Whee Luke's 3!

These last few days have been a whirlwind for us. Luke had his birthday party on Saturday and the kids had a BLAST at Little Gym. Also, Dan and I took a little getaway w/his siblings to Lake Tahoe, we were only there for 3 days but it was beautiful. We had our fill of good food and scenery for sure. The kids are BOTH on Soccer teams now and are loving it.

Florida Trip

I got to see my Great Aunt Annie in Florida. Jamie and Mandi went with me and we had a great time. It was a quick trip--just the weekend but it was better than nothing! My cousins Amy and Johnny were wonderful hosts!

Katie and Diego's visit

We are going through withdrawls. Seriously, we miss our twin neice and nephew so much after their visit from El Paso. The twins are 10 years old and are so much fun to hang around--the boys just LOVED all the playing and attention from the "Big kids". Diego got picked for the Shamu show at Sea World and was the star in front of thousands of people! We did so much, went to the Wildflower Center for Dragonfly Nature Night, rode the Zilker Zephyr, went to a birthday party, went swimming, and generally just had a wonderful time! Diego made friends with the frog that lives in our front yard and he would visit him on occasion when the sun went down. They caught minnows and tadpoles in the pond at the Wildflower Center. Katie got her face painted and we made crafts. Good times!

Finn earning his White Belt

Finn earned his White Belt this week by leading the class in the Star Block Combination. He did such a great job, we are so proud of him. We learned that his white belt is to never touch the ground (but if it accidentally does to just pick it right back up), never wash it, and we need to tie it in this special knot before every class. He is to learn how to tie the knot and do it himself as soon as he can. Also, the top of the knot signifies his teacher and the bottom of the knot is Finn and the bond that ties them together is Karate. I have to say his Karate teacher, Iris Frills is simply outstanding. She is so great with the kids and there is an air of respect in the room. We are lucky to be a part of her class. Also, she is seeing about starting a class for 3 year olds in the fall, if it happens Luke has informed us that he would like to take Karate.

4th of July Weekend

We took the kids to the Dallas Aquarium and they loved it! We stayed at the Belmont Hotel, it's been

renovated and has a swanky vibe http://www.belmontdallas.com/ We had a great time visiting with friends and family over the holiday weekend. The Urbina's were down from Chicago and Alex's sisters have a cute bungalo near the hotel. Our first night Alex's father whipped up some margaritas (see top) and taco's w/some beef he brought in from Mexico, delish!

Tattoo Totin Finn

After the Summer Spongebob Grantapalooza Finn came home with a sleeve de homage to the Squarepants! So, in English that means there was a Spongebob themed summer party at Grant's house and he had a rockin good time! I left the party early to get my nails done and Dad brought the boys home. This is what I came home to. Apparently they got their fill of Wii, too! Tattoo's and Wii, that's a pretty good Saturday mornin.

My First Triathlon!

I did it! I completed my first triathlon in 1:51 minutes. Although I didn't have any set expectations of my time I was happy with the result. My friend Leilani and I got the exact same time and this is her 7th Danskin! My swim took longer than in training, I had been swimming in 19 minutes and the race took 23. The bike was 44 minutes and I had been averaging about 50 minutes in training, yay! The run sucked--it was difficult and I was very fatigued at that point. We had been up since 4:00am, too. The women who I did it with are ROCKSTARS! The women in the picture with me are the Lightfoot Ladies, honoring Ms. Lightfoot who died of Cancer--Alli's mom's friend. This was Alli's 10th YEAR in a row to do the Danskin! This would have been Leilani's 9th year but she couldn't do it the 2 years she was pregnant--so year 7 it was. Barbara didn't know how to swim but got lessons for the Danskin and did it 4 years ago for the first time, she's done it every year since and rocks the house. An average swim takes anywhere from 20-15 minutes and Barb's first year was 55 minutes, now she is around 40 minutes and that girl has GUTS! Barb is inspirational to people she doesn't even know--Leilani told the story of Barb in the dance class she teaches and a person came up to her after class and said she felt like she was speaking to her--that she wants to do a triathlon and Barb's story really hit home! People have asked me if I am going to do it again and the answer is HECK YES! It was challenging but now I feel a since of accomplishment and empowerment. Finn was so proud to see Mommy run across the finish line! I had so many friends and family supporting me, thank you sooooo much!

