Saturday started off with piano. We got right back into the swing of things with Peyton going first, then Brandon. Dave was supposed to go to the dealership to get our car’s recalled airbag fixed. It’s been a long time coming since we were first notified, but they kept telling us that the parts weren’t in yet. I was supposed to go with him, and I thought he was waiting until after piano, then I realized, he was gone! He waited 1.5 hours for the car, so we were able to finish up everything here at home. When he got home, he took Peyton out to try the next size bike for her, Brandon’s old one. They went out for awhile, then they came home and switched. She took a nap, while Brandon and Dave went to try his next size bike. When they came home, Peyton woke up, and it was time for Thiago’s 1st birthday party. I was going to take the kids while Dave hung around home. Both kids had Tarez, Thiago’s mom, and we didn’t think we’d know many people there. It was at a park, and it started out shady. As soon as we’d gotten in the car, the kids both announced they had to potty! I couldn’t believe it; I’d told them they had to take care of these things on their own, and that I couldn’t always remind them to go. It turns out there was no potty at the park. We were one of the first to arrive, even though it was a quarter after 1pm. Tarez took us to her in-laws house to go potty, since she didn’t want the kids to use the portapotty. We didn’t even see the portapotty, so it was fortunate no one else was there. We got to see the birthday boy and his brother. The kids went potty, then we helped bring items back to the park to set up. The taco lady was just getting ready, and the bouncy house guy was late. The kids went to play in the structure area, while I helped Tarez and her friend Amanda set up. Soon, some of Luis’ friends arrived, and he was brought out to entertain them. They were a bunch of 5 year olds, so Brandon wasn’t very interested. Later, Elena brought her nephews, and Brandon was happy to see older kids, especially boys. They were 6, 8, and 10, so it was perfect. Soon, the bouncy house people came. They set it up, and the group of younger boys went in. I told my kids to stay out, since they were so much bigger. I didn’t want them to bump into the little guys. I told them when the younger kids were eating, they could take their opportunity to go. So, when the taco truck lady was done while the first round was playing, the kids ate their tacos. Both weren’t really that hungry, as they had their eye on the jumpy. But, as the little kids were jumping, the air started to deflate and the house started to sink! Kids were being trapped inside, while their parents were trying to pull them out. The grandma nearby was holding the door open, and one dad pulled the last kid out. He was in the back corner when it started to go down. After the kids were pulled out to safety, they started looking at the mechanism. It was right after one mom expressed her concern over the jumpy, saying she watched a kid get their arm broken when a bigger kid fell on a younger kid. I had seen footage of the things blowing away, and while it was windy, I wasn’t too worried about that. They found the problem, fixed it with some tape (the plug wasn’t secured from the generator to the blower), and then the thing inflated. I was secretly happy that the kids hadn’t gone in that round, as they would have been heavier and harder to get out of there. The jumpy was completely empty, and then I gave the go ahead to go in. I kept my eye on it, and since it was just the two of them, I told them not to touch each other. They more or less listened, and there wasn’t much noise from them. I was able to finish up eating, hang out with Elena and chat with Amanda more. Soon, more people started to come, and it got more crowded. Brandon was jumping with Elena’s nephews, and the younger one was friendly with Peyton. Soon, the bigger boys started to rough-house more, and Elena’s mom kicked them out. While they were at it, I kicked Brandon out, too, since he was getting wild as well. It was about time to go, so we said our thank you and goodbyes. It was over 90 degrees out, but it was comfy in the shade. Despite being in the shady jumpy, Brandon’s whole head was wet. Peyton had little beads of perspiration on her nose. We headed home to Dave, who was waiting for us so we could go check out the triathlon site with Leon and his family. Tyler would be doing the race, and it wasn’t as well-organized as the last one, so we had to do some recon. Leon was already there when we arrived, and we walked a bit of the track where we thought the kids would be. The kids were getting excited, talking to each other, and asking each other questions. Finally, after we were done, we all headed to dinner. Luckily, Edith scored us a table nearby at a Chinese restaurant. Dave was happy 🙂 The kids, too. In fact, we all ate well, cleaning up all that was ordered. We said our good byes to them, knowing we’d see them again the next day.
