We found a rental home about 5-6 years ago in Boyne City, Michigan. This trip was our 4th  and it feels like going to visit an old friend's house. We love this area so much as it provides us with the snowfall we crave and yet if the snow isn't deep enough for skiing then there is a large indoor water park at the base of the ski mountain the provides guaranteed fun.

The little nook just inside the garage door (by kitchen)


The kitchen is fully set up with kitchen supplies, just bring the food!



We love the washer and dryer; I don't have to go home with loads of laundry to do and the snow clothes dry fast!

 

Go up a couple steps and there is a small Living Room, 2 BRM, 1 Bath and diningroom table, TV/DVD player. Teddy and I took one bedroom and Shira the other.



Go up a flight of stairs and you have a great room built above the garage with a 1 bed, 2 sleeper couches, shelf of books, TV/DVD player, 1 bath; Jacinda and Syreeta claimed this space this time.

 

We arrived Sat. late afternoon, the sun shone all 5 hours; as we got farther north the snow deepened. The area had been hit with about 8-10 inches of snow the night before. The snowmobiles were everywhere , like how motorcycle rallies go in the summer! We drove to Boyne Mountain were we planned to ski ( about 15 min from the rental house), dropped Teddy's snowboard and Jacinda's skis to get checked and waxed up. We longingly watched the small crowd of skiers enjoying the mountain but to pay for 1/3 of a day didn't seem the best choice so decided to wait for Monday and hope for more snow in the meantime.  Then headed to the house, unloaded food (from past experience knew shopping at home and taking food up was cheaper); the girls squealed in delight ,running from room to room trying to decide what space to claim as their own for the week. Teddy crashed on the downstairs couch for a little nap (we were going to take the girls sledding) , his exhaustion and relaxing hit all at once and so I sent the girls out to play as sledding was becoming something to do Sunday. Teddy caught up on some sleep after a 2 hour nap, the girls broke as many icicles and they could and Chinese was ordered for supper.

Sunday:
Papa's (Grandpa Weatherby's ) pancakes and "Let's go sledding!!" We found the local , free, LARGE sledding hill a couple years ago and a couple runs up/down and one is spent!! It gives a huge thrill and you (at least girls) can't help but scream/hoot /hollar all the way down.




Teddy and I went to the local grocery store to pick up a few odds n' ends we had missed ... bad idea! Made the grocery stores at home seem like paradise!! Just wasn't a good day to go grocery shopping (machines not working , lengthly price checks, slow staff, long wait!)

Then we decided to check out the hours at the indoor water park, Avalanche Bay, and we were so glad that we did because they are only open on the weekends since the schools are still in session. It is nice to go when school is still in as we do not fight any crowds but the hours are sometimes shorter. So we were at the indoor park from 4pm-8pm. We found out that it wasn't open again until the day we left so we only had 4 hours there.



Teddy and Jacinda just off the waterslide and now into the lazy river; Syreeta loved playing on these tethered
Ice cubes...she spent a lot of time going across these.



Shira made a friend , Sabrina , pretty quickly and they spent the whole time together , exchanged addresses and emails too!



Enjoying a ride together! Two thumbs up!



Monday:
We (Teddy and I) got up earlier than we normally do to get a bacon and egg breakfast into all of us and get to the mountain to get skis rented for Shira, Syreeta and me,and get the girls signed up for a 2 hour ski lesson refresher course.
We were thrilled that the snow fell overnight and was still falling!! SWEET!! Teddy and I hit the easy slopes to get our bearings.  We joined up with the girls at noon, went and had our packed lunch together and then hit the slopes together until about 2:30pm. We had to break down and by goggles for all of us , between the snow from heaven and the man made snow blowers , visibility was poor and our eyes were being stung! Teddy ran the girls back to the house , I kept skiing, and then Teddy rejoined me to keep skiing until 4:30pm. We put in a solid 5.5 hours of skiing in on Monday. We picked up some movies on the way back to the house. I had planned crock pot meals so we went home to hot food ready to eat! So while I unwound in the hot tub , the kids watched a movie, we had supper, vegged and went to bed. Successful day and the snow is still falling!



Big accomplishment , getting on the lifts unassisted!! This year is the first!




Shira very pleased!



The instructors are incredible skiers, going downhill backwards fully controlled and making it look so easy.


 

TUESDAY:

We all hit the slopes together. The girls had proven good skills to do the easy slopes so we did all those and did some that were a little harder. Shira didn't wipe out once if I remember correctly , Syreeta and Jacinda had a few but those lessened by lunchtime and then seemed to increase a little by the time we went home. Everyone was pooped, rosy cheeked and hungry!!





