dukes of Hazzard. One of the best shows on tv EVER! Chip & I own every season on DVD (including the season with Coy and Vance... and the 2 Dukes movies- the reunion and Dukes goes to Hollywood) - so needless to say we both LOVE the show. Dukes Fest is every June but it is always held at the Bristol Motorspeedway so we've never been able to get there. But this year- it was in Atlanta! After all Georgia is where Hazzard County actually was! And Conyers (where I grew up) and Covington were the orginal filming locations during season 1!

Ok ok- so back to Dukes fest... It was $20 - PER PERSON to get in so after arriving at the gate and learning of such a high admission my hopes were even higher for a neat event. Boy was I diasppointed! It was almost like a car show only every car was exactly the same.All of the stars of the show were there (of course not all at once) got a few pictures of Enus and Rosco... But all in all it really stunk. We did meet up with our friend Jody and his wife Danielle...And I even got a few pictures of some really bad Daisy Duke wanna-bes! LOL!

cars.... shoes... and TP!

I really hate buying a car! I guess what it really boils down to is spending money- I don't like that feeling. I've spent the last 2 or 3 weeks researching cars and what to buy. Finally narrowed it down to the 2008 Honda Pilot. But it never really "felt" right to me to spend so much money on a car at this point (with having to move in the next few months and many other changes about to take place). We haven't had a car payment in over 5 years and didn't want to get into one. So now square one... We've decided to go with a used car. I feel better about that choice- but knowing the true value of a used isn't so easy... AHH!!! Anyone selling a 2004-2006 mid-size/crossover??

Oh and this is my car- and its for sale... any takers? Anyway- yesterday Trey found where the toilet paper is stored (as well as figured out he can just unroll it from the roll!). I was cooking dinner and turn around to find this sight! Now we have a huge wad of toilet paper stuffed in a basket in the bathroom- so if you come over to visit now you know why!

He's also become fasinated with shoes. Well now that sounds girlie- I mean he loves to try and put on his shoes and likes to look at his feet when he walks in them, I also think he likes the noise they make on the hardwood floors... here are a few shots.

His best attempt at putting on his shoes

Nascar fun and more COWS!

Gosh- its been about a week since I've updated. I usually update after Trey goes to bed and in the 2 hours before Chip comes home- but last week he was home every evening for dinner so I stayed off the computer... yay!

This weekend Chip enjoyed his birthday gift- the Richard Petty Experience. I sure wish'd I could've done it also- maybe next summer when I am not pregnant... Anyway. We headed to Atlanta Motorspeedway early Sunday morning (Trey was with Chip's parents). We were not sure what to expect or how many people would be there. We drove into the infield (pretty neat!) and were directed to the media center. There Chip was "issued" a race suit (here he is wearing it). They showed a video and then took all the drivers to vans (there were about 30 people there to drive). Then the drivers went through a crash course (bad pun) in how to drive the car. Then it was on to the track! Chip rode along with a "pro driver" for 3 laps then got into his own car and driver 8 laps. They were not allowed over 145 and Chip drove 145- faster than all the other drivers that day! I think he missed his calling...Trey got his first hair cut today. We didn't take him anywhere- we did it ourselves. Glad we did. He did not like the hair cut. You would've thought it hurt. I held him and Chip cut. Chip did a good job- here is the best picture I have of his new do.We also went to Chick-fil-a tonight for a family dinner. We love that place! Since we were there last time when Trey meet the cow (about a month ago) he has become attached to a stuffed cow that my Aunt Elaine sent him for Christmas. He takes it to bed and carries it with him all over the house. Well tonight the manager gave him a small stuffed CFA cow. Well now he can't put either cow down! So in his crib tonight are the big cow and little CFA cow!

3to 30 and oh my gosh my triathalon!

