Hazel's Ear Piercing (a first!)

 

For years and years now both of these girls have said they were too scared to get their ears pierced...then all of a sudden this spring Abby decided she was ready.  Just a few short months later Fran was asking to have hers done as well.  We had to wait until swimming season was behind us, but in just two short months this one will be accessorizing with earrings just like her sister!

The review:  It didn't hurt at all!

Devil's Lake Tri

 

You'd be hard pressed to tell from these two pictures I took over the weekend, but we had a nice big crew there to cheer Ryan on at the Devil's Lake Tri this past weekend.  Mom and Dad and Erin came to spend the weekend camping and race watching.  We'd planned to have Jamie and Zach and family join us too but the McGrath's have been slowly recovering from some bad colds and contrary to this photo, Hazel was still feeling pretty under the weather this weekend after missing 4 days of school last week.  So Jamie opted for healthy kids and they dropped out of the weekend.  Totally understood!

We hiked a new hike along the river near Prairie Du Sac - nice to try something new but I don't know that this will be a hike we do again...and grabbed refreshments at the Vintage Brewing Company that is right there in town. We did scope out some ideas for when we're up there again in a few weeks with the McCarthy's though!  After hiking we stopped at the Ski-Hi Apple Orchard and grabbed caramel apples, apple donuts, apple cider and even some cider rye which I'm excited to add to a future old fashioned!  

This trip was the type of camping we love most!  We hike a little, play some games, make a fire, sit around and chat and generally take things slow!  Abby made tonka pizzas for everyone and we had a big meal of spaghetti and italian sausage for dinner per Ryan's pre-race request.  

Ryan raced really consistently with where he's placed in years past.  He finished in 1:34:59 and came in 129 of 607.  I did the math and he placed in the top 1/3 for his wave (age range) and over the past 3 or 4 years (I can't remember how many he's done now...) he's finished each year within a minute or two of that same time.  Not bad for the only race of the year!  I'm sure it was the spaghetti dinner that did it :)

1 Family x 12 (Sept)

 

Another camping trip and Ryan's first and last tri of the year is in the books!  It felt very summer like this past weekend with temperatures near 90....we're not quite ready for summer to be behind us, but we are looking forward to cooler temperatures.