This morning, it was already hot when we left the house to get checked in. We arrived, and we got the kids’ gear ready to go. Luckily this wasn’t our first one, and we knew a bit more of what to expect. This time, I wore running shoes, so I could get around more easily. Last time, I was trying to run from one spot to another to see more, and it was tough in flip flops. This time, I was more mobile. Brandon was up first, and Dave had just returned from getting breakfast for the kids. For Brandon, it was too late. He was already in the corral for the swim. I’d tried to give him some strategy about choosing lanes. He was on his own, since he’s older. He wasn’t able to have a parent with him. He got a middle lane when all was said and done. When he started, he cheated over and was in the center of his lane. He was never able to swim straight, but the family next to me remarked their kid would, “do better if that other kid stayed in his lane.”
At which point, as Brandon neared, I cheered for him. I’m sure they realized it was MY kid that was hogging their kid’s lane, as they didn’t say anymore. Of course, Peyton added fuel to the fire by saying, “Brandon’s beating the kid in his lane this time, Mommy!” Geez. I really wasn’t trying to instigate anything; I just didn’t want to hear anything negative. Truth is, it didn’t matter that Brandon was in the center of the lane, the other guy was a full body length if not more behind him. I overheard them say it was his first race. He was Brandon last time. I did smile at them as we were leaving. Brandon got out of the pool, though he’s still not able to do it on one fell swoop because he’s so slippery and tired. He had tight swim shorts on now, which another mom, whose kid was doing it for the first time, said her kid was wearing board shorts. I shared that Brandon had done the same thing last time. And that I’d learned my lesson, as she was wearing nice sandals. She’d shared with me that she had the same running shoes, so we bonded over that while waiting for the heat to start. Again, glad I’d already gotten our first one over with. Brandon ran out to the transition area, and he found his bike right away. Dave was over there to help him outside of the corral, just to make sure he could find it. There were fewer bikes than last time, so it wasn’t as much an issue. He rode out, and was on his way. As Dave and I were waiting for Brandon to come back, an older kid came flying down. The road on that side narrowed a bit, and then there was a thick curb, where we’d parked the car last night. His dad was cheering, then shouted, “Watch out!” The kid ran right into the curb, flipped over his bike, and then came to a crashing halt. I had to turn away, it was so horrifying. The dad came running in, and I tried my hardest to not look there. But it happened RIGHT in front of us! I was looking back for Brandon to make sure he didn’t get caught up in that. Dave ran over to move the cones and barriers to block that part of the bike lane off. It was like having to set up a merging area on the freeway, where you gradually reduce the lane. That hadn’t been done by the race organizers, and this kid was suffering because of it. He walked off the course, clearly in shock, as his wrist was dangling from the rest of his arm. He whimpered a bit, but he was walking on his own power. Brandon never came back from the second half of his first lap. He needed 3 more, and I was going to count them for him. Dave stayed on the other side of the street to warn other riders to stay away from that area. He told me to go check on Brandon, thinking maybe he fell too somewhere. Or worse, that he cheated the laps. I walked back over to the transition area, and sure enough, I saw him on foot, going in for the run. I was so disappointed. See, even though the athletes are supposed to keep track of their own laps, and it was an honor system, the run-tracker on his bib was counting laps. So, I kind of gave up on watching him, and just stood around the end of the finish area waiting for him to return. I think he was doing 2 laps, as required, as I’d seen him just after lap one was finished. I was hoping he didn’t “win” first place in his heat, which even then, I don’t think was the case as he was not even the first half of kids to come out of the pool. Finally, he came down the finisher’s shoot after having gotten his medal. I told him the situation, and he said he didn’t know. I was still upset, and he was embarrassed because he didn’t want me to talk about it. We headed back over to Dave and Peyton who were waiting in the shade by the pool. We still had plenty of time before her heat started. We saw two of their friends, each a classmate of one of our kids. They were opposite genders, so they didn’t compete with one another. Which is good. We also ran into Tyler, who was all ready to go. Peyton got to go down with Dave, and they got a pretty good lane, in the middle of the pack. She got a cheer squad, because Leon and Tyler were there to watch.