This weekend was certainly a busy one! Trey and I got up bright and early Saturday morning and headed to Conyers to celebrate Brenden's 3rd birthday! His party was held at Kids on Air- its an inflatable indoor jump place. It was pretty cool. Trey enjoyed running on the floor between the inflatables but didn't really want to go inside any of them. Before long there were many kids twice his size so we headed to the lobby where he played with Madison. Madison is my friend Ashley's daughter. Madison is about 6 months older than Trey. She mostly tried to hug and kiss Trey while he ran away. So it was fun for both of them... here are a few pictures:

Trey also enjoyed the pizza lunch with the other kids... but he still won't trey cake (not going to force that one!)

After the party we hurried to Gainesville to meet Chip to celebrate his birthday. We had planned to spend the day out on the lake with his friends but the rain kept that from being an all day affair... Here is Chip blowing out his candles... this is what I get for asking him to pose for me! LOL!

Sunday- father's day was a beautiful day. Chip's friend Mike stayed from Saturday and we spent alot of time on the water... I can still see the two places on my legs where I missed with the sunscreen! Here we are as we head out for the lake.While out on the lake we saw a HUGE bass floating in the water... we rode up to it it looked like he died eating a fish. Check out the picture- you can see the tail of the other fish coming out of his mouth! (you may have to click on the picture to see a bigger image to see the fish tail)Father's day was nice. Chip enjoyed his day (Trey even gave him the Dukes of Hazzard 2 movie collection... Dukes fest is coming to Atlanta in 2 weeks!!)- the rest of us were far away from our Dad's. Dad- wish you could have been there, I'dve loved to watch the race as Jr. won with you. But I love you and miss you!

Well the Aflac Iron Girl triahalon is less than 2 weeks away. I spent some time this weekend biking and swimming... I felt pretty good about my swim and worse about the biking. That bike seat hurts! Today I got the final details about the race. Oh boy... I wasn't nervous until now. I will have to go the day before to set up all my things - or transitions areas as it is refered. This is my first triathalon so I have no idea what to expect. I am also the "last wave" to begin. It is done according to age and my age group is last (20-29). Since I am the last time group to start I have less time to finish in order to go to the bike portion and the same for the bike. Wish me luck!!

30 and some Ramen...

Well yesterday Chip turned the big 30! Trey and I got up and made his favorite, blueberry muffins, and brought them to him in bed. After breakfast we went to the park and ran together. Then had lunch at Chip's favorite place- Taxco. Chip has been going to eat here since he was about 14. Most of the staff is still the same and they all know Chip. Then it was off to work for him... Saturday we will celebrate with a party which should be lots of fun! Then next weekend he'll get to go the Atlanta Motorspeedway and do the Richard Petty Driving Experience! Basically you drive a real race car(NASCAR) around the track 8 laps! I'll get to go and watch and take some pictures!

Tonight I had NO CLUE what to make Trey and I for dinner. Pretty much all he wants is Macaroni and Cheese... guess the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. My Dad said that when I was little when asked what I wanted to eat... I said "MacEr". Well anyway- I made green beans and he ate almost the entire can- awesome! Then figured why not let him try Ramen noodles. Rebecca tells me this is Brendens favorite thing (so I figured it was worth a try). Brenden calls them "Daddy's noodles". Trey liked them... but I think they were more fun to play with... Here are some pictures!

Peachtree Road Race!

IT FINALLY CAME! My number! Running the Peachtree has become one of my favorite July 4th traditions. Rebecca and I started it a few years back and swore we would run each year (but both missed last year- Trey was only a few weeks old and I had been up all night- good times). So this year we are back on! The second year we ran Chip and his buddy Josh joined us and so it had become the 4 of us for a few years. This year however Rebecca's parents are joining her along with our friend Kim and her boyfriend. I am really looking forward to running it this year since it'll be the first year for me to run as a "serious runner". My goal is to complete it in one hour or less.

The Peachtree Road Race is such a fun event and draws people from all over the world. In fact it is the largest 10k in the world! This year over 8,000 people were turned down for numbers. I try telling people how fun the run is (even if you are not a runner- MANY people walk). The entire route is jammed with people cheering you each step. There are also bands playing, bars handing out beer, and everything in between you can think of- the Catholic Church even has a Priest throwing Holy Water on the runners! I can't really explain the energy the surronds this event- but I took along my camera in 2006 so here are some pictures to share!

