Summer Camp

It has been a busy week here in Cheap Runnerland…seems like the week has flown by, which is always a plus when you're about to go on vacation!  Now I'm at the point where I'm looking at what needs to be done before heading to the cottage for a week and wondering when I'm going to be able to do it all…

The night we head home from the cottage we will be making a  pit stop to drop off Kennedy at overnight camp…it will be her first time ever going to summer camp, let alone an overnight camp.  That means getting her packed for 16 nights away!

I know she is going to have a blast, but it is a big step for her as she won't know anyone there…but that just means it's a great chance to meet new friends.  We ended up sending her for the Teen Girls week, so she will be the youngest age group there.  Looking forward to the family welcome BBQ and then kicking my little girl out for a week

Jackson won't be left out though, as he'll be going to day camp here in town that week.  He's signed up to go to the YMCA's camp at Spencer Lodge, where they have all kinds of adventures to try out!  They have an awesome climbing wall and high wires course…not sure if he can do it or not, but he informed that if he tried it he would probably die haha

What he is looking forward to the most though…frogs.  He can't wait to go to the pond and find some amphibians!  He is such a boy…

Thankfully it is only day camp for J, so I don't need to pack two kids for 16 nights.

I never had a chance to go to camp as a kid but Michelle was able to and she loved it…I'm hoping that this is a great experience for the kids, especially Kennedy.  The camp she is going to is a Christian camp, so it will be a great chance for her to grow in her faith as well.  If all goes well I can certainly see this being a yearly opportunity for her!

Do your kids go to Summer Camp?

Any tips for packing an 11-year old girl up for camp??

Happy Hump Day!

Although I am not technically on Holidays next week – I do have 2 days off work, so it will make for a short work week for me, and I’ll also for the most part be staying up at the cottage and driving back and forth to work…so much like Mike mentioned yesterday…bring on the weekend!!!!!

Don’t get me wrong – it’s been a pretty good week so far. Monday night I met the girls for drinks and some apps, then last night, my side of the family all got together at my mom’s place…and she made MY favorite meal in the world

(I could seriously eat that stuff every.single.meal…I’m not even joking)

It gave the kids some time to hang out and play with their cousins – which they always really look forward to!
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Last week the lovely Amy from Fitness Meets Frosting nominated me for An Inspiring Blogger Award…thanks girl

So for this nomination/award, I am to share with you 7 things about “me”…so here we go…

My 7 facts:

1. I am very much a glass half full…always looking for the best in a situation – kinda person. I do not enjoy negativity or an “I can’t” kinda attitude.
2. I work very hard every.single.day and I work hard at instilling that in my children, because I do not want them to grow up feeling “entitled” in life. You want something – then work your butt off to get it. End of story
3. I lived at home (in the same house since I was born), until the day I got married
4. I have a gym membership at 2 different gyms
5. I LOVE to travel, and I am always looking forward to or planning or scouting out our next vaycay
6. Due to above said love of travel…I have really made a conscious effort to cut back on “shopping” this year. I have more clothes, then places to put them – and I am at a place in life where I would rather put that $ aside for a little weekend trip instead
7. I drink dt.coke for breakfast…and just as an FYI…McDonald’s has the BEST dt.coke

Thanks again Amy for nominating me…and if you haven’t already…go check her out over at http://fitnessmeetsfrosting.com

Where Did Summer Go?

Hard to believe, but July is almost over!  I don't know what it is like where you are, but in these parts it is chilly…like "too-cold-to-wear-shorts" chilly.  The last few mornings have only been about 13 or 14°C (high 50's) and it has only been getting up around 20° (70°F).  This is Fall weather!

All isn't lost however, as I have a week's holidays coming up next week and Summer temps are coming back, right?  RIGHT??  I sure hope so, because I'll be up at the cottage and that means beach time.  Lots of this…

…and some of this…

…maybe a little of this…

…and definitely lots of this…

See a theme?  Chilling with family and taking life easy…doesn't get better than that!  Plus I'm able to get in some runs in one of my favourite places…just can't beat running at the cottage!  You can run the beach, quiet cottage roads or even out into farm country…whatever you want or all of the above.

