Who says you can't TRI???

I really wanted to do a triathlon. I found the perfect one for a beach girl like myself (having lived at the beach all through HS)........ the "Turtle Crawl" on Jekyll Island, Georgia the weekend after my birthday....... perfect, right??!!! So, I asked many friends to join me.... but it's harder than you think to convince someone to swim in the ocean. Many people can swim and are comfortable in the water but when you think about swimming competitively in the ocean...... that's a different story. After asking many friends and being turned down, I turned to my oldest son, Tad, who swims for a year round swim team "The Chatahoochee Gold" and asked him if he'd do it with me. To much surprise he said "Sure." Does this sound like Tad or what? :-) We convinced two of our good friends to join us in the competition....... Steve and Braden Shelley. So, we all started getting ready for the Turtle Crawl Sprint Triathlon on May 16th.
After two bike rides, one 3 mile run, and one lake swim........ we were READY!!! ;-) Yes, I am convinced....... any fit person can do a Sprint Tri any day of the week!!!
Both families, the Ellsworth's and the Shelley's, left Friday morning to drive to Jekyll where we camped for the weekend. We had a BLAST!! Of course, any camping weekend is a vacation for me!! I love to camp. So, we camped Friday night, had some of Rach's fantastic pasta, then went to bed (or tried to... ) Saturday morning the "Tri" participants got up at 5am and were ready to leave the campgrounds by 5:20 so we could be at the transition station by 5:30am when it opened. Danny was nice enough to wake up early and drive Steve, Braden, Tad, and myself to the starting point and take lots of "flattering" pictures!
The race stared at 7:45am on the beach, swimming 600 yds in the ocean, going to transition, biking 12 miles around the island, back to transition, running a 5k along the beach........



LOVING every mintue of it!!


After doing our first triathlon, we certainly know what to expect and what to do differently. For example, don't listen to the "event coordinators" who say not to wear socks while biking/running....... we are STILL suffering from our blisters!! And ask Steve about transition times.... :-) I'm sure he'll have some pointers as to how to shave some 'minutes.'
Honestly, it was the most fun I've had in a long time! I want to do this same TRI every year! I'm hoping as time goes by, more of my immediate family will join in....... Jared is already begging to do a Tri this year!

A special thanks to the SHELLEY family for coming with us!! We had a GREAT time!!!












And CONGRATS to Tad and Braden!! They both placed in their divisions....... Tad came in 1st in "14 and under" while Braden came in 2nd in "15 to 18" .......... WOW!! How great for their first Triathlon!!!!

Our Last Single-Digit BDay

Yes, this is the last year that our family will have a child in the single digits. Our youngest, Reed, turned 9 on May 2nd. I have to say, I am thrilled to be at this stage in life .......no bottles, no midnight feedings, no diaper bags, no "accidents" in public, no whinning....... life is good!

Reed had some of his friends over to help him celebrate. Reed is a very kindhearted child and he truly enjoys his friends.

PS - Reed is a HUGE Gator fan, can you tell??

Nickelback!!

Hangin' with the Shelley's is ALWAYS and adventure!! We went to the Nickeback, Seether, Saving Able concert on April 23rd with Steve & Rachel and had a great time! The weather was supposed to be beautiful and we were "supposed" to have covered seats........

neither one turned out to be true! But hey, it was certainly memerable.......who can forget a lightning storm, tornado warning, pouring rain, soaking clothes, dripping hair, and loud music???

Thanks for the memories Steve & Rach!!

Papa's 70th everlasting PARTY!

April 19, 2009.........Yes, my dad turned 70!!! Holy COW! But, any of you who know him, know he still acts as if he's 17 :-) I sure hope I'm in as great a shape as he is when I'm that age! AND, I hope my party is as BIG! We partied ALL WEEKEND LOOOOOOOOOOOONG!


His siblings flew in from all over the country...OH, MO, & CA to surprise him.


This is Dad with his siblings (L to R: Dean, Bob, Jim "Dad", Judy)

Fortunately, all of his children were able to celebrate with him as well (Tracy flew in from ID.)
L to R: Susan, Tracy, Katy, Janet, Rusty

What a party! I think we had over 30 people in attendance for the birthday weekend. I guess if he measures his success by his family.......wow, he certainly is a weathly man!
Happy Birthday Dad!!