Oh, What Do You Do in the Summer Time?

I have had so many interruptions as I tried to write this post. Bryce keeps trying to close my laptop, so I think I'd better go ahead and post it! I hope it's readable.
Now that my triathlon is over, we have a little more free time to spend enjoying the HOT weather! Pretty much every day we go outside and play with the tricycle and toy car out in the driveway. But we've been finding lots of ways to stay busy the rest of the time.

This is on a particularly hot and humid day. Bryce overheats very easily, so I have to strip him down to his skivvies on days like this. He kept just lounging there on the couch near the A/C. Kayli of course, jumped in when she saw the camera.
Fun on the teeter totter at Grandma's house
My little mermaid
Does this look like a surfboard to you? Thankfully, he sat down right after I shot this.
As I already mentioned, my brother and his family came out to visit for a couple weeks. Actually, my brother was out here for a conference and to present a paper and some other things for geniuses. He is really smart. I don't even understand what any of his achievements are, but I'm really proud of him. Something to do with the Runga Kutta Method. And probably a whole lot more.

Anyway, this is his oldest daughter Elena playing dress ups in Grandma's shoes with Kayli. They were quite pleased with themselves.

On Friday we went to a wedding dinner for one of Blake's friends. It was very nice. We each received a commemorative shot glass for attending! They looked very much in love. Although, sometimes I wonder what exactly the significance is of getting married after living together for so long? I'm very happy for them. I'm just curious as to how much really changes after the wedding? It was a lot of fun to attend though. And Blake and I got to dance a little bit. I really don't have many regrets from my wedding day, but I wish so much that we would have had a dance at our reception. But that's all over and done with now. We'll have to settle for dancing at our friends' weddings. In honor of the first day of summer we went to Misquamicut Beach in RI.

I bought a cute cover up months ago to avoid photos like this. It's sitting on the pop-up tent we bring for the kids because I took it off to go swimming. And forgot to put it back on! It also looks like I'm bridging some rift between family members. This is not the case. You know the story of the little girl throwing the starfish back into the ocean? Kayli was returning the seaweed. Her swimsuit kept riding up (I like to call it a swedgie). She actually got a little sunburned because I didn't know to coat her entire bum with sunscreen.
Kayli and Elena buried in sand.
Bryce was a HUGE fan of the beach
Six years ago, I worked at my dad's company (then Philips) for a summer. I worked in the clean room in a fab that produces microchips on wafers. It was an interesting job, that's for sure! It was 12 1/2 hour LOOOOONG days spent mostly on my feet doing really simple work. Most of my co-workers were very crude and vulgar and it was an especially difficult transition having just left the BYU bubble. (My dad is an engineer, so he works in his office in a different part of the building). Over time, I was able to become friends with pretty much all of them and most tried to clean up their language and jokes and stories around me. Fortunately, there were a few good, kind people that made things a bit easier all along. One of these people was Mo, short for Mohamed. He's here on political asylum from Iran. He is a very sweet and humble man and I really enjoyed talking with him every day. I haven't seen him in five years, since our wedding reception at my parents' home. We finally had him over to dinner while visiting my parents on Sunday. It was so great to see him and his cute wife Pouri. He is one of those incredibly complimentary people and always makes me feel great. He says I'm like a sister to him, even though his has grandchildren my age! We had a really great time hanging out with them, though.

I Love My Babies' Daddy, I Really Do

I know everyone else posted great things about the fathers in their lives on Father's Day, but in keeping with this year's habit--I'm a little late. But don't let that detract from the awesome-ness of Blake. Because he really is a fantastically fabulous father. Here are a couple cute examples:

He is very skilled at building these tall towers out of really random things. And then he lets the Bryce go ahead and knock it down after all his hard work.
He's okay to get dirty and mess around in ways that I really don't enjoy. Kayli buried him and Bryce dumped sand in his mouth and ear.
He makes everything, especially bath time WAAAAAY more fun. It was a very sad day when Kayli became too old for this.
He does really sweet things for the kids. This is him filing Kayli's nails when she was 2 weeks old. She fell asleep every time he did this.

And last but not least:

My own Daddy! I've always looked up to him and absolutely adored him, as any daddy's girl would. He is an amazing man and has taught me so many great things from how to ride a bike to how to be a true follower of Jesus Christ and everything in between.