WEDNESDAY:

The girls too tired to ski opted to stay home and chill. The snow had fallen through the night and was falling pretty hard again , roads were slick and visibility was worse than Monday but  Teddy and I were eager to get as much in as we could even though our muscles were groaning very loudly ~ we went and skied harder runs and got our fill in about 4 hours, calling it a day. Had a nice lunch in there at the mountainside bar &grill.

The drive to the mountain that morning:


All the snow Teddy collected on the way down!



Groomers and man made snow blowers (both made the mountain very noisy but they run them full tilt during the week and shut them down for the weekend)

 

Lunch ~ it was a "date" :




We headed back to the house and gave thumbs up to the girls to head outside. They happily played in the snow for a couple hours:



THURSDAY:
Vacation is over so it is time to pack up and head for home. Pretty reflection of the sun on the drive...



Happy to be home with all the cats and oh, so sleepy!

I have continued training for my Triathlons and am doing well at being consistent but I could tell that although my swimming is good , it wasn't fantastic. Teddy had taken some swimming videos of me and I showed them to a good friend who had swam competitively in High School and some in University. He gave me some pointers and then told me I should look up his H.S. swim coach and see if he would be willing to spend a little time with me. Teddy totally jumped on the idea and found this coach. His record precedes him:
http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.3 (Win32)">

BRYAN RATHKE, Goshen coach

Boys swimming and diving coach from 1968-83 and 1992-1994; girls swimming and diving coach from 1991-1997 and member of the Goshen Athletic Hall of Fame.

* Led Redskin boys squad to record 61 consecutive dual meet victories.

* Named Northern Lakes Conference Coach of the Year five times.

* Led Redskins to six undefeated seasons, 12 Goshen Relays championships, 13 NLC championships, 7 sectional titles, 176-38 dual meet record.

* Attended University of Evansville, participated on swim team for four years; named All-American junior and senior years.

* Masters swim national finalist in 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard butterfly events.

I read this and quivered!! Just having someone watch me and give pointers was bad enough but knowing this made it more intimidating. I got out of my comfort zone though and went to meet him. It was fun! He is very nice and was willing to give me pointers ; I look forward to improving my technique!!

Fall is here and I thought Summer went fast.....I have on the calendar to start thinking about Christmas!! How time flies!!
I blog mostly for easy connection with my parents ~ here you go Dad and Mom.

I put highlight pics in a Fall album and put a comment with each one. If you want to see the pic. better just click on them and they get bigger then you can scroll down just a bit to see the comment. Enjoy.

I love you guys!!

 Memorial Day was not as hot and sunny as we had hoped but it was warm enough for the kids to get into the pool and turn bluish

It was a day of  little activity for the adults , just what we all needed!!

 

I signed up for my first olympic distance triathlon this month, spontaneously. I've been planning to do 2 this summer but was thinking it would be at the end of the summer. However, I am on vacation for a week and this one fits my schedule beautifully, we are even going to camp as a family!!

I've done 6 Sprint distance triathlons, but the Olympic distance is a whole new experience and beast to conquer. The race is 1500m swim lake water with wet suits allowed due to the water temp of 61F  followed by a 40K bike ride (25 miles) and then a 10K "scenic trail run through the state park" (6.2 miles).

On paper "scenic trail run through the state park" sounds lovely, pretty even. I know state parks have wonderful paved bike trails so this was the expectation I went with. Little did I know it was a real " trail run" on the hiking trails of the park. I decided that I had better get at least one 6 mile run accomplished before the race so I could tell myself , "don't quit, you've done this before!!" . I did my first ever 6 mile distance run on Monday and the race would be the following Saturday.

We arrive at Pokagon State Park Friday evening , in the rain. Set up our pop-up camper inbetween rain showers.Decided on forgoing a soggy attempt at cooking hotdogs and went to the Inn for a warm buffet supper (good choice).Then went to check out the transition area and beach so I would know where to go early the next morning. Having never been there. I was aghast at the distance from beach to transition area and the hill I would have to run up! If only I had realized that was just one of the many, many hills I would have to conquer the next day.

