June 7, 2010

Greetings and happy late springtime to all! Lyell has been busy helping me with the spring cleaning. As you can see here he has developed a new organizational system for the junk mail recycling. Lyell's latest hobby of re-organizing all the household items has kept me on my toes, or more literally, on my hands and knees. Fortunately, we have finally finished our "porch containment system" which allows us to be outside and makes everyone happy.

It is hard to believe that Lyell will be turning one year old in just a few short weeks. I still feel like each day is a new adventure as Lyell's personality unfolds and he becomes more aware of the world. The past six weeks have brought several ups and downs, which I'm learning are just the cycles of parenthood. Just when you think everything is cruising along wonderfully, or when you are sure that it can't get much worse, something shifts.

This past weekend was a super high for me I completed my first Olympic distance triathlon! Unfortunately, at the same time Lyell experienced a low in his health with a wicked and relentless cold that earned him the nickname Mr. FussyPants for the weekend. Here are a few pictures...

Warming up for the start of the race in my snazzy wetsuit. The first leg was a 1.5 km open water swim. I was a tad nervous because I had only practiced once with my wetsuit and it didn't go too well (those of you who know Dawn Lake can imagine swimming it with a wetsuit.)

Awaiting the start of the race the announcer asked if this was anyone's first triathlon, I was one of the only ones to raise my hand...yikes.

The start of the swim, we are aiming for that white triangle waaaaaay out there, then we have to turn right and swim to another distant white triangle and finally back. It looked so far, but the swim actually turned out to be much less scary then it looked.

After the swim I peeled off my wetsuit and prepared for the 24 mile bike. The bike ride went well except that I forgot to drink water, so when I got back and changed for the 6 mile run I realized I was totally dehydrated. Also, the temperature in this lovely Central Valley location had climbed to above 90 degrees and the run section had no shade. So... what I though was going to be the easy part, as running is my sport, turned into a repeated mantra of "one foot in front of the other."

Matthew tried to take some video of the start and finish of the run. He was caught between cheering me on, being videographer and caring for Lyell...

I finished in 3 hours and 5 minutes! The most painful injury I sustained is pictured below. Next time I will take the 20 extra seconds needed to APPLY SUNSCREEN.

This picture sums up Lyell's opinion of the whole event. Poor guy, he had a runny nose, runny eyes, and teeth trying to pop through. He did enjoy swimming in the lake with daddy, making rock collections at our campsite, and playing endless peek-a-boo in his pack and play.

Earlier in May we spent a week with my sister and our parents in Hawaii. Here we are at Kona Brewing Co. for some Friday night fun.

Sisters and cousins at the beach.

Patty and Georgia practice holding their heads up on their bellies.

Lyell enjoys a tropical treat. He really got into the pineapple, so much so that we had to wrestle this one away from him before he ingested the pokey bits.

In the sand with his Buddha belly and luscious thigh rolls.

Lyell and Georgia had lots to talk about. However, their conversations were often abruptly ended when Lyell tried to explore Georgia's eyes or pull out her hair.

They seemed to do much better when they had they own sections in the stroller.

And the Van Kuran's busy schedule wore them out!

Grandpa said, "No problem, I can watch both of the babies for a while." That lasted less than 5 minutes before he called for reinforcements.

We took a trip around the marina on the St. Germain boat. Chip actually drove the boat up to the front door of their house to pick up the babies, which is a perk of living on the Hawaii Kai marina! We are looking forward to Georgia's first trip to Yosemite in September.

Back on the home front Lyell has started to interact more with his little friends. Mostly they just pat each other on the face and hair. But sometimes they do incredibly cute things together, like bang on a piano in unison, or pass a lego back and forth like it's a buried treasure.

Lyell's friend Tamzen is a very good teacher, and she helps him discover the wonders of places like dog kennels.

Spring also brings many festivals to our area, and one of our favorites is the Art and Wine Fair. Our friends sell this beautiful pottery there, and Lyell tries to behave himself amongst all the fancy items.

Here is how the garden looks in the late spring. The first two rows are garlic and the remaining rows have a cover crop growing.

Matthew and his students came to Mariposa to release butterflies for the annual Mariposa Butterfly Festival in the beginning of May.

Lyell and his fan club at and El Portal Elementary event.

Lyell bearing astonishingly close resemblance to the Pilsbury Dough Boy in this picture.

And of course there has been lots of time with Lyell's best friend, Nariz.

Lately Lyell has been practicing his tackling and wrestling skills with the world's most tolerant kitty.

Enough with the pictures already mom! It's time for my nap.

That's all for now from our little household. We are gearing up for a summer of travel and adventure... the north coast, the Kings River and South America are on the agenda. Yikes, what are we thinking?? Better get some sleep while we can.

Love to all,

Kim, Matthew and Lyell