To the great men in my life-- I LOVE YOU!

Not Exactly Glamour Shots

My sweet mom bought these shirts for the kids. They say "My Mom Rocks!" Kayli has told me a couple times since that I "rock". That's always nice to hear.

Coming in on my sweet ride at the end of the bike course. You can see on my arm where they wrote my race number. You only wear the number bib during the run portion because it would get wet during the swim (obviously) and would blow around obnoxiously during the bike. I did have a number for my bike, but I hooked it on incorrectly and had to ditch it after a couple miles. The lovely band around my ankle held the timing chip so they could measure all the individual portions of the race. It kept feeling like it was going to slip off during the run. But it held on, fortunately.

I made a goal to smile every time I passed my family, so that I would remember to have fun and not get too competitive. So, don't be fooled by the look on my face in some of these photos.
I think this was when I was just starting off on my run, before I realized how dead tired my legs were.

The upside of having a race at an amusement park is that even though the rides aren't on that early in the morning, there are some toys for the kids to play on.
This is my niece Elena. I finished my race and was talking a lot to my family about all the different things that had happened. When there was finally a pause in the conversation, Elena peeked out of the stroller and very casually said, "Hi, Aunt Cheryl." Maybe you had to be there, but she has a really funny way of saying some things.

This is just moments before then end of my race. You can see my funky run with my right leg sticking out. And the guy behind me stripping.

These aren't all the photos, but some were really unflattering, surprisingly. Hopefully, we'll remember the camera next time so you can see the swim start too. It's pretty crazy.

You Can Officially Call Me a Triathlete

First of all, I want to thank everyone more than I know how. I was repeatedly overwhelmed by the number of people who sent emails, posted comments, and called me to wish me luck, tell me they're thinking of me, and praying for me. When I received a card from my sister Amy, I cried. Thank you all so so much. I realized that I need to be a better friend! I feel so blessed to have all of you in my life. All of your support and encouragement really helped me out.
I did it! I swam 1.5 k (just under 1 mile), biked 40 k (just under 25 miles), and ran 10 k (6.2 miles). My goal was to do it in less than 4 hours and I did it in 2:58:47. I placed 158th. They said there were 360 people, but the results only show 293, so I don't know. I placed 5th in my division, but that was only out of 14 people. We forgot our camera so we have no pictures from the swim or the bike start. You don't get to see me in my cool wetsuit. Fortunately, my family showed up during the bike portion so my dad and brother got some good photos. But I'm in NY, so I will post those when I get home.
The race went pretty well. The swim was fun, except when I swam way off course. It was a diamond shape course and I somehow ended up way into the middle of the diamond on the third leg. But I still managed to be the 10th woman out of the water and 64th overall--not too shabby considering that I started 3-6 minutes behind all the men because I was in the 3rd of 3 starts. (I'm a little proud of myself, sorry!). My transition was not very impressive. I couldn't get out of my wetsuit! The bike went spectacularly. That is probably the portion that I could improve the most on, but I had SO MUCH FUN!!! There were some long steep inclines, but there were also some great downhill parts and I got to go really fast. I narrowly missed running over a squirrel--EEW!! But I fell in love with my bike. When I returned it to the bike store (I rented it), I told them I wanted to keep it. So, it looks like Blake has my birthday and Christmas presents easy this year.
Anyway, then came the run. My body was okay for 2 miles, but the 3rd mile was mostly uphill and it was all I could do to keep myself moving. I just felt completely drained. That's when I thought of all of you and the inspiration I've received from you and dug deep and managed to finish. The run course was a loop that we did twice, so that last 6th mile was killer. I did it in 48:01, so I still feel really good about it.
I know what I'll do differently for my training in the future to improve. This is definitely the start of a lifelong hobby. I might do the sprint distance race at the same location coming up in July. We'll see.
If you want to see the results you can go to (when you come across Cheryl Roper age 26, that's me. In my nervousness I forgot that I'm still 25): http://roadntracksports.com/RaceResults/Pat_Griskus_Olympic_Triathlon_2008.html#overall%20results

And there are pictures that the local paper took (not me, but you can see the womens' swim start and the amazingly inspiring guy who had both legs and one bicep amputated only 4 years ago): http://www.rep-am.com/galleries/061408/index.html

