Fruits of Labor

Thank you to everyone for my birthday money!

With it, I bought some fabric and here is what I made:

BEFORE


AFTER


New curtains in the kitchen! Come on over and take a look, we would love to have you.

Thanks again for your contributions!

-Kara

More of the Las Vegas adventure

Okay, neither Charles nor I can remember the sequence of our last 4 days in Las Vegas. So...we went to see a burlesque show one night. I was not shocked, dismayed, or offended (I am not easily offended) but now that I've seen a burlesque show, I'm good. Same as with riding a mule. Done. We had "friends" of the main star of the burlesque sitting behind us, encouraging her to show her t*tt**s. For some reason I thought it was going to be one of those shows with the women wearing the humongous headdresses, descending stairs. Nope. Mostly just stripping to a G string.

We went up in the Stratosphere. I guess it's one of the highest lookout points. They actually have rides up there if you're ready to die. Just kidding. That's just my age speaking.

One night we went to the old, original street of Las Vegas: Fremont Street. They still have the original casinos like the Gold Nugget. Compared to the new ones on The Strip, they are kind of gross. BUT!..... They have closed off the street and put a canopy overhead that is actually a huge TV screen. Every night at 8:00 they do a video. The night we were there it was a video to the song "American Pie" by Don McLean. Yeah, Sheri, Kitz and Dan, you know the song and it should remind you of being in high school. It was really, really cool. That alone was worth the trip to the old town.

I think Wednesday was the day we went to Red Rock Canyon. That was all of 15 minutes from our condo. We were both in awe of how diverse the landscape is out there, especially compared to what we know here in Ohio. Charles was too happy to scramble out on rocks and let me photograph him. Me: feet firmly planted in terra firma. Granddad, I kinda blame you. I have these ankles that just want to collapse in the least little change in terra firma. Thanks.

Surprisingly, we were so busy I didn't put a single coin in a single slot machine. Didn't even care or miss it. One thing I noticed: when out on the town on a Saturday night, you're gonna see lots of skin. I don't know how girls can keep their vees covered with an inch of fabric!

We rode the roller coaster over New York New York (casino). Very rough. We both had a headache when it was over. But New York New York!!!! WOW! The outside was amazing! So was Paris. And the water fountain show choreagraphed to music at the Bellagio!!

I didn't think Las Vegas would be that interesting, but it really was. At night though, the sidewalk traffic would rival the traffic of Disney World at closing.

Elvis LIVES!!!!!!

Mule ride!

Las Vegas/Grand Canyon Vacation

Charles and I just returned from vacation yesterday. We spent a week in Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. We flew in to Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon (9/10). Charles wanted to experience the landscape between SLC and Vegas, so we rented a car and drove to Vegas. Wow. It was a beautiful drive, especially the descent through the mountains at the edge of Utah, going through a tiny corner of Arizona into Nevada. I wish I had my camera out, but I thought it was packed in my suitcase.

Friday
We checked into our condo, bought some groceries, and then went down to the strip. I'm not a gambler, but I do enjoy architecture. Those casinos are AMAZING!!!!! I think the one that took up the most land was Caesar's Palace. It was huge. But my favorite, or two favorites, were New York New York, and Paris.

Saturday
We had to pick up our tickets to the Cirque de Soleil Beatles Love show for later that evening. Marlee and Ashley have both asked what my favorite part of the trip was. I would have to say that that show was right up there close to the top, although you can't top the Grand Canyon. Charles is a huge Beatles fan. Huge. He had seen the show when he was out there with his daughter 3 years ago, and he wanted me to experience it. It was just, WOW!!

After the show we walked along the strip. Many of the casinos have "shows" for people on the sidewalk. We saw the fountain show that's set to music at the Bellagio. Way cool. It's crazy how many people are out there along the strip at night. THOUSANDS! It's like Disney World at closing time.

