Grizzly Triathlon

Today, Steve competed in his second triathlon. This time, it was a local event - the Grizzly Triathlon. The girls were ready to fully support their Daddy.

We got to the pool early and watched a few heats before Steve's. The girls were happy to cheer for anyone swimming, and asked often if they could go in the pool, too.

But it was a different story when their dad got in the pool for his swim - they were focused, almost never stopped ringing their bells, and told everyone who passed by that it was THEIR daddy who was swimming.

After a smooth transition into his biking gear, Steve took off into the sunshine for a 20k bike ride.

Christina and the girls once again missed seeing him return from the bike section, just like we did in Oregon. It is astounding how alike all the bikes and bikers look in action. This time, though, we went immediately to the finish line and staked out a spot, so there was no chance we'd miss his finish.

We ended up spending a lot of time with these twin six-year-old boys, whose dad was in the same heat Steve was in, and who finished nearly the same time. Christina had packed loads of snacks, toys, and other diversions, so the kids happily played with those for some time while we awaited the return of the runners.

Caryn and her son Charlie came out for the finish, which was a great show of support! It was also awesome because right around when we expected Steve to finish Clara announced she needed to go to the bathroom. And, frankly, Christina was more willing to have her go right there and change her than she was to leave the finish line and risk missing Steve finish like she did in Portland.

Caryn, sweetly, escorted Clara off to the bathroom, and not one minute later Steve strode across the finish line.

He finished even better than he did in the last triathlon - we'll post his final time a bit later (I don't know it at the moment - there was no big clock there like last time!!). Elena raced right up to give her dad a congratulatory hug.

And when Clara got out of the bathroom and saw that her dad was done, she took off running right for him.

Both girls were just so proud (and so was Christina).

Even Charlie jumped in on the action.

Congratulations Steve/Daddy - you make us all so proud!!