The Weekepeemie Threat

Just in case you didn't realize, I am only 4 DAYS from my triathlon. 4!!! I decided this morning that I need to work on some serious meditation to calm down before I go crazy. Just ask Blake how many times I've said, "I think I'm going to throw up," in casual conversation over the past week. I really struggle when doing anything for the first time. I just can't focus until it's over. The odd thing about this is that ever since my training began, it's strangely similar to my first pregnancy. I've read everything I can get my hands on about the topic, I even watched a movie, I've talked to everyone I know who has done one or knows someone who has done one, I think and plan and think about it all the time. And it's taking SO LONG to get here!! But at least I know exactly when this will happen and approximately how long it will take, unlike giving birth. Unfortunately, there is no epidural offered before this one.
In that tiny part of my mind where I'm rational, I know that everything is going to be fine. I've got all the details worked out and I've trained hard. I'm not going to win, but I'll finish. But the whole rest of my brain is freaking out. Mostly, I think I'm worried about the bike. You may remember that I was originally going to do a different triathlon, a week later. That one described the bike portion as being "very smooth... with many long stretches of straight away biking." No big deal, right? Well, after I switched I read about the bike course for the new triathlon--"This is a technical and challenging bike course. Use caution and good judgment at all times. " I called the race director to ask some questions last week. When I told him this was my first tri, he was so excited. He just kept going on and on about how great this course is for my first race because "even veterans to the sport" find the bike course really challenging. I know he was genuinely excited for me, but after we hung up, I just wanted to throw up. Then he sent us all an email yesterday including this, "You'll be flying down Route 132 after a fair bit of climbing and you'll want to just keep going downhill. There's a turn onto Weekepeemie Rd heading south, it's a right hander and you'll need to scrub off nearly all of your speed to make it safely. Stay heads up out there, at all times, and please pay attention to the course signs." Sweet. It doesn't help that a few weeks ago, one of Blake's friends was doing a triathlon with her fiance and he wrecked during the bike and it sounded pretty bad. And then Blake emailed me this link: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/06/02/mexico.bikers.ap/index.html last week. So, I keep having these little nightmare flashes of me crashing, getting run over by some other bikers, hit by a car, or dying or something.
YAY!

Anyway, my poor Blake's birthday has been sadly neglected in the blog. Hopefully, the fact that we stretched the celebration out over four days makes up for it. As I already wrote, we saw "Indiana Jones" on his birthday. Friday we opened gifts.

I was unable to get the main (and biggest) one before, so it looks like a pretty sad showing. But he did get a nice watch and he will be getting a cool lumbar massage thingy in the near future. And some other minor items.
But this was probably the best gift. My sister Megan gave Kayli this fish a year ago. Kayli told my mom she was giving it to her for her birthday back in March. On Thursday morning, Kayli told Blake that she was giving it to him. But then she kept telling both of us that it was a surprise and not to tell. What?! She had me help her put it in a bag, telling Blake the whole time, "Daddy, I'm giving you a fish. But it's a surprise. Don't look!" I just love the look on her face in this picture. She is absolutely positive that she has given him the best gift ever. And when I think about it, that's probably true.

Saturday morning we borrowed a bike from my friend Carolyn. She is awesome. And so very giving. Anyway, we took it to a nearby reservoir and I rode it a bit and then went for a run, also trying out my new race gear. It's supposed to be "faster than skin" as far as wind and water resistance. Pretty cool.

Then that afternoon we met some friends at a park where the daddies all played some baseball and the moms and kiddos played on the toys. Except that it was beastly hot and humid. So, we headed back to one couples' house after a little while and let the boys keep playing.

Can you tell how hot my babies were? We actually got his hair wet at the drinking fountain to help him keep cool, but his face just kept getting redder and redder.

At our friends' house we played some Wii. Turns out that I am an awesome Wii bowler. You'd never guess that I once bowled a 38 in real life. I totally beat the guys with my mad Wii bowling skills. Then we had pizza and chatted. It was so fun and relaxing.

And last, but not least, I made Blake's birthday pie on Sunday. It's a peach pie recipe that his mom makes. He LOVES it. Kayli keeps calling it "birthday pie cake" because that's what you have for a birthday--birthday cake.

Happy Birthday, Blake!