Open Water Swim

No, this is not me. It's stock photography of the Quarry Lake on Pure Austin's website, thank you pureaustin.com.

On Sunday I swam a mile (2 laps around Quarry Lake). It was my first extreme distance in open water. The Quarry is a great little lake behind Pure Austin Gym in North Austin. The Aquatics Instructor gave us a pre-triathalon workshop chalked full of pointers and spotting techniques. It was really helpful! Unbeknownst to me I got completely sunburned while out there (while wearing SPF 45, the water washed it all off), so I am staying indoors all week.

Dan on the other hand has been out side a little more that he wanted to! We got a new car around Thanksgiving and it's a 2005 year model, well this fancy new car left my husband stranded on the side of the highway yesterday while going out of town on a business trip. Before the trip--the computer on the car started wigging out and so he took it into the dealer. They checked it out--put it on a computer there, and said it must have been a glitch. They sent Dan on his way and WHAMMO, right outside of LaGrange the thing just DIED. Dan was in his business suit waiting in the HEAT on the side of the road for a replacement car to come. A replacement car did come and they were very apologetic, but still! We'll see how this pans out--the car was Certified Preowned when we bought it--the only thing it had been brought in for was cupholders so go figure!

Here's the latest on the rest of the fam: Katie and Diego are coming July 9-13. Jamie and I are going to visit Aunt Annie and Amy & Johnny Aug 1-3. Finn starts Karate tomorrow! The boys start swimming lessons on Tuesday! Busy times for us but so fun--all summer all the time!

Happy Memorial Day

Every Memorial Day I think of my wonderful Grandparents who were both Veterans. My Grandmother was a WAC (Women's Army Corps) and P.J. was a Naval Captain at the time of his retirement in 1968. I miss them terribly and thank you for your service to our wonderful country!

The holiday weekend went fast, geesh! George was here and we had some friends over Sunday night for guacamole and Mexican taco's. Rhonda made these festive treats, delish! Monday morning I got to meet some really nice folks also doing the triathlon and we rode some hills, monster hills--about 8 miles of them it was really good conditioning. Race day we need to be up and at 'em at 4:30 in the morning and Dan is going to go with Leilani and I, so the 2 week countdown is upon us. I did about a 16-19 lap swim (lost count but wanted to keep pushing) this morning. Saturday morning Leilani and I are going to ride those hills again then drive over to the quarry and do an open water swim. I want to do at least one before race day. I know it's different from the pool and I am completely comfortable w/open water but I have never swam competitively in open water before. The good part is that I practically grew up in open water as I lived the first 15 years of my life on the lake. I am totally used to NO visibility and muddy lake bottoms. Thanks to Lake Nasworthy, uh lake Nasty Water to the locals!

The butteflies are here the butterflies are here. Or the Mariposa's are here as Diego would say! We ordered the butterfly farm and got the caterpillars via snail mail. We actually lost the larve (under Finn's drawers) for a few days (about 6) and the chrystallis molted and turned into butterflies flying around in the little jar w/food just in time to be placed in the butterfly sanctuary. We give them a fresh slice of orange every morning. Finn wants to set them free today. We'll let you know how that goes! Love to all!! Joelle, Dan, Finn and Luke