Sunday
We left the condo (did not check out, returning after 2 days) at 5am to drive to the Grand Canyon. I so wanted to see some of those big cacti, saguaro, but they aren't in that area. We were scheduled for a mule ride at the canyon for 1pm (or something like that). We got there quite early. We had reservations to spend the night in a cabin close to the rim, at Bright Angel. The rules for the mule ride were pretty clear: must have a hat, must wear long sleeves. I had to go shopping at Target after we got to Las Vegas to find a hat. It was lovely. If I can post some pics, you'll see what I'm talking about. Bought a long sleeve T shirt in the gift shop at Bright Angel. So.... then the mule ride. I was expecting something scary. I was really nervous about it. I thought we were riding part way down the canyon, but it wasn't anything like that. And I am finding out something completely new about myself. I'm getting more scared of things as I get older. Specifically of heights. We didn't ride anywhere near the rim. We rode an hour to get to the rim, then got off our asses and walked to the rim.

My mule was named Cracker. I don't feel the need to ever get on another pack animal. You know what the butts look like on Macaques? Yeah. You know how they got that way? From riding mules.

Not only was the ride painful, but Cracker fell down on both front knees on the return ride. I screamed. Cracker growled. Yes, mules growl.

Monday
This day was blissful. We did a slow-water raft ride on the Colorado through Glen Canyon. Glen Canyon is above the Grand Canyon. The sides of the canyon were 1200 feet tall on both sides of us. Truly awesome and amazing. The rock formations were so cool. I didn't have my camera with me because I thought it wouldn't be allowed, so any pics we have are what Charles took. I still need to get them from him. We had a 3 hour bus ride to get to the rafting launch site. We went through the Navajo reservation, which is one of the poorest of all reservations. It was mostly mobile homes, very far apart, and even the small houses we saw were decrepit and many had outhouses for their bathroom. It's interesting that the Hopi tribe that was relocated in Arizona (can't remember the town) is very wealthy, whereas the Navajo tribe is one of the poorest.

After the raft trip, the bus ride back to the Grand Canyon stopped on the Navajo reservation at a depot/gift shop. I bought a pair of earrings that were made there on the reservation. I wanted to get some of the turquoise and sliver jewelry made there, but holy cow. Mucho $$$$$

Well, I think I will try to continue this tomorrow. I need to go to bed. Trying to get my body back in the EST frame of time. Gotta get up at 5am. yuck.

Pops and Nana ride 100 miles!

Check out the story of Pops and Nana's first century ride on my blog



http://www.sorenandreese.blogspot.com/

Ironman 70.3 Boulder Race Report

My first 70.3 distance race was a great success, and I must say that it was easier than I thought it was going to be. Pete, you trained me well, thank you!

Training Totals:
Swim: 128,225 yards; 49 hours
Bike: 872 road miles; 58 road hours; 71 trainer hours
Run: 416.8 miles; 76 hours

To start, I want to thank God for giving me such a great training and race experience, thank Trey for being so supportive during my many months of training, thank Pete and Sara for spending time educating and coaching me thru the process, and thank everyone who came out during the race to support me on such an important day. I know that I had a great race because of all the support I get from my family and friends.

The first wave started at 6:30am so my alarm went off nice and early – 3:30am. We arrived in Boulder around 5:00 so I had plenty of time to set up my transition area, meet the girls I would be racing with and take pictures with Pops. He was able to get a media pass so he was allowed in the transition area. As we waited for my wave to start, I started getting really nervous – to the point of causing my stomach to hurt.

Once I started my swim, I calmed down, my stomach didn’t hurt anymore, and I got into my groove. I felt good and enjoyed my swim. As I came out of the water, Mom was there to yell out my time. She did this for me during my Olympic and I really like it. I asked her to do the same for this race too, thanks Mom! 37 minutes was about what I had expected; not disappointed but not thrilled.

I had a hard time transitioning from the swim to the bike. My water bottle got caught under the bar, the straw got knocked off, and I had to crawl under the bar to pull my bike thru the other side. What a mess. At least this time I remembered to buckle my helmet so I didn’t get yelled at at the mounting line.

