Today we had our first trip to the beach of the season. We had breakfast nearby then spent about an hour playing ball and looking for shells. It was a PERFECT morning - mid-70's, calm blue water and a family ready to play. I hope you enjoy the pics!

Is he turning into his dad, or what??

St. Anthony's Triathlon is over and I did it!!! My first Olympic Distance Triathlon is under my belt!

Here I am pre-race with my mom. The sun is coming up over the water, and it was a beautiful morning! Thanks to her, Lance was able to run all over the place and take great photos...these are only some of them! She helped with LJ while he played photographer.

Right before I started my swim with my best little buddy! I was a little nervous before, and a hug from him was just the trick. He was such a trooper!

Here come the yellow caps! That's my group - women 30 -34. there were 132 of us, I finished the race right in the middle at #65

This is at the turn-around of the swim - I didn't notice the water getting too rough until this point. It's amazing how you can even make the right turns, stay within the bouys and get there! With all the hands and feet, dark water and current, sometimes you feel like you're swimming in place. You can see the pier in the background - how cool that this is so close to our townhome??

This was possibly the best part of my day, aside from the finish! The swim is intimidating, and it's great to finally finish! 31:33 for the mile (My goal was 32 minutes)

Finishing the 25 mile bike in 1 hour 29 minutes - my goal was under 1hr. 3o min. I am SUPER slow on that thing, but I enjoyed the ride. Other than the wind, it was beautiful out there! A man even passed me and said, "This ain't a Sunday joy ride." ahhh...it kinda was for me :) Plus, I was going as fast as I could!

headed out for the last leg: 10K run Finshed in just over 59 minutes ...wanted 60 min. or under. I did not push it AT ALL on the run because I had no idea what I had left in the tank. It ended up being a nice comfortable run with about a 9:30/mile pace. I could have pushed it after all, but I just didn't know!

At the finish, feeling great and so happy! 3 hr. 6 min. and 33 seconds My goal was between 3 and 3 1/2 hours.

After the race with my favorite photographer :) I loved having him there, and my mom and little buddy, too! Mr. bob, (our sweet neighbor) even came. What a precious cheering squad!!

Crazy inning link!

Click on the above link - I rarely post baseball stuff, but I know some family missed this outing. Awesome win for the Rays, craziest inning I've seen. I have never seen outfielders move to the infield, but it works! :) Lance started this game in the bottom of the 9th, postponed from the night before, tied at one. So hard fought - we love watching this team and are so thankful!

Fenway Park :)

We had a great day off in Boston. With a visit on our own to Fenway Park, lunch at the Quincy Market and an awesome dinner at "The Barking Crab" it was probably the best day off ever! Here he is sitting in his daddy's seat in the bullpen :) I took the pic from the stands through the hole in the fence as if I was a fan. Sorry the pics are so out of order, but they uploaded that way!

This is from the clubhouse to the field - LJ's fake smile is because he hated stopping for this picture. He was ready to go on the field!

He had to wait for Lance to come out in order to get on the field. Above, you can see Lance has come out :)

My little monster resting with his back against the monster :)

let's throw dirt at "the monsta' "

We headed to Quincy market for lunch after playing at the field. There was a magic/comedy show going on at the market center, and LJ got chosen to be the helper! Our little star got to throw him a baton to juggle - I was so proud of how he listened...he was given a lot of instructions for a three-year-old to follow. He wasn't scared of the crowd cheering him on or anything!

For his participation, he got a prize...

Truly a "million dollar day off" :)

My boys taking a pic in front of the green monster. Tampa is at the top early in the season :)

Ready to hit. :)

I love this picture of Lance pitching to him with the green monster in the background :)

He wanted to call the bullpen so bad he could taste it. Can you tell? He's in the dugout here.

Reflecting...what a day, the view from the cheap seats :)

Waiting on Lance - I wonder what he's thinking here?

My favorites walking across the bridge back to the city after dinner.

2 new posts :)

Today was such a special day, my dad's birthday. LJ and I made cupcakes to celebrate with him and the angels...and all who celebrate him here. Below that is the triathlon post from this weekend - hope you enjoy both!

Happy Birthday, Dadddy...Pe-Paw. We love and miss you.

Is she done yet???

Well, I had my second sprint triathlon of the season, and it was a great one! It's called "Escape from Fort Desoto" and it's less than 30 minutes from our home here in St. Pete. Fort Desoto is home to one of America's most beautiful beaches, (consistently in the top 5 year after year), and it was awesome to do a race here. With over 1100 people competing, it is one of, if not the largest, sprint triathlon in Florida. So fun! We swam 1/2 a mile in the ocean, biked a relatively short 10 miles around the park and then ran 4 miles. Part of the 4 miles was after the swim to the transition, then the last 3.75 or so were after the bike, including running up the fort at the half-way point. It was 60 steps up then down, and it actually proved to be a nice way to break up the run. The way back was mostly a beach run, so it was a tough, but beautiful ending.

