Our Little Runner...

Ashlynn was invited to be one of the five 4th Grade girls invited to take place in a sports day between the three local campuses of our school. She was really disappointed when she found out that her request to run the sprints was turned down and she was to run the 400K and 800K instead. She did well in the 400K, but came in 2nd in the 800K (a 5th Grader won). Her coach was convinced that she would have won if it were a longer distance as she was just hitting her stride. Looks like she takes after her daddy!

Homegrown Solar Heating...

Having a swimming pool in a country where it’s rarely warm is silly. Having a swimming pool without a heater in a country where it’s rarely warm is foolish. Jimmy looked into buying a heater, but prices started at €4,000. Since it’s not our house or our pool, spending that much would be beyond foolish. So, Jimmy put on his inventor’s hat and tried to figure out a way to warm the water using the few sunny days we do have. He came up with a design using plywood, irrigation tubing, plexiglass and a pump. Still not sure if it was his solar system or Mother Nature, but he pool warmed up enough in July for me to float in it for the first time.

4th / 5th Grade Summer Fair...

Ashlynn anxiously awaited the day when she’d be the big kid running a booth at the school’s Summer Fair. She wasn’t initially thrilled when she heard that the theme would be Fairy Tales, but she Masha, Sara and Zoe managed to put together a cute obstacle course called the Walk in the Creepy Woods. I helped prepare lunch for the kids, then worked the strawberries & cream booth. It was fun checking on Ashlynn and seeing her direct and time the younger students through the course. It was quite hot, so Ashlynn saw an opportunity to raise some extra money by charging for a cooling blast from her water spray bottle. Overall, the event raised over €3,000 for a kindergarten in Romania--not bad considering most of the booths only charged €0.10 each.

Our Smiling Girl...

Veronica had to do a quick dry off, put on her running shoes, grab her helmet and race number and walk her bike to the start of the 14K cycle route. As we hung out at the transition area, we didn’t actually see her on that portion of the race. But we did get to see her several times during the 2.5K run as she had to do three loops (which led to major confusion for several of the runners). She was all smiles as she came into the finish line in 58:31. She came in 5th out of the 12-14 year old girls. It was very exciting that her buddy David came in 3rd in the 12-14 year old boys, Max came in 2nd in the 15-16 year old boys and the school team came in 1st. She said she’d gladly do another triathlon, but unfortunately this is the only mini-sprint in Holland. We went out afterwards with a big group for pizza to celebrate.

Our Pink Girl...

When Jimmy was in Cary, he stopped at the tri-store and picked up quick-tie laces and a swimming cap. What luck that she was the only pink cap in a sea of blue. While it had threatened rain earlier in the day, the weather was perfect for a race. The water temp had even heated up, so a wetsuit wasn’t necessary. The swim was 250 meters (half of a sprint triathlon) and she did breast stroke with her head out most of the way.

Our Tri-Girl...

When I got the notice that the school was starting a Triathlon Training Club for the upcoming children’s triathlon in Holland, I suggested to Veronica that she sign up. She wasn’t really interested, but after some gentle persuasion, she agreed to try it. She was the only girl amongst 12 boys and she really liked it (and not just because she was surrounded by boys). It was too cold to actually train in the lake, so they concentrated on the bike, run and transitions for the six weeks. Veronica was very excited and a bit nervous when we arrived to check in for the race on June 11th, she got her number and entered the heat.

Suiting Up for the Lake..

After our return from our fun Austrian adventure, we got together with Sally and the boys to take the kids swimming at the Vlietland, a lake in Voorschoten, in preparation for the upcoming triathlon for Veronica and David. Sally was sweet enough to drive us to Rotterdam to hit a sale on wetsuits. Jimmy came along for a training swim; Ashlynn and Andrew came along to play in the water. At first it seemed kind of silly to buy wetsuits, but then we realized they’d come handy in our cold pool as well.