Training is coming along

Yesterday I did a brick workout in 90 degree weather, yeehaw good training I tell ya. George (Dan's brother) came in town for Memorial Day weekend so he played w/the boys while Dan and I rode to the Veloway. We ran into an old friend from the Southwest Cycling team and did an extra lap with him. I had never done 5 laps on the veloway before (a lap is 3 miles) so adding the ride there and back I did about 18 miles on the bike yesterday, yay! When I got home, I put my cap and running shoes on and ran down to Dick Nichols pool. They started charging, what???? It has been FREE all these years but I ran in and this poor high school kid was trying to get me to pay and I was all red faced and I just asked if I could get wet and he said go ahead. I can't believe they charge now but it did seem alot less seedy. Oh well, I'll have to remember to grab some cash in case I need to get that core body temp down again. I also did my first train in my snazzy new tri-suit. It's a swimsuit w/ cycling shorts that don't drag too much in the water. It really makes a difference! It was so comfortable!

Also, Dan and I went to III Forks last night for my belated Birthday dinner. I had never been there and they are known for their steaks. For my soup I had Lobster Bisque, my fav, then the entree was a bone-in Rib-Eye, yum! It had Lump crab meat w/hollandaise and asparagus on top. Dan had the Sea Scallops and they were delicious.

Tonight our friends the Gums are coming over for dinner. Should be fun w/lots of guacamole and Mexican taco's. They are bringing Margarita fixins and dessert. Not too many margaritas for me though, because Leilani and I are heading out Monday morning to do the actual bike portion of the Triathalon at Decker Lake w/some other women. Well, I better go, happy Sunday!

My birthday and Mother's Day Weekend

Here is an updated family shot of us before Dan and I headed out to Bo's 40th birthday party! It just so happened that Bo's party was on my birthday so we had double the reason to celebrate. All is well in the Dowe household. My triathalon training is coming along. Earlier this day (of the picture) I did a brick which was to bike 15 miles then run--but Mother's Day was a complete rest day, YAY! Today I did 16 laps in the pool (roughly 1/2 mile) along with about a 2 mile run. The training is getting so much easier than in the beginning--we are roughly 3 weeks away from the event. Finn and Luke are all signed up for Swim lessons starting June 9th and I got the brochure to possibly start up gymnastics again. Finn has to make a decision between Karate and Gymnastics for the summer sessions. They offer a Karate program at Lifetime Fitness where we practically live, so we'll have to see how that shakes out. The flowers in the back are totally bloomed and are looking great. We have a nest of baby bird eggs in our folding chair cup holder on the side of the house. I should take a picture of them! Last time I checked the eggs the mama bird was sitting right on top and she didn't even fly away when I peeked under the cup holder nylon cover, there was just this little bird staring up at me with those little brown eyes, it was a little startling but amazing! It's so incredible that this mama bird could find this perfect little habitat for her eggs, complete with roof in the cup holder of a dilapidated folding chair!

Peaceful playing on brother's bed

This moment was so precious I just had to get the camera and freeze it in time. The breeze was gently coming in and the room was so relaxing, I could have dozed off myself.



It's been a while since I've blogged but I have been one very busy gal. My friend Leilani talked me into doing my first Triathalon in June. It's a half mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 5K run. My workouts are going well and I got a fancy new bike. Dan was more than happy to ablige my bike needs. I got a used time trial bike from Bo. It's very light and I am taking it out for the first time this weekend. The kids are doing great and we've had one adventure after another. Strawberry picking, Zoo trip, SeaWorld to name a few.

Tah Da

Luke's Little Gym Show Day was today and he tumbled and tah daahed all over that place. He had a grand ole time and Miss Sarah helped him with the spotting.

Start to a Great 2008!

What a whirlwind of a year so far! We started 2008 off with a bang with Finn's 4th birthday. Finn helped me make the treats for his birthday, being white-chocolate covered pretzels with orange sprinkles. He had to have an Orange themed birthday. It seems his fav color is now Orange, sorry blue! Some of the pics are: Amy and George, Finn and Grant making music, the treats, and Christmas eve at our friends house!

Christmas 2007

We decided to stay in Austin this year and have Christmas at our house. Here's our tree! The boys had a great Christmas but we sure did miss everyone that was out of town.