 

Thunder, lightening and jitterbug nerves kept me awake until early in the morning. I kept praying the storm would blow over and break into a sunny day on Sat. but it was not meant to be. I woke up to grey haze with no glimmer of sun!! Boo hoo! It was cold and damp with rivets on either side of the road where the storm had rushed down the hill. Thankfully I had taken a thin thermal top with long sleeves, I ended up wearing the whole race (with exception of the swim). As I head down to the transition area and start seeing the other participants/competitors I am struck at the difference in the people from the Sprint races. These people are fit, strong, have all their gear (which looks well used), no one is asking questions (which to me , means this is not new to them), "hammer dogs" ~ as one of my friends calls them~  there really isn't much loud boisterous talking and mingling among the crowd ~ I'm impressed and just a little intimidated. I know this race is a national qualifier for people who are serious but I didn't really expect it to bring in those people just due to the location ~  I'm dead wrong! I'm starting to wonder what I got myself into,  my nerves are about frazzled and I haven't even started!! Excited/nervous/worried... I get the wet suit on (which I've only tried once in a pool 3 days ago), Teddy with the girls arrive cheering me on. Their arrival  helps my nerves considerably!!

 

 

Going over rules , USAT regulations and safety measures...

 

I was so impressed at how warm I stayed with the wet suit. Swimming was the most enjoyable part of the race and doing the longer distance allows you to settle into your pace. The wind started to pick up on the way back making the waves bigger...I swallowed a few mouthfuls. I even got to swim with a fish ; as I finish the swim I am climbing out of the water when I remember I was told to take the wet suit halfway off in the water because it's easier. So I backed up a bit and squatted down but then couldn't get a hold of my zipper, my arms felt heavy and that motion felt like I was trying to move an arm that had fallen asleep. Teddy was there as I crossed the clock mat and I held onto him to pull the rest of my wet suit off, if he hadn't of been there I would have fallen taking it off, the cold water in my ears made me a little dizzy. Got the wet suit off and up the stairs I go to transition.

 

I made myself slow down, catch my breath as I washed off my feet. Putting my socks on and I realized it was drizzling. Darn it!! I have to bike in the rain!! I put on my long sleeved thin thermal shirt ~ I'm so glad I have it! Helmet on, leave my sunglasses (won't be needing them today) and grab the bike. I got to use an incredible bike for this race. I have a friend at work that has a carbon fiber frame bike with all DurAce Shimano components and I am thrilled at the opportunity to use it. I haven't even used it , I just got it out of the bike shop 1 day ago (getting it season ready). I'm also a bit freaked out because I've heard horror stories of those thin tires hydroplanning on wet roads ~ oh well, here it goes anyway!!  I saw as fast as 30 mph and as slow as 10 mph going up a hill into a head wind. The bike was very hilly, windy and it rained most of it. I remember thinking, "I've never shifted so many gears on a bike in my life!!"  The last couple miles I passed a lady in my age group (I later find out it's just the two of us in the 30-35 age group) and am psyched because she was already on the way back when I was still on my way out. "Keep ahead of her!" is pounding repeatedly through my brain.

 

 

I gulped down some SPARK in transition and was so filled with adrenaline that I started to move out of the transition area and into the run with my helmet still on. I realize it and throw it at someone on the sidelines yelling my name (it was on my bike when I got back ); I still hadn't realized that the "scenic run" was on hiking trails. I turn the bend and we head into the bush.......up the washed out trails....down into the ankle deep mud puddles that you couldn't really side step....up another gravely hill, down into more mud ( it was at mile 1 I realized the whole run was going to be like this , so much for pretty! Try pretty grueling!!)....the lady I had passed at the end of the bike is somehow magically  behind me!!  I push a little harder to keep her back there...then my legs start screaming and I have to walk (even just for a couple steps) she walks up that hill too (thank you , Jesus!! ) So we run together for awhile, not talking (unlike the Sprint races, I gabbed with whoever). At about mile 3 , my left knee that has been doing so good starts to pinch, I decide to walk just to take the edge off. "The other lady" passes me, rounds a corner , up a hill...and that's the last I see of her (she finishes 5 min. ahead of me). I did a lot of groaning and grouching the last 3 miles. It was raining, cold, up/down/up/down those hills. My mental fortitude was gone!! So I looked at my watch and decided that I could walk/run but I had to get done in the time I had set for myself. So I pushed a little harder....FINALLY , I can hear voices and music and I hear myself cheering me on...kinda in an out-of-body sort of way...By now my knee is really hurting and I think I'm done , I round a corner and there is one more ginormous hill....I hear myself say out loud, " are you kidding me?!!" .  I run through the finish line and I finished 30 sec. less than my personal goal. I flop to the ground and am a little embarrassed to say, shed a few tears ~ at least I know I laid it all out there!!

Finished 3:19:32 ( have lots to improve on but I am proud of finishing)!!! The time on the clock is from the very beginning when the guys started...

Swim: 34:40 ~ Trans 1 (3:31) ~ Bike ( 1:27:48 = 16.9mph/average) ~ T2 ( 58 sec) ~ Run ( 1:12 = 11:41 min/mile average)