I have been working on adding back a little bit of distance to my runs as I have been pretty stuck in a 10K rut for a while now.  Every run I had been doing was always right around 10K and I felt like I was losing my endurance legs.  I got out and did a 13K/8 mile run last Thursday, followed that with a 10-miller at the cottage on the weekend and then another 8-miler on Monday at lunch.  I've even been playing with my paces a bit to get my legs into different rhythms and it seems to be working pretty well.  There's a half marathon coming up in early September here in London and I'm going to run it with Chris, so I better get my endurance back up!  He wants to break 1:30 and I would love to give it a shot as well, since it was something I had told myself earlier in the year I wanted to accomplish (I have a 1:30:18 PR).

Is it unseasonably cold where you are?

Any summer vacations planned?

MIMM

It's been awhile since I linked up with Katie, so there is no time like the present...I thought it was about time we celebrated a few marvelous things that have happened in my life over the past week

Getting out for a un-planned lunch with my favourite person ever (aka. my hubby). We tried out a new to me place - and let's be honest, anyone who serves diet coke in a measuring cup are winners in my book. It was a great mid-day date...as we sat and discussed and planned our future!

Life in it's purest, most simplest form. These eggs have made their home in the back yard at our cottage...and mama bird was always nearby keeping a watchful eye.

Burniture = happiness

Just hanging with the family...can't get any better then that. A wonderful reminder of how blessed I really am.

Yesterday morning my MIL headed out on our bikes up to the local fruit and veggie stand...love the summertime, and being able to buy fresh!

Thanks Katie for hosting today!

So tell me something you did this weekend

Favourite fresh summertime fruit?

3 Cheap Runners' Weekend Wrap

While the 3 Cheap Runners enjoy their day off, here are a few of the happenings that caught their eyes during the past week...

 

Links we Liked

• How well do 5-Hour Energy shots actually work?
• 6 mistakes triathletes make
• Inappropriate Disney pictures
• Life's a beach, so why not run on it? 7 beach running tips here
• Clean your running gear while running with the Washing Machine Treadmill
• Things Disney characters do that would be creepy in real-life in the video below

 

In case you missed a day...

Check out CheapRunnerMike's 2014 Bluewater Triathlon Recap: http://t.co/E7Xev2Zh37

— 3 Cheap Runners (@3CheapRunners) July 21, 2014

CheapRunnerMichelle has her Bluewater Sprint-Tri Race Recap: http://t.co/z1AMxEMXva

— 3 Cheap Runners (@3CheapRunners) July 22, 2014

3 Cheap Runners: Jackson, You Are An Ironkid! http://t.co/4XHQC7LRPY

— 3 Cheap Runners (@3CheapRunners) July 23, 2014

CheapRunnerMichelle plays Would you rather… http://t.co/z7BM2Vgr49

— 3 Cheap Runners (@3CheapRunners) July 24, 2014

CheapRunnerMike -- My Son, Jacqueline http://t.co/77BMSc3Ei9

— 3 Cheap Runners (@3CheapRunners) July 25, 2014

Snapshot Saturday

Enjoy some photos snapped by the CheapRunners this week as seen on Instagram.

 

 

Follow Michelle

Follow Mike

 

 

My Son, Jacqueline

Who's ready for the weekend?  Yup, I'm raising my hand…after three short weeks in a row, this week has really dragged on.  Oh well, only on more week until I'm on holidays!

After another weekend of racing, and nothing major scheduled on my calendar, I have just been able to enjoy running for the sake of running this week.  I' got out Monday, Wednesday and Thursday so far this week and I'll be hitting the pool at the Y on my lunch break today.  I missed out on Splash n Dash this week as I was invited to go to Toronto with some buddies to watch a soccer match between Toronto FC and Tottenham from the English Premiership.

