Testing, testing, 1-2-3...

The Patriot Half is not looking too good for me right now.

The test of my support system on Saturday did not go well. When I returned home from 3+ hours of exercise, I was met by two wild children and an extremely grumpy Scouter. His first words to me were along the lines of, "The kids are driving me crazy and they're yours for the rest of the day." Then he stomped off. Sighing deeply that I had to affrontery to need 15 more minutes of his valuable time to shower.

I had planned to take the kids downtown to see the Godspeed - what a cool opportunity to experience history. Both Taz and Rainbow have learned about the discovery and settling of the United States and they both love history, so it was perfect. Grumpykins... um, I mean Scouter, however, angrily read the Friday review of the Godspeed visit aloud to me from the paper. Big crowds, poor parking, bad neighborhoods (his editorialization), even the boat captain (supposedly) commenting that the venue wasn't ideal. I finally relented and said we'd go to Bogey's instead.

At that point, Grumpykins eyes lit up at the thought of hitting golf balls and baseballs, so he decided to join us. You know when one person in your group is cranky, how it brings everyone else down? Yeah, that was pretty much our trip to Bogey's.

After Bogey's the kids and I were ready to get the hell out of dodge. They suggested the pool, but the thought of more heat and sun was not particularly appealing to me. I was able to sway them to my way of thinking - namely, sitting in air conditioning - by offering up Shrek The Third. Popcorn, Skittles, Sprite... what's not to like? Thankfully that didn't appeal to Grumpy and we made our escape.

Shrek The Third got poor reviews by our local film critic, but I have to say we all enjoyed it. It was not as brilliant as the first one but definitely continued along the lines of the second one. I enjoyed the pop culture references meant to appeal to the parents and the kids enjoyed the story. In typical Shrek fashion, there was a music scene with the credits that had Taz and Rainbow dancing in the aisles. We boogied all the way to our car, and I thought about taking them out to dinner, but by then they were full of popcorn and other junk, so we headed home.

Scouter had conveniently just started his workout in our attic in a feeble attempt to gain another hour and a half. We turned up our noses at him, sniffed disdainfully (or maybe that was just me), and went outside to play now that the weather was more comfortable. And we each had huge bowls of ice cream. Fiber (from the popcorn) and protein/vitamin D (from the ice cream) constitute a good healthy dinner for growing children, don't they?

Yesterday (Sunday), the kids and I got their training session in, biking for two miles then running/walking for half a mile. I got smart this time and rode my old mountain bike with them on their ride instead of running alongside their bikes, desperately trying to keep up with them. They did great! I was so impressed. They are enjoying the experience and are definitely ready for their kids' tri next weekend. They were both excited to join mommy on my workouts.

We went to the pool for the afternoon and were thrilled to discover that one of Regan's friends from kindergarten is a new member. We hung out with her family for a bit and also with one of our neighbors and her kids. Although I lotioned us all up regularly, we ended up a bit pink. We returned home just in time for me to get to Som's swimming. Scouter and the kids headed to a cook out at a neighbor's house so they were all entertained.

Last night was the first time I'd actually attended Som's swimming for awhile. Even though I think I'm pushing myself when I swim on my own, I'm so not. We swam 2000 yards (I think) including a race day simulation of a timed 300 yard multi-lane swim. I did not feel so good in that and did not approach my race estimate as feared. Ah well. I will get passed on race day.

Today the kids and I have enjoyed making pancakes, playing Webkinz (very cool as much as I resisted it), Scrabble Jr, and Boggle Jr. We're heading to the pool again later this afternoon with 10 times more sunblock than yesterday.

Maybe we'll even let Scouter come with us.