By then, since we were near the last heats to go, we watched from within the pool. Some parents were quite annoying, with younger kids and their SCOOTERS inside the pool area. Also, there were extended family members, all getting in the way of the racers. We hung out and exited the pool area right after the final racer did, so we didn’t interfere with their progress. We got to see Peyton out of the bike area. After seeing the earlier crash, I was worried for her, especially as I watched her accelerate past at least one other rider.
When she rode by, she had a big grin on her face! We watched her come back the other way, too, then we waited for her coming around the track.
She only had one lap of each, so there was no cheating the laps for her. I was proud of her because she racked her own bike coming into the transition area. Dave saw many parents taking their kids’ bikes just as they were entering the transition area, and running the bikes down for them, while the kids headed out on foot. Peyton had to do it all on her own. She came around Brandon when she was starting her run and gave him a high five that he’d extended, which I thought was sweet.
Dave left her to come with us, and I sent him back, as she needed the encouragement in the final stretch. Brandon extended his hand once again right before the finish line, but I told him it wasn’t necessary as she’d have to veer over to us. She finished up, and still was smiling.
By this time, Edith and Alexis were coming over for Tyler. I let the kids go back and get their snacks. Brandon said he didn’t get anything the first time around since he just wanted to find us. Later, he clarified that he’d had a banana and bagel before finding us. Peyton and I cheered Tyler on, while Dave and Brandon went back to grab the bikes, since we were close to the exit where we parked. When it was all said and done, Brandon was DQ’d, Peyton finished 20 out of 41 for her heat, the 6 year old girls, and Tyler tied for 4th place. Lucie got #2, while her brother took #1! They are awesome! I chatted with Brandon after we got home to look at the results and told him about the timing chip that he was wearing in his bib. I told him I’d give him one more chance at the tri. He really wanted to do it again, saying that he wasn’t aware. If he gets DQ’d again, that’ll be his last race. I told him even if he finished last place, he’d still be a winner because he finished. But since he didn’t finish, that wasn’t the case. Peyton shaved off almost 3 minutes from her time last time; I chalk it up to being able to find her bike quickly, unlike last time where she and Dave spent that time looking for it. She had twice as far to run, but she was definitely more motivated, despite it being much warmer. She definitely wants to keep going at it! I warned her next year will be farther distances, and she said she’d be older, and would have more time to have “trained”. I’ll post videos later…
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I took Brandon with me to do errands, while Peyton went to the pool with Dave. Brandon was serving out a ‘grounding’ for his behavior earlier in the week. But, he is easier to take on errands because he’s much faster than Peyton. She kind of lags, where I use his hyperactivity to my advantage. We zipped into the frame store, then to the library, and to Target, which was a madhouse because of back to school. I’d gotten some yogurt, milk, and some other things, and then quickly went into whole foods to buy one thing, soap. I did stop by and get figs since they were on sale. So, we left quickly because of the other groceries in the car. He helped me carry groceries, and was very helpful. Peyton can’t carry as much, and she’s also somewhat wimpy when she does carry something. I was unloading groceries and made him help me. Then, he reminded me, “But you didn’t unpack the soap that we got at Target!” He was right. I was hoping they didn’t forget to put it in the bags I’d brought. I really didn’t want to go back and deal with trying to prove that I didn’t receive the product. So, I went to my trunk to search and make sure it didn’t fall out. It turns out I’d left one full bag back there. It was more yogurt and the one bag of soap. He SAVED me from having nastiness in my trunk! I told him it was such a good thing he’d reminded me about the soap, which triggered the search. He was happy to hear that he was a useful companion, even though he was in trouble. Now, he’s quietly reading his book, so he’s now behaving once again.
Dave and I have ptsd from watching the kid go over his handlebars. dave even recalled the bike type, and said to stay away from that model bike on craig’s list from the proposed damage it sustained. It was really horrific, and definitely could have been much worse.
Sticker earrings. Is it time for the real deal?!