Once I was on my bike, I had a great ride. The course is fast and smooth. I was able to get up to 42mph; the fastest I have gone on my bike so far. On the hill where I reached my top speed, the pros started to lap me. I was booking it at 38mph or so, passing people, and the pros where passing me like I was just out for a cruise. It was amazing. Sara come out on the bike course to see me. As I finished my first lap, I heard Mom yell my name and my time, then I saw Pops snapping pictures and Trey cheering me on. It is so uplifting to see people you know out on the course supporting you! After seeing everyone, I was re-energized for the second lap. For the 56 mile ride, I was able to average 19.7mph. I was really pleased with my time, but I was worried that I didn't pace myself for the 13.1 mile run coming up.

As I started my run, my legs felt strong and I felt good. I planned to run each mile and walk thru the water stations. The first station came up, but I didn’t feel like I needed to walk so I didn’t. Sometime during the second mile, Chris started running with me so when the second water station came up, I didn’t walk thru that one either. Chris and I ran together nearly the entire rest of the race. Talking to my newly found friend took my mind off what I was doing and it made the time pass really fast. I only walked a few steps thru each water station while I refilled my bottle, but then I would speed up to catch back up with Chris. Although I wasn't following my run/walk plan, I felt good. Sara and Mom met me at mile 5, Dad was snapping pictures at mile 6, and several other friends were scattered around the run course too. I had so much support throughout the entire race, it was truly amazing. Each time I saw someone along the course, it gave me an extra boost to keep going. Around mile 12, my legs started to get tired and I couldn’t keep up with Chris any longer, I had to walk. It felt good to walk, but I knew I was really close to the finish line. I allowed myself to walk only for a minute, then I pushed myself thru the last mile. As I approached the finished line, Mom was there shouting my time and urging me on. Under 6 hours total! I was so happy!

I enjoyed the race so much more than I could have ever expected to. It was an amazing experience and I'm looking forward to my full IM in Houston. Thanks again to everyone who came out to support me during such an important day; it means the world to me!

Mountains of fun

I thought I would add a few pics from our off road excursion to the mountains, so let's see if this works.

The kids posing for a glamorous shot as we get close to the top and take in some fresh air.

A local native was at the top greeting all of us visitors.

The kids about 3 feet away from getting charged by the wildlife. He must have been used to getting fed up there.

Headed out to scope out the white stuff.

The little bit of snow that was left turned into an adventure.

Ashton decided it was a little too cold to be messing around in the snow and decided to stick it out in the truck.

Enjoying the scenery on the way back.... notice the strategic trash placement.

Thanks for lending us your kids for the week. We'll do our best to keep the wildlife at bay!

Trey

Danna goes 70.3!

We have another half ironman finisher in the family! Today Danna finished her first Ironman 70.3 in Boulder, Colorado. She finished in an amazing 5:57! That is a killer time for any half ironman and she did it on her first race. It was so exciting. Such a great day. Every time we saw her she was smiling. She had a great race, a great day, and now she has her sites set on the full ironman next May. Pops scored a media pass and, as usual, took tons of amazing pictures. I went out on the course and got some video, but she passes by so fast that they are just short clips.

Danna has a week of playing mom with Soren, Wyatt and Ashton, but promises to post her race report soon.

Congratulations, Danna. You did it!

Danna was up at 3:30 a.m. and we were at the race site just before 5. It was a beautiful morning!

It's not a race without Pops!

is that Old Dog Trey?

what in the world? I have no idea.

sky divers fly over with the flag as the national anthem plays before the race start

37:55 swim time 1.2 miles

heading out for a 56 mile bike through beautiful Boulder

she rode so fast it made the trees blurry!

Danna averaged 19.7 mph for the 56 mile bike!

is that Old Dog Trey?

Only 13.1 miles left

Danna's official finish time was 5:57. She was in the 7th wave to start the race.

Family and friends elated at the success of the day. We are so happy for you Danna!

a quick post race massage
Is that Old Dog Trey?

evidence of a race well run

Some video clips