Ironman

Jason did the Coeur d' Alene 70.3 Ironman again this year.
Pre-race photo with his exercise buddies Mark and Greg (who also did the race)

Above: Jason just finishing the swim
Below: the boys enjoying an ice cream treat while we waited on the side lines to cheer dad on for his run.  It was another hot race this year in the high 80's.  We made a sign for Jason to cheer him on.  Everyone around us knew we were waiting to cheer "dad" on (Kaiden is very outgoing and talkative) so when Jason went by he gave Kaiden a quick hug, Connor a quick high five and everyone around us yelled "Go Dad!"  LOL

After the race we went to the finisher area to enjoy some pizza, fruit and water.  Jason relaxed for a few minutes then we headed over to watch Greg and Mark cross the finish line.

 Above: Jason's workout buddies Brent, Jason, Mark and Greg
Below: after the races we went to the CDA park for the kids to play.  We love that park with a fantastic play area, sandbox and splash pad.  Jason grabbed his bike and gear and met us at the park to relax in the shade for a while.

It's so funny how different these boys are.  Connor is reserved, quiet, polite, kind, creative, quiet... he loves to draw pictures of new Pokemon creatures that he invents or play with is Lego's and make his own creations.  Very inventive and creative.  He's incredibly good and fast at math.  He can do problems in his head faster than I can sometimes.  Reading is a bit of a struggle with him though.  He still switches his B and D, although if I tell him it's a B he knows the sound, but by sight he mixes them up.  Teachers keep saying it's not dyslexia though and that many kids switch letters at this stage still.  He has his first girlfriend this year- Rachel.  He thinks his "fangs" are awesome (although in a few more years he'll get braces to correct them).  He still has gorgeous green eyes and a small brown birthmark on his left knee (same knee I had nerve problems with when I was pregnant with him).  He hates his toe nails to be cut and we literally have to hold him down to cut them.. he is sooo ticklish.  We have trouble getting his hair to lay down.. he has a cowlick that likes to stick up in the back and does better with longer hair on top, but Jason tends to cut it too short and it sticks out.  He's taken tons of sports in the past- his favorite sports are skiing and basketball.  He also loves Cub Scouts.  Currently his favorite book series to read is the Notebook of Doom.  He still wants to be an inventor when he grows up.

Kaiden on the other hand is very outgoing, LOUD, talkative- some days we actually have to ask him to stop talking for a little bit.  He's so funny.  He says the silliest things.  He loves to put his hand on his head and say "Oh give me a break" or "Oh come on" or "How do you not know that."  His best friend is Landry across the street.  He likes to pretend he has 2 boys named Zuma and Rubble (from Paw Patrol his favorite cartoon).  He loves to ride his strider bike and he's super fast!  He was ready for a real bike with petals last year, but his legs are too short to reach the ground.  His eyes are brown with a bit of hazel, but he likes to tell everyone his eyes are green like his brothers.  He has a loose bottom tooth from when his brother and him were wrestling and he got bonked.  It's been loose for months but hasn't fallen out.  He still likes to take his 2 stuffed bunnies with him everywhere.  He knows his numbers to 10, colors, shapes...  He loves play doh. We called him "bossy pants" or "bossy boy" before the movie "Bossy Baby" came out.  Its fitting because he loves to boss everyone around.  Anytime someone comes into our house he instructs them to take their shoes off right away and then proceeds to carry their shoes to our laundry room, where we put our shoes.