The Burch Tree: May 2009

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Tri 4

What a splendid day I had yesterday.

Jenny and I did the Salem Spring Sprint Triathlon and it was, by far my
favorite tri yet.

Maybe it was the open water aspect. I loved that. The water was considerably murky and very cold, but I guess I loved being so close to nature. You know...with the weeds in my face and mud in my mouth, etc.
That might be me under the orange arrow. I distinctly remember kicking that girl with the pink cap in the face at least once.

The multiple search and rescue boats, kayaks, and scuba gear made me a little nervous as first, but alas...I didn't need them. That wetsuit was pretty cool too. So bouyant and slippery.

My cheering section was nowhere to be found during the bike course. (hence the lacking of pictures from this leg) You see, they were far too distracted by the excessive reptile wildlife abounding in the pond.

One of these two (poor unfortunate) snakes somehow made it home with Bret. He's been aptly named "Salem."

The bike course was so beautiful, I had to remind myself to stop looking at the scenery and go faster.

I tried de-numbing my feet on the last stretch of the bike by removing them from my shoes, but to no avail. I started and finished those 3.1 miles with no feeling in my feet. It's time for a serious podiatry consultation.

Despite my tingly toes, I finished the run faster than I thought I would, seeing as how I was a little exhausted (yeah) and hot.
Thank you, various neighborhood children, for spraying me with the hose when I ran by your house. In the last group, a cute little exhausted cherub in a princess tiara squeaked in perfect cadence to my stride "keep-on ruh-ning... ya know...ya can!" I cried for a split-second and seriously chanted that phrase in my head the whole last mile. Love her. Forever. Whoever she is.

It was great finishing to the high-fives of all the cute kids along the finish line. My friend and neighbor, Rayna's cute daughter and piano student of mine (whose Dad also raced and did great) screamed my name really loud. I'm sure I felt very popular.

I found my family over by the water doing splendidly (seemingly unaware of the purpose for which we were even there) and we all cheered Jenny on her merry way, running.

Kyle kept me up most of the night before the race,
so I thought I'd take a picture with him so I could tell him all about it someday. It's evident in our faces and eyes that we're lacking sleep. Maybe I would have beat Adam by more than 4 minutes if I'd slept better. I guess we'll never know.

I really wanted to finish with Jenny, so headed back and found her. It was great finishing together, just like we started.
She pretty much ROCKS.

This was an all-over great race. So organized, perfect weather, gorgeous course. I'll be including it in my schedule next year, for certain.

The best part (even though there aren't pictures) was the hot tub at Uncle Don's afterwards. His home in the Salem foothills is breath-takingly beautiful, and very entertaining for my kids. We'll have to make it a permanent lodging fixture in our lives.

A shout out to my awesome husband for working just as hard as I did keeping the kids safe, entertained, fed and in sight. AND for taking these great pictures. He's very proud of them.

I seriously can't wait to do the next one. Pocatello - August. Unless I'm tempted sooner.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

cleaning house...

So sorry, little bloggy blog.
You've been severely neglected. You see, we've just kind of been preoccupied.

you know.....like:

hanging around:
(and wondering what it would take to finagle one of these at home.)

growing older:
(That's eleven candles in that cinnamon twist cake modification, if you weren't counting. And eleven days out of 12 that he's cried about SOMETHING. No joke. That one book was right. Eleven is the crying year for boys.)

gettin' some air:
(and gettin' registered for Kingergarten. Praise be.)

making cheesy faces:
(and with his Little Einstein's action figures in tow, still running the place, happily.)

attending the weddings of those I once babysat for:
(and feeling somewhat seasoned in age in the process.)

hanging with some of my sisterly folk and mom in Sunny CA:
(and consuming one (or two) too many In-N-Out burgers during said trip. Although I did RUN to the grocery store for my soy milk and yogurt. Carried them on my back, uphill, home. So there. And, missed you terribly Erin and Bobbie. Please come next time, soon.)

mastering the two-wheeler.

(with no help from me, mind you. Kudos to Heather for having a reservoir of patience stored up.)

learning some of the consequences of our actions:
(this MAY or MAY NOT have been one of the 11 times out of 12 that said eleven-year-old uttered a whimper or two leading to tears. I guess it's tough being so old.)

riding our bikes through the sprinklers:

(in bare feet and sopping wet denim shorts with pigtails from her own arranging. This amongst the neighbors with a doll strapped to her bike, asking for a picture. By far, she's my best multi-tasker)

caring for (?) our pets:

(K, if these rabbits survive the summer, I will be MOST grateful. Like those fateful snakes of our former PV backyard, they're possibly wishing they went to another family. Funny that that post was Memorial Day also.)

requesting random photo shoots:

(with Abby's random friends who come over to play, and then get mixed up in changing outfits a million times, all so they can pose for pictures together. I know, I know...I started it.)

planting a "garden"
(in the only space provided us in our rental property for such. We're hoping for a tomato BUSH or three.)

playing Capture the Flag & Kickball with Brian and Bobbie:

(who really are the envy of any party, I should mention. We were lucky to have them over Memorial Day weekend for as long as we did. They're like...THE MOST FUN ever. For reals.)

while the sun goes down:

(and we sit around talking about whoknowswhat while Kyle carries the rabbits around upside down)

finding cute people to photograph:
(and here's just two of em')

planning trips to Utah, Arizona & California.
(can't wait to see all of you, btw.)

swimming. biking. running. getting attacked by my bike.

All in preparation for THIS in 4 days.

Lest you think my DH is missing. Never fear. He's living it up selling those staples everyday, and currently is chilling with twenty some-odd of his men-folk riding go-karts and having a grand time.

More later... hopefully of the "sooner" variety.
Summer in this town might just be way too tempting.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

marketing...take one.

I delved into the "trade show" scene today.
This one was well-stocked with fun girls, good food, and I even got to be next to the booth with the plastic breasts (for self-examination instruction). As if that weren't enough of a bonus, I won TWO sweet raffles.

Thank you, subjects past and present, for allowing me to display your (or your offspring's) cute face(s) as part of my marketing strategy.

I came home to change my shoes, and proceeded out promptly for an evening shoot with some way handsome (and Humble) boys.

Doug's just as tired, I assume. He was enlisted to carry all those frames in and out.
And alas, perfect timing, he's home with some takeout... a perfectly cozy (a.k.a. lazy) date night for two very tired people.

Friday, May 08, 2009

spring pics 09

I posted these already on my other blog, but seeing as how they're my own children, they're certainly worthy of posting here also.
It didn't seem to phase me while taking and editing them, but after looking at the prints I had done, it hit me (right there in the electronics section of Costco) that they're really growing up.
And, as further evidence...Bret is 11 today. Eleven!