Gloucester Triathalon

Andy ran his first triathalon last weekend in Gloucester. He's been training all summer, getting into pretty good shape to tackle the wet, speedy, sweaty, frenetic spectacle that is a sprint triathalon. This was Gloucester's first triathalon too, and they had a great turnout with over 800 participants and at least 10 times as many spectators. It was a zoo!

Micah and Becky's other brother-in-law, Steve, was also doing the tri, so we all hiked across town to watch the race. Minus Becky, who was stationed as a race volunteer along the bike course. Steve had done one triathalon previously, so he had some sage words of advice for Andy... such as, "I was so incredibly nervous at my first one, I almost puked in the water"... Becky, the only other triathalon veteran among us, also tried to inspire some confidence, "Just wait until some 250 lb woman on a pink huffy passes you on a downhill..." Although it may not seem like it, these nuggets of wisdom did relax Andy a bit and made him realize that pre-race jitters are normal- the important part is to have fun and enjoy the experience.

Jenny, Cal & Freddy walking to the race start

Andy (second from L) and Steve (farthest orange cap on R) at the swim start

Andy finishing the swim

We made some rockin' signs to cheer on family and friends and tacked them to the car in M&B's driveway. The bike loop went right by their house.

Iconic Gloucester fisherman getting pooped upon

Andy on the bike loop

Steve shortly after crossing the finish line

So far as I could tell, Andy sailed through the three portions of the race with minimal difficulty. Each time he passed by us cheering him on, he had a smile for Aiden (ok, on that last run loop it might have been a half-grimace) and he finished in about an hour and 40 minutes. Not bad for a first try/tri! His biggest complaint was that for most of the bike portion, he was stuck behind a racer wearing just an american flag speedo and nothing else, and he got sick of looking at the guy's buttocks. I think Andy's got the bug now, because he's already registered for another tri in Weare, NH in September. I have to admit that it did look like fun. The energy is infectious and even though the racers looked tired, you could tell everyone crossing the finish line felt like a million bucks.

Patriotic speedo man and Silicone Barbie cross the finish line

Andy on the run

Andy crossing the finish line


Steve and Calvin enjoying some oranges post-race

Chocolate gelato helps when you're looking for Dadoo among hundreds of bodies speeding by...

Who doesn't love a good carnival?

Got Bike?

Aiden is getting a big-boy bicycle for his birthday, a blue one complete with training wheels. He knows this, but he hasn't seen it yet. The truth is it's not quite assembled yet (read: still in the box). He has been counting down the days to "August Twenty-Five" and the glorious day when he will be Three! I have a feeling he's under the mistaken impression that when he's three, in addition to the new bike, he's going to get the keys to Dadoo's pick-up, unlimited tootsie roll pops, and a DVR to record every episode of Yo! Gabba! Gabba! ever made. Hmmm.

This past weekend he did get one step closer to his dreams when we bought him a bicycle helmet for his forthcoming wheels. Of course, it had to be blue. And he wore it everywhere, including an entire dinner at Friendly's and a two-hour car ride back from HaPa and Grandma's in Vermont. It was very cute.

Other fun in Vermont over the weekend included a nice dip at our old swimming hole on the Huntington River, harvesting crops in Grandma's garden, feeding the chickens, splitting and stacking wood for sugaring next year, and playing with lots of new-to-Aiden toys handed down from the Pottmeyers. Thank you Gerritt!!

Summer Garden

Ruggles Mine!

An overabundance of comp time, plus a quick visit from HaPa and Grandma, found us spending a half day at Ruggles Mine in Grafton, NH. It's an interesting place, a former quartz, tourmaline, and mica mine that they have re-purposed as a tourist attraction. You can bring a rock hammer and safety goggles and collect your own "precious gemstones" (as we told Aiden)... sacks full if you like. What's left for the collecting is basically hunks of mishmashed mica flakes and big chunks of smoky and white quartz, so not really "worth" it for the steep $23/per person admission price, but Aiden had a good time. He also got in free, so I'd say he made out the best! Grandma Chris and Grandma Sally tagged along after Aiden while HaPa the serious geologist got to work. I'm not sure what I did, but we have some pretty spiffy new rocks for our fish tank.

Big flakes of Mica

Trying out the geeky goggles

Shades are way cooler

Adventures with Grandma

We've been having some fun lately with Grandma Chris here, though not exactly fun in the "sun." We went to a double pig roast on a property Andy is helping to protect through his work at Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust one night... Aiden got chased around and tickled by three doting older girls all evening, as we sampled some of the most juicy and tender pork I've ever had. I tried very hard not to look at the hairy snout between grabbing hunks of steaming meat.

Aiden adopted a new family at the pig roast

We also went raspberry picking at Beaver Pond Farm in Newport, NH, and ended up picking so many quarts that we made a great big batch of raspberry-peach preserves. At almost 3 years old, I can confidently report that Aiden has not yeat learned to fill (or even sparsely populate) a "container" other than his belly while berry picking. He hardly ate any of his lunch at our picnic on Lake Sunapee afterwards.

At Sunapee Harbor

One of the Gnus of New London, but this one's in Sunapee

And we drove up Mount Washington too, if only to put this summer's gloomy weather in perspective. It was definitely winter on the 6,200+ foot summit - 40 degrees, 20' of visibility, and 50 mph winds - so by comparison our current summer weather, however rainy, felt like a blessing when we got down. I drove the car up and back so Andy could close his eyes during boughts of acrophobia - but he wasn't as bad off as one guy we spied puking his guts out at one of the pull-offs. Yikes. It's a nerve-wracking drive, to be sure. I don't think we'll try that again unless the summit is 100% clear and there's a bigger payoff at the top!

Cheesy smile part way up

Scenes fr0m Mount Washington

Ha ha ha.

Moment of clearing, and then it was gone

We could barely stand up because of the wind