Eric's parents and sister came to visit 2 weeks ago. We went to the beach for a day and to the pool the next day, so they got lots of Florida sunshine! I was worried that Chase would take a while to warm up to them since he is so clingy lately, but he loved all of the extra attention! They brought him a new wooden bike, which was similar to ones that we saw when we were in Europe. He's still a little too tall for it but he loves for us to push him around the house (which isn't so great on the back)! It shouldn't be long before he can ride on his own!
At the beach:
At the pool:
His new bike:
A little help from G-ma:
Last weekend I completed my first full sprint triathlon! It was at Siesta Key beach in Sarasota and the course was beautiful! The ocean was a little rough due to some leftover currents from Hurricane Ike, but I survived. I was so happy that they didn't have us swim along the beach... instead we swam out straight into the ocean, around a buoy, then ran back up on the beach around another buoy and swam back out into the ocean all over again. It was nice to have the swimming broken up like that since it's definitely my weakest part of the race. Next came the cycling portion, which was awesome because I got to try out my new bike! I just got it a week earlier and had only ridden about 5 miles before the race, which was 13 miles. The bike is a Specialized Transition and I love it so far! It's so fast. It's nice to have the aero bars on front because my shoulders were so tired after the swim, so the bike race just seemed like a little (44 minute) rest for me. Finally I got to the run, which is my favorite, of course! I end up passing so many of the people that pass me during the other parts of the race, so that feels good. Plus I just love running on the beach. I ended up coming in 2nd place in my age group, and I was happy with that. Mostly I was just glad to survive it!Before the race:
Watching the first heat hit the water:
Halfway through the swim:
The bike:
The run:
This is my cool second place "trophy!"
Okay, the wildlife around here has been a little out of control lately! This is what I've seen recently:1. An armadillo in the driveway!
2. A HUGE alien-looking bug on the lanai screen. It had eyes way out in front of it's head! See below (although I don't think the picture does it justice):
3. Dozens of very large fuzzy orange caterpillars who were munching on my oleander tree. I didn't get an actual picture, but I found this on the internet:
4. Chinch bugs in our yard... more about that later.5. A big black snake in the grass, about 5 feet away from Chase and I on Tuesday when we took the dogs in the backyard.
6. Our friend the alligator, just hanging out with us the other night while we ate our dinner on the lanai. I looked up and there he was... right on the edge of the pond just staring at us!
HALLELUJAH for the rain we got today!! For the month or so, almost all of the grass on one side of front yard has been dead due to heavy chinch bug damage. I remember the previous owner warning us about these annoying bugs when we were at closing, but they really haven't bothered us much until this summer. Apparently they love St. Augustine grass, which is what we have in our neighborhood. It stays green year round here, but that's the only good thing I can say about it. Chinch bugs live under the ground and kill the grass so quickly. Eric has tried so hard to take care of it on his own, but we eventually had to give in and join the rest of the neighborhood in hiring a lawn service to spray pesticide on our yard. This was something I resisted for SO long. With 2 dogs and a kid, I hate the idea of so much pesticide around our house... it makes me sick to think about it. But we really couldn't see any other way. We could either watch our lawn die, rip up the whole yard and plant a different kind of grass (VERY expensive and probably not allowed by the HOA), or spray poison all over our yard. Ugh. Anyways, after the poison truck came, the next task was to remove all of the dead grass and re-sod. This ended up being much more labor-intensive and expensive than I thought! But now that it's done, I just want to make sure that the new grass survives. That means watering it constantly, which is hard to do with an antsy toddler who wants to run in the street. So... I've been praying for rain so I get a small reprieve from my constant watering duty. And today my prayers were answered! Chase and I sat on the lanai as a huge thunderstorm rolled in and soaked our grass for hours! I've never been so happy to see rain!
Here's an update on Joey: he got to go home this afternoon! His fever finally broke today and they got his test results back. All of the tests were negative, so that confirmed that his infection is viral, which means there's not much they can do. But Jessica said that he was much better today and was acting more like himself, and finally eating something! I know she was so thrilled to take him home! So thank you for your prayers and I'll keep you posted if anything else happens with him. Hopefully he's in the clear.
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