It was a beautiful night and a good exciting match too.  It was tied at 2 in the last 5 minutes before Tottenham scored to win it 3-2.  It was nice hanging out the guys too as we haven't gotten together in quite a while.

I was working from home yesterday and Jackson decided he wanted to be a rock star, so he found an old Halloween wig and a toy guitar and proceeded to rock out.

It was bad enough with the wig in just his underwear, but when I sent him upstairs to get dressed it got worse.  Much worse.  Little boys should never let their evil older sister get them dressed because this might happen.

I have to admit though, he makes a pretty little girl   Kennedy and I were calling him Jacqueline all day, and despite how happy he looks in these pictures, it didn't take him too long to realize he didn't like being called a girl…

We will be off for a nice relaxing weekend at the cottage after work today, and despite thunderstorms in the forecast I'm sure we will have a good time.  Hopefully I'll get a couple decent runs in and then get to recuperate on the beach with a beer in my hand, cause that's my idea of time well spent!

Any exciting weekend plans?

Did your boys ever play dress up?  This is normal, right??

Would you rather…

Are you tired of recaps yet this week?!? Lol. I thought we'd keep it light today, and play a little game of

So here we go...feel free to play along too if you like! (I'd love to read your answers too )

1. Read on a Kobo or paperback book? I'm not someone that is dedicated to one or the other...so I'll go with Kobo for convenience sake (especially while on vacation)

2. Go to a play or musical? Musical

3. Go to the theater or a movie? I really do enjoy live theatre - so that would be a nice treat

4. Hike or bike? Bike

5. Wear jeans or chinos? Seriously...SWEATPANTS (I live in them when I am not a work...no seriously - I do)

...see I'm wearing them while typing this

6. Have a Margarita or Pina Colada? Raspberry margarita (on the rocks)

7. Crash with friends or stay in a hotel? Hotel...like to do my own thing, and not feel like I'm imposing on others

8. Visit Europe or Mexico? Honestly...Mexico would be my first choice...but I have never been to Europe...so I should probably say it

9. Vacation in Hawaii or Alaska, and why? Hawaii...#explanationenough

10. Go skiing or snowshoeing? I am more of a thrill seeker then a do-de-do'er, so definitely skiing

11. Travel by plane, train, or automobile? Plane...Save the time and enjoy the vaycay more!

12. Enjoy a houseboat or speed boat? Both...but at this phase of life, houseboat

13. Go climbing or zip lining? The trill seeker in me again will always choose zip lining...I've actually already done it twice before...and it's a BLAST!!!

14. Go to a comedy club or dance club? Comedy...most days when I'm in my jeep - you'd catch me listening to either Blue Collar radio, or Comedy Central

15. Have a night out or evening in? It seems that these days we are always on the go, and out and about - so I'll say night in, in my sweatpants on the couch with my warm fuzzy Muppets blanket!

16. Watch TV or read a book? TV...reality shows to be exact...or Netflix

17. Go canoeing or waterskiing? Waterskiing...it's been years, but I remember really enjoying it

18. Camp in an RV or stay in a tent? I will never again stay in a tent, but I would gladly stay in an RV

19. Use Facebook or Twitter? I've never been able to get into twitter, so I'll say Facebook, but if I was at total liberty to choose, it would be IG

20. Choose a free trip or money? Where is the trip to, and for how long?!?

21. Win the lottery or find your perfect job? Lottery

22. Swim in a pool or the ocean? Pool

23. Travel by sailboat or cruise ship? Cruise ship

24. Watch sports or play sports? Baseball = watch, volleyball = play

25. Play dodgeball or kickball? Dodgeball

Pick 5 of these to answer below...ready...set...go!!! (Can't wait to ready your answers)

Jackson, You Are An Ironkid!