Now the party is over, so we're trying to get back to normal life. But after reading the first bit, I'm sure you can surmise that life is anything but normal right now. My poor poor family. It doesn't help that the heat and humidity have only gotten beastlier. It's something like 97 degrees with a 60-some odd dew point. I don't totally know what that means. But I do know what it translates into--stay home and crank the A/C. They have actually sent the kids home early from school yesterday and today. "Snow day" I've heard of , but "heat day"? This is when I decide every year that we really need to move because I hate it here. But I also love it here. It's just that my extreme hate for the humidity has a tendency to overwhelm everything else that Connecticut has to offer. Fortunately, it's supposed to storm tonight and finally cool down. Keep crossing those fingers for good weather on Saturday!!!

We Can All Pajammy in Whatever We've Got!

I'll Personally Put You Through the Shredder

Another busy week in the Roper home. And a wet week. We've had a lot of rain it seems like. Currently they are predicting thunderstorms for next Saturday (a.k.a. the day of MY TRIATHLON!). Keep your fingers crossed that it changes for the better. On Sunday we enjoyed a beautiful double rainbow with the rain. The second one didn't show up very well in the photos. But it's still very beautiful. I love the lighting when there is a rainbow. You can see it on the home across the street.

The spring in this apartment, we noticed something growing by the fence out front. It grew into long stems with little balls on the top of each one. We waited and waited for them to bloom. And then we kind of forgot because they took forever. Then one day--poof! Here were all these huge beautiful pink flowers. I've since learned that they are called peonies. We look forward to them every year. Unfortunately, they really are too heavy for their own stems, so they don't last long. Especially when it rains. Kayli tried to help them all lift up again this morning, but they are pretty droopy. Happens to the best of us, I guess.
Blake volunteered for a Junior Achievement Golf contest with work on Monday and as a "Thank You" they sent him home with six beautiful pink roses.
And just when I thought two vases of flowers were enough...

I was able to get together with a group of some old friends for dinner and Bob was so pleased to be invited out with the girls that he arranged to have the waitresses bring us flowers halfway through are meal. How sweet is he? So, up until this morning I had three vases on my kitchen table (the only place flowers are safe around here). But the peony really was struggling, so it had to go.
Sadly, the best picture for this post was never taken. I forgot. You may remember me mentioning that I won a couple free movie passes at the Indiana Jones fiesta. Well, they mailed them to us since New Haven is a little bit of a drive for us. We decided to use them last night for Blake's BIRTHDAY! (More on that later). He told me on Monday that's how he wanted to celebrate. So, Tuesday I decided to look for the tickets. Couldn't find them. This is not shocking, unfortunately. During our marriage I have lost, thrown away, or recycled:

1. Our marriage license (I found it a year or two later).
2. Three tickets to "Wicked"
3. My insurance card
4. The remote control to our DVD player (this one was recycled with our newspapers. That takes a special kind of special)

I searched the house about 3 1/2 times with no luck. I called Blake to give him the unfortunate news. He reminded me that they were free to begin with, so it wasn't the end of the world if we had to pay to see the movie. Shortly after getting off of the phone with him I got the feeling I should check the shredder, so I did. And guess what? There they were! By some miracle the top 1/4 inch of both tickets was still in tact. I really wish I would have remembered to take a photo of them because it was pretty funny. The guy behind the movie counter last night just looked at me like I was nuts when I showed them to him and explained what had happened. So, he paged the manager who came and looked at them and had no problem with it.
We saw "Indiana Jones", of course! On a 5-story screen. We sat on the very back row (there were only about 7 other people there) and both had headaches before it was over. (I rode the carousel with the kids and my mom yesterday at the mall and it made me sick. I'm turning into one of those boring old people!) Anyway, we enjoyed the movie a lot. Who doesn't enjoy classic Harrison Ford? I was a little disappointed in the theme of it, but it was well played out and exciting nevertheless. The theater shook quite a bit thanks to the surround sound. The last movie we saw in the theater was "The Davinci Code" so just going to the movies was an adventure. Thanks so much to our friends the Ryders for watching the kids for us!!!
Yesterday was a very busy day for all of us, so that was the only celebrating we did for Blake's birthday. I had so many things planned but there just wasn't time. He didn't even open presents. So, we're stretching it out over the whole weekend! Stay tuned for more fun and photos...