Above is a picture of my wave swimming. There were like 150 people or so in my group, and it was an all-out fight the entire swim. I didn't go 3-4 strokes the entire time without kicking, punching or being kicked or punched. It was actually great practice, though because the much longer triathlon I'm doing in a couple of weeks is HUGE. It's the 2nd largest triathlon in the entire country with over 4,000 triathletes...they even fly in from Australia for this thing. It's actually the largest professional triathlon, so it ought to be fun to see them start, (and almost finish) before I ever get in the water. Anyway - this swim helped me learn to fight for my space. It only took me 13:38 to finish the swim, but the next one I have will be double it's distance. I sure hope I can fight that long!!

Done with my swim, I wave to my boys as I run for my bike

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Off my bike, ( which was fairly good with a strong head-wind half the way), I am off on my run. I pushed the bike hard, too - it was my first race with bike shoes clipped to my bike, so it was fun to try them out in a race.

Here I am at the finish line. I actually took my run super-slow, averaging around 9 minutes/ mile. I don't trust myself to push the run hard at the end. I have a lot of adrenaline and I'm not sure if my ability or strength is real or just a boost. I actually get to the finish line here with a lot left. It's like 50 yards away and I pass both these guys before crossing the line. It was cool because they say your name and where you're from as you approach the finish. It said, "Jamie Cormier from Tuscaloosa" while Sweet Home Alabama was playing on the speakers, (purely coincidence, but cool).

Flattering picture, I know...but I'm done! I felt great. My next triathlon is the one I've been training for months for. I have never done anything close to it, and all these leading up to it have merely been "workouts". I have to admit, the distances in St. Anthony's are daunting to me - 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run. I have done workouts with 2 out of the 3 events and had to lay down on the cold sidewalk afterwards to just compose myself...exhausted. I'm really just ready to get that one behind me. I've done all I can, and on April 25, I'll do it! It's been fun, but there's still some work to be done!

Play Ball! The season has started, and we are almost all settled in our townhome. What a fun time for LJ...he is eating up all this baseball!! This is before his first game, pretending he's his dad on the sidewalk :) He loves him so much. At night, he's going to bed without Lance here, and he panics! He knows he'll see Lance in the morning, (until he leaves Sunday on a road trip), but he wants to hug him before he sleeps. If it wasn't 11:30 before Lance got home, I'd let him stay up because it breaks my heart! I know, though, that we will become creatures of habit again and adapt to the season schedule without Lance. He just loves his daddy, (so does his momma!)

LJ is doing a "Mother's Morning Out" three days a week here. This is before his first day. I forget what he's saying here, but it's something like "I'm gonna rule this school"...in three-year-old language ;)

...and they sent him home with bubbles. Easy fun! Blessings from St. Pete!

Look at my boy in his suit! It may be from Wal Mart, but on him, it looks like Gucci - am I right? :) I know, I'm a little biased, but he's so handsome! We had a GREAT Easter - what a blessing it is to celebrate our Risen Savior!! We all went to church on Saturday, (a little late after a Gatorade spill on the afore-mentioned suit, and Lance realizing that he did not have any dress shoes to go with his suit, just flip-flops and running shoes). After a quick trip to the field to retrieve his suitcase while I went at the gatorade with a hairdryer on LJ, we were off! Such is the Easter Church Celebration for the Cormier's! Lance said on the way, "Jesus, we tried."

Before church, we had a teammate's dog. Her name is Olive, (thus the "Olive you." in the bottom of the pic.) Is she not the cutest thing?? (Me-Maw??!) LOL She's a delight, and she LOVED LJ.

We were late anyway, why not a GQ-esque picture with the dry suit in front of the condo building?

...or a quick kiss pic in the church parking lot. No one's out there anyway...it's 15 after at this point!

SO handsome. :)

This morning, LJ's Easter basket was waiting on our front porch. He specifically requested that the Easter Bunny not come into the house. So, he just left LJ's stuff outside. MMMM...breakfast. :)

he came. and he brought a few cars. and candy. I think LJ's changing his mind about this "Easter Bunny guy". He did, however, tell everyone "Happy Halloween!" all day because of the influx of candy. We're working on it, we're working on it. :)

This afternoon, we ended our Easter Celebration with an egg hunt..in our bathing suits on the pool deck. Gotta love Florida! We pray your Easter was amazing and that you celebrated all that Jesus did and all that He continues to do for us! What kind of LOVE!!! We are so thankful!