This week has been full of recaps with Michelle's Sprint yesterday and my Olympic on Monday…let's keep it going today with Jackson's Ironkid race!

The Bluewater Triathlon hosts their Sprint and Olympic races on Saturday morning and then they switch gears on Sunday afternoon and hold their Ironkid race.  There are two distances offered, a 50m swim / 2.5K bike / 1K run for kids 9 and under and double the distance at 100m/5K/2K for kids 10 and up.  For only $15, the kids get a great race, a t-shirt, swim cap and goodie bag full of treats (lots of candy!)…great value!

We were still up at the cottage so we loaded the bikes in the Jeep and we were off again to Bright's Grove.

Once arriving at the school we lined up for registration and the mandatory bike inspection…both kids' bikes passed.  Then we went to go set up our transition areas.

The race was a beach start and it was scheduled for 1pm, so we headed on down the road to the start area.  Michelle and my parents stayed up at the top of the hill while I went down on the beach to stay with Jackson.  I had wondered about doing the swim with him, but ultimately decided I was just going to let him do this all on his own.  I would be right at the shoreline if he did need me, but he could do this!  Besides, the water was really cold and I didn't want to go in

There was a little bit of chaos as we waited for the start, but I guess that's to be expected with 100 kids.  There was a false start and then the joy of trying to get the kids all back to the shore for the beach start, but eventually the horn went off, for real, and the swim was on!  I told Jackson to get going and make sure to swim as he only had to go into chest-deep water.  Of course he decided to go into deeper water and it was pretty much face-deep, but he managed to swim as much as he could.

Once out of the water the kids had to climb a narrow set of rock stairs and then run a couple hundred metres to transition.

Transition went pretty smooth…I was able to help Jackson and this was about the only time I actually did.  I helped him get his shirt on and his shoes tied up, then he grabbed his bike and took off for his 2.5K ride.

I ran with Jackson as long as I could but I just couldn't keep up.  I was sprinting at top speed but that boy flies on his bike!  We held off on getting him signed up for any triathlons this year because I didn't want him racing with training wheels…as soon as I saw how comfortable he was once learning to ride we let him register.  Safe to say he can handle the bike just fine!

I ran with him up to the point where they turn off the main road and head back into the subdivisions, which was only about 300m.  Kennedy had just passed him so I yelled at him to just chase his sister.  I waited where I was as the kids would do a loop of the neighbourhood and come back to where I was…the older kids would then do a second loop while the younger kids would head back to the school and T2.  Jackson came through just a few seconds after Kennedy and I ran back to transition with him, where we racked his bike and then went out to do the 1K run together.

The run was along the lakefront path and was a simple out and back.  Jackson had to go out 500m or so and then turn back to the finish line while the older kids went a full kilometre out before coming back.  There was a water station at Jackson's turnaround and he was able to run the whole way there.  We stopped and he had a cup of water, then we started the run back to the finish line.  Jackson had to stop a couple of times on this section as his side hurt…he probably had a little stitch or maybe just some sloshing water.  He got it together though after a short walk break and booted it past his cheering section and then on in to the finish line.

He crossed the line with a big smile on his face and then it was time to go play at the playground

We stuck around after the race and the kids got to enjoy the post-race BBQ…hot dogs and homemade cookies, yum.  Then it was the awards ceremony and Jackson pulled 3rd place for his age group!  He didn't even know what to do until we told him to go up and get his ribbon.

So proud of my little guy!  He had himself a great time and he did a great job, never quitting or complaining at all.  With Sunday also being National Ice Cream Day, you know we had to celebrate both of the kids' achievements, so we grabbed some cones at the local ice cream shoppe once we were back to the cottage.

To the victor go the spoils, and he chose an appropriate flavour for the day…Super Hero!

Way to go Jackson!

Do your kids swim, bike or run?  Would you sign them up for an Ironkid event?

Ice cream…cone, waffle cone or just in a bowl?