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!