Triathlon Weekend

He did it! This past Saturday, Conn, competed in his very first Olympic Triathlon in Galveston. Oh, I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I am of him!! He has been getting up almost every morning at 4:30am, for the past several months, preparing for this. It has all paid off!!

We decided to make a mini family vacation out of it and went up early on Friday and stayed until Sunday. It was one of the greatest weekends we have had in a very long time!!

When we got there early Friday afternoon, we hung out at the house that we were blessed to be able to stay at, for a couple of hours until Conn and his buddy, Justin (that was staying with us), had to go to a meeting. Yes, the girls were there. They were just too busy playing and exploring the house, for me to get any pictures of them. :)


While the boys were in their meetings, the kids and I walked around the outside of Moody Gardens...where the triathlon was taking place. They had some great playgrounds and a lot of room for the kids to run and play. The weather was perfect all weekend long! I am talking ABSOLUTELY beautiful! Good thing, because we were outside for almost all of the 3 days that we were there.


After the meetings, we all went to eat dinner and then went back to the house for an early bedtime. Saturday morning was going to start bright and early and it was going to be a long day!

On Saturday, the guys left around 5:30 am for the race. The start time wasn't until 8:30ish, but I guess the racers have to prepare themselves or something. :) The kids and I...not so much! We slept in a little and headed out around 7:40. Little did I know that the traffic was going to be awful and we wouldn't arrive until an hour later. Did I mention that we were only about 10 miles from where the race was taking place? SO thankful for the DVD in our Expedition!

Well, as I was sitting in traffic, Conn called and said that the 1 mile swim...that he had trained SOOOO STINKING hard for, had been canceled because of strong winds and waves. Yes, the swim was all taking place in the ocean. Now, everything was being postponed and he didn't know exactly when they would be starting. Good thing, because did I mention that we were stuck in traffic?! HA! Well, we finally arrived and met my parents in the parking lot. SO thankful that Mammy and Pappy were there! Could not have gotten through the day without them!!


We totally missed the start of the race. We didn't see Conn, until he finished his 25 miles on the bike and was starting off on his 6 mile run...headed for the finish line. My parents, his parents, the kids and I, all danced and cheered!! It was awesome! As he came running passed us, I totally got chills running down my arms. Stupid, I know. But, I was one very proud wife!


After he was out of sight, we made our way to the finish line. There was a perfect hill that we perched ourselves on, as we waited for his big finale!


FINISHED!
So proud of you, babe!

Conn, did say that he was pretty exhausted when he was done. Not at all cardio wise, but just a lot of pain on the outside of his knees. He also said that the biking was the hardest part of the race and that he should have trained more for that part. He concentrated so much on the swimming, and running just comes natural to him. He said that he learned so much from this race and it was a great first experience. He and Justin are already making plans for their next one. Crazy, boys! :) Seriously though, I am so happy that he has found a new passion. Love it!

After the race, we went back to the house, ate lunch and everyone took a 3 hr. nap!

That night, we got ourselves all cleaned up and went to eat at The Rainforest Cafe. We have been there many times, and it is always such a fun experience for our family! The wait was over an hour long, but they have games and rides to keep the kids occupied. I think we finally sat down to eat dinner at 8:30pm. The kids were troopers and did great for such a long day and night.

Cash was D.O.N.E! :)
We ordered one of their famous volcano desserts. They asked us if we were celebrating anything special. Ummmm....sure! We were celebrating Conn's race and we figured we could still celebrate Maggie's 4th b-day! HA!

Sunday, we were able to sleep in and take it easy. Around lunch time, we headed to the beach to finish up our wonderful weekend! The weather was perfect! The girls have always loved the beach! Cash, has grown to love it, too! He and Conn played forever in the water. Cash would fall down, get splashed in the face, and then just crack up laughing. So fun! Lily has no fear and would just run in the freezing water all the way up to her shoulders. Maggie, mainly enjoyed digging in the sand and eating snacks. HA!


Thank you, Lord, for such a perfect weekend!