The Last of Summer

Before Beth started back at school, we took the kids to blackberry farm.  Madelyn hadn't been all summer since our playdate in July had been rained out.  She loved the carousel, train and paddle boat rides.  Her favorite slide was the red rollie slide which she went down over and over.

Brian did a dualthlon which he did really well in.  I didn't get many photos since he was so fast but I loved this one of Madelyn helping him wheel his bike back to the car.

We also drove up to Kenosha, WI to celebrate Madelyn's second cousin, Ashlyn's, first birthday! Here are a few cute photos from that.

Ashlyn & Madelyn

Over labor day weekend, we went to the last fling, an annual Naperville festival that Beth and I had grown up going to.  Madelyn had never been on any "rides" per se so we were interested to see how she would do and thought it was best for her to go with her cousins since there were lots of kid only rides.

Madelyn, Juliana and Connor driving the car

Connor held Madelyn hand when she got scared at the top but she said she liked it.

Madelyn and Connor were in the green one

Such a gentleman--Connor holding Madelyn's hand

Daddy went down with Madelyn on the big slide!

Madelyn liked the airplane ride at first

Here she is scared because the ride started osculating.

We also hit up the pool and splash pad one last time before they closed.

Brian's Triathlon

Brian did the Oswego Triathlon for the third time and Madelyn and I went to cheer him on again. Madelyn loved when bikers and runners would come by us. She kept saying "more bikers" or "more runners" and when they came by she would say "good running" or "yeah biker."  There's a little video of her cheering at the end.

Brian in the water with the blue top on dead center

The first wave of swimmers

Madelyn and her "go daddy" sign

Almost done biking

Madelyn cheering with her "clapper"

Almost done with the race

Madelyn and Daddy after the race

Brian wasn't the only one exhausted after the race

Brian realized he should have worn sunscreen. His number 189 was marked on him for awhile!

Here's Madelyn cheering saying "Yeah Biker!" and clapping her "clapper."

Batavia Triathlon

Brian rocked the Batavia Trathlon and Madelyn and I were happy to go cheer him on!  Madelyn and I both enjoy cheering on the racers. She kept saying "Go, Go, Go!" 

Watching the swimming

Brian on Bike

Brian running

Finish time!

Madelyn and Daddy

Madelyn likes the food at the end :)

Brian's Triathlon

Brian did great on his triathlon that he ran August 5th. And Madelyn did a great job cheering him on. She LOVED it when he came by on the swim and run and gave her a high five. Her face was ecstatic.

Holding the sign we made to cheer him on.

Done swimming on to biking!

Done biking on to running!

Almost done running! Saying hi as he makes it to the finish line.

Madelyn was more interested in eating the food than smiling.

Family Photo! Good job Daddy!

Brian's Triathlon

Brian ran the Oswego Triathlon on Sunday, August 7th.  Madelyn and I went to cheer him on as he swam
750m/ 0.5mi in a huge abandoned Quarry then biked 20km/ 12.8mi and ran 5km/ 3.1m.  Brian did really well given that he hadn't really trained much the month of July since he was so busy taking care of me and Madelyn and that a week before the race he realized the swim was twice as long as any of the other triathlons he had ever done!  Luckily he headed to the pool quick to make sure he could even swim that far which of course he could!

Here are some photos:

The swim was Brian's first "open water" swim and a large mass start where about 50 people went in  together instead of 4 people every 5 seconds like the other triathlons he had done.  He said he got kicked quite a few times and even had people swim over him since they couldn't really see anything.

Waiting to go in (Brian's trunks have the green stripe on the side)

The Quarry

The Start

The Start

Brian's somewhere out there swimming

Brian's the person dead center

Yeah, he did it! (Brian's the one with no swim cap on)

On to Transition and Biking:

In Transition (Brian's in Green)

And he's off!

And he's back!

On to Transition and Running:

Now he's running!

He's back from running and almost done!

He finished in 01:32:03.6 which is awesome! 

Click Here for Brian's Professional Finish Picture

What was Madelyn doing the whole time?  Sleeping most of the race away in the baby bjorn. She was probably the youngest spectator at 3 1/2 weeks old but she was happy to cheer her daddy on.

 Here's a photo of Madelyn and Brian after the race :)

Her shirt says "Daddy's Little Girl"