Our Memorial Day

Last year we had a BBQ. I wanted to do it again this year, but just didn't act on it quick enough. Then our Sat/Sun filled up and I decided it would be a good day to just hang out as a family. Then Michael was asked very last minute (Friday) to fill in for a triathlon relay as the cyclist leg of the race. He was excited because he has declared this year the "year of the bike" and is emphasizing just that in training and races. He left at 5am and headed down with friends competing. I left the house at 7:30am with the troops in tow to cheer him on. We planned on a spot that we would be watching, a corner in downtown Austin that he would be passing about 12 times on the course. I jumped in our van and saw the gas was low. Stopped to fill up and got 4 gatorade bottles at the same time (so glad I did, we drank all of them plus the 2 water bottles and 6 box drinks I brought). I parked at the Austin American Statesman lot, as we always do (we've done several races at this same venue, so we know the area well by now) and the kids were great. They were great the entire morning (we ended up staying 8am-1pm) and so positive and helpful and non complaining. They like to cheer daddy on as much as I do. We tried to meet up with Michael before the race, but I wouldn't have made it to the spot in time, so we skipped it.

The spot where we stood was on an island of grass and trees inbetween 3 streets downtown. CLICK TO ENLARGE

The plan was to see him 12 times, but it ended up being about 4 total (I think). I have no idea how we missed him all those other times, but it could have been one of the 2 times I was helping Alyssa squat down to pee against a tree with her brothers shielding her on the other side (I figure if dogs can do it in public, I can let my daughter--porta potties 1/2 a mile away). Or the time when I was scoping out a spot to nurse the baby, or the time I was wiping dog poop off of my stroller wheel, or the time I was digging in the stroller basket for gum for the kids, or when I was taking cute pictures of my kids hanging out....

But aren't they adorable snacking on their Nutra Grain bars? I love the boys in their hats. This island of tree's was such a blessing because I thought we'd be stuck out in the sun for a few hours, but it was even kinda breezy that day in the shade. The kids found sticks and even climbed on the trees. There was about 30-40 people also sharing this plot of land with us that was about the size of my house (2000 square feet).
I took this picture when I was across the street from the boys. Hundreds of cyclists were passing and when there would be a break in the riders, people would run across the street. Well we were in the sun and I wanted to go to the tree spot, but its kinda risky to run across (my 3 big kids and stroller w/baby). So I decided to send the boys with Alyssa across first, then I'd come alone with the stroller after. I told Tyler to take Alyssa's hand. We stood on the edge, waiting for a break and when I saw one, I yelled, "GO!" So they ran and somehowTyler and Alyssa broke from each other and Alyssa panicked as the boys kept running and she stood there looking at me terrified and cried out. I told her to run back to me and she did. We were lucky she didn't get hit by a bike, I feel bad about that (guilty mother syndrome) and happy it turned out ok. So she stayed with me while the boys were on the island. Since the spot we crossed was by a curve and it was hard for me to tell when there was a break until just before they got to us, I decided to go the clearer round and cross 3 other streets easily to make it to the island. In the picture below, the boys went from point A to B, and us girls went A to CDEF.

When we saw Michael, we cheered...."Go Daddy Go" and he smiled at us. This was the last time we saw him (picture below), and we thought he was halfway through. When we didn't see him again, I worried he got a flat tire, but Tyler worried he crashed. We just watched and waited and I decided to look at my phone and saw there was a message. It was him, calling from the finish line. What??? How did we miss that???

I was using my big lens as binoculars to try to spot Michael in the distance. We kept looking for a red shirt and blue helmet. There were a few of those, but we identified him at least a few times. "Is that him?? Noooo...Is that him? Nooooo. I think this is...Noooo, THIS IS HIM!" And then he's gone, in the blink of an eye.

See, how could I ignore such cute moments of Cali at her first racing event?
We found him with his relay teammates (whom he'd just met that day) and they placed 2nd, and they were very impressed with Michael's time--he beat the last years bike leg by over 5 minutes. I gotta brag just a little, he's just so darn humble about it. As I said, he didn't know these guys, they were a friend of a friend.

Stats (mostly for Michael's sake later):

Total Clock Time
2:11:56
Division Place
2 / 40 (40 teams, I guess)
1500M Swim Rank
4
1500M Swim Time
23:41
1500M Swim Pace
1:35/M
T1 Time
02:16
40K Bike Rank
1 (this means that he was 1st place, or fastest, of all the relay cyclists)
40K Bike Time
1:05:23
40K Bike Pace
22.8MPH
T2 Time
01:35
10K Run Rank
2
10K Run Time
38:59
10K Run Pace
6:17/M

We took the long exhausting walk back to the van and I was in awe of myself and the kids for happily enduring. I announced we would stop at my favorite snow cone place on the way home (Kawaii shaved ice) to which I got cheers from the kids. Michael reminded me that we did that last time he raced, and we decided it'll be a new Duke family tradition. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the cave of our cool home (blinds closed) and watched a movie as a family. We then grilled our burgers and ate a yummy dessert I had sampled a few days before (thanks Gretchen for letting us borrow your trifle dish).

A good day all around. Now to find me a 5K to race and plan for at the end of the summer to work on this baby weight.