Me, Josh, Rebecca, and Chip

Holy water ahead...
The crowd heading up Peachtree towards "cardiac hill"

Rebecca and I had to stop for a picture with the USA beer drinking teamGOD BLESS AMERICA!

Summer is here and so is the cow!

Summer offically arrived in Atlanta this week... we'd been having temps hovering around 84 for the last couple of weeks but this week we passed the 90 degree mark. 96 today to be exact. Now the thing about Georgia summers is not only the heat but the humidity. When you walk outside it almost feels like walking right into a giant plastic bag! I like to run every morning around 9a or so- but I've been going earlier beacuse of the weather. This morning I went at 8:30 and it was already 82 degrees (not to mention the humidity). Trey doesn't seem to mind as long as he is outside he is happy - check him out:Here he is ready for the morning run back in Jan... Yesterday we had lunch with Karen and Kate at our favorite place to meet Chick-Fil-A. The CFA Cow was there visiting tables. Trey and Kate had thier picture made. Trey seemed to really get a kick out of the cow! After he ate he ran across the CFA to find the cow. He walked right up to him and would laugh. It was funny! Of course where was my camera.... at home! Thanks to Karen for the picture!We went again today to CFA for lunch(but I don't mind CFA is so yummy and has GREAT service) with my friend Emily and her little ones Jack and Melody... (Emily is having baby 3 in the fall!) The CFA cow was there again! I took my camera this time! Had a doctor's appointment yesterday... we got to have another ultrasound b/c the Doc was having a hard time hearing the heartbeat. The baby was just moving around to much. No new news on that front- everything looks good and we'll know in 8 weeks the sex... Everyone seems to say its a girl. I don't know. I feel the same during the pregnancy as I did with Trey and people have told me girls are different during pregnancy... probably just another of the MILLION myths about being pregnant.

nothing much...

I keep forgetting to take my camera places this week- took Trey swimming at the pool here and he loved it. He really liked watching the older boys have a water and balloon fight. He even got caught in the line of fire a few times and thought it was so funny- but I forgot the camera... oh well.
The weekend was nice and low key. I consider Sunday and Monday the weekend since those are Chip's days off. Sunday was Church and baseball. Monday we got up and ran a new place. I enjoyed running a different route since I go to the same place EVERY DAY. I run the same place because I know its safe and the sidewalks are great for running with a stroller... so... afterwards we stopped by the Big Peach Running company. I'd been wanting to check out the store for awhile now. They have everything for running- a store I could spend some serious money in. BUT I was good and only spent $1! I bought a sticker! LOL! I also last week bought a heart rate monitor. It is really neat- I wear a strap around my chest (you don't even notice you are wearing it) and the watch tells you your current heart rate. It blinks when you are working outside of your target heart rate zone. It also tells me how many calories I've burned, my time, my max heart rate, average heart rate, and duration. I am keeping a log and am working on trying to regulate my heart rate more when I run. Although being pregnant I think things are all out of whack right now anyway. But I love the monitor!

Anyway I cooked a really nice dinner last night and while I was cooking Trey played in his room. I kept checking on him every few minutes... and this is what he was doing- one of his favorite things to do! AH!!
Here is another picture- he loves Chip's baseball bats! Guess he can't resist the love of the game growing up in this family! He just walks around with it- funny- like he's heading off to play a game.
Tomorrow is another check up at the doctor for me... Hopefully I don't have to give anymore blood. Last week they took a ton and I waited a little while before leaving to make sure I was ok- 15 minutes later on the way home I felt as though I were going to faint. Not fun. I am days away from being done with the 1st trimester. But thankfully this pregnancy has been as easy as the last! Thank you Lord!
And oh yea... my dork update! NewKids on the Block tickets are on pre-sale this week to American Express card memebers (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!) so I bought my tickets! LOL! I spent way to much but I have floor seats! I can only imagine how stupid I am going to look - 8 months pregnant screaming like a 13 year old girl for the boy band I was crazed over when I was 13! I swear- I gotta dig up some pictures and scan them in- its almost too embarassing to post- but Iwill.