One of the main reasons I went to Minnesota was to be there for my 8 year old nephew Oliver at his triathlon. He participated in one of the largest kids triathlons in the world and I am so so so proud of him, he was so great. It was not only a huge personal accomplishment but he did this to raise money for kids who have cancer. Yeah, totally hits the heart :)
My sister Donna and her hubby Bryan were such great supporters. They were all about it and were there for him every second of the way. Their excitement for him and what he was about to do was so awesome!
So there were kids EVERYWHERE and they had their age written on one leg and the name of a sick child who they were doing this for on the other, very touching.
This does not show it well at all but it started from boys and girls age 7 all the way to boys and girls age 17. There was a huge line, about 5 kids wide, all the way weaving up and down the hill, and all in orange swim caps. I think Bryan said that there were about 600 kids total.
This pic is Donna, Bryan, Oliver, and Albert who was being such a trooper. He fell off a playground set from 10 feet high. SCARY. My sister had to drive him to the emergency room, his head was cut so bad that she thought he was bleeding from his ear but thankfully he wasn't. She told me that after she had left with Albert, Oliver got his brother Henry and the other family's kids that they were at the playground with, in a group and had them all say a prayer that Albert was ok, what a good and caring big brother they have. It is so funny though because that is totally something that Donna would have done when we were that age.
So as I was standing and waiting in for the race to start I finally actually realized HOW MANY kids there were with all their orange caps.
Oliver played it cool and aware. It looked like he kept checking out where he was in line. We were all waiting to see how the first part was going to go, the swimming, since he was only 3 days into his swimming lessons and the water that they had to swim in was pretty darn deep for a kid who was just learning to swim.
The anticipation kept building for him...
...and he was off!
He did not turn back, no matter how deep it got he kept going
and going even though it was up to his chin (he had not
willingly gone in water that deep before) so it was a pretty big deal.
He finally turned the corner and was making his way to the track to run to his bike.
Oh, and the smile on his face when he got out of the water. You could totally tell that he was so proud of himself that he made it through the swimming part of it.
So he ran to his bike station where he changed the Grandparents were waiting for him on the hill with signs.
And he was off for the bike portion of it.
Mean while, Henry was hanging out with only one shoe and sock on. When Oliver was swimming, Henry wanted to play in the sand and had started to take his shoes and socks off but only got half way through before he was scooped up and running to meet Oliver at the bike hill. So Bryan had his one shoe and sock on the other side of the parking lot, it was pretty darn funny and I still find my self laughing when I see this picture. He did such a good job of staying by us and not wandering since there were
so many people.
Their little bike stations with towels to wipe the sand off their feet, shoes, and helmets.
He made it back really fast. It was so cute, every time he would be passing us you could see his huge eyes scanning the people and as soon as he saw one of us he would get the biggest smile.
Okay, this was one of the highlights for me. He had just dropped his bike off and began the running portion of it. They had a water stand at the beginning of it and he was running all the way up the hill with his coke cup of water. This is when it got pretty dramatic, as he was running he took his last sip and chucked the cup like a pro, wiped his brow, and hauled it out of there! I probably did not do the best job putting it in to words but it was totally priceless, and made him seem so grown up!
I love this picture. The finish line, he was picture perfect, big smile and hands out catching all the high fives that were waiting for him! After he finished he received a metal that I am sure has found a special place to hang.
I think it was definitely a growing opportunity for them as a family, Donna just could not believe that he did this all on his own. It was so cool to see the love and pride that Donna and Bryan had for him, that he made it through it and did it for the sick kids.
My sister Donna and her hubby Bryan were such great supporters. They were all about it and were there for him every second of the way. Their excitement for him and what he was about to do was so awesome!
So there were kids EVERYWHERE and they had their age written on one leg and the name of a sick child who they were doing this for on the other, very touching.
This does not show it well at all but it started from boys and girls age 7 all the way to boys and girls age 17. There was a huge line, about 5 kids wide, all the way weaving up and down the hill, and all in orange swim caps. I think Bryan said that there were about 600 kids total.
This pic is Donna, Bryan, Oliver, and Albert who was being such a trooper. He fell off a playground set from 10 feet high. SCARY. My sister had to drive him to the emergency room, his head was cut so bad that she thought he was bleeding from his ear but thankfully he wasn't. She told me that after she had left with Albert, Oliver got his brother Henry and the other family's kids that they were at the playground with, in a group and had them all say a prayer that Albert was ok, what a good and caring big brother they have. It is so funny though because that is totally something that Donna would have done when we were that age.
So as I was standing and waiting in for the race to start I finally actually realized HOW MANY kids there were with all their orange caps.
Oliver played it cool and aware. It looked like he kept checking out where he was in line. We were all waiting to see how the first part was going to go, the swimming, since he was only 3 days into his swimming lessons and the water that they had to swim in was pretty darn deep for a kid who was just learning to swim.
The anticipation kept building for him...
...and he was off!
He did not turn back, no matter how deep it got he kept going
and going even though it was up to his chin (he had not willingly gone in water that deep before) so it was a pretty big deal.
He finally turned the corner and was making his way to the track to run to his bike.
Oh, and the smile on his face when he got out of the water. You could totally tell that he was so proud of himself that he made it through the swimming part of it.
So he ran to his bike station where he changed the Grandparents were waiting for him on the hill with signs.
And he was off for the bike portion of it.
Mean while, Henry was hanging out with only one shoe and sock on. When Oliver was swimming, Henry wanted to play in the sand and had started to take his shoes and socks off but only got half way through before he was scooped up and running to meet Oliver at the bike hill. So Bryan had his one shoe and sock on the other side of the parking lot, it was pretty darn funny and I still find my self laughing when I see this picture. He did such a good job of staying by us and not wandering since there were so many people.
Their little bike stations with towels to wipe the sand off their feet, shoes, and helmets.
He made it back really fast. It was so cute, every time he would be passing us you could see his huge eyes scanning the people and as soon as he saw one of us he would get the biggest smile.
Okay, this was one of the highlights for me. He had just dropped his bike off and began the running portion of it. They had a water stand at the beginning of it and he was running all the way up the hill with his coke cup of water. This is when it got pretty dramatic, as he was running he took his last sip and chucked the cup like a pro, wiped his brow, and hauled it out of there! I probably did not do the best job putting it in to words but it was totally priceless, and made him seem so grown up!
I love this picture. The finish line, he was picture perfect, big smile and hands out catching all the high fives that were waiting for him! After he finished he received a metal that I am sure has found a special place to hang.
I think it was definitely a growing opportunity for them as a family, Donna just could not believe that he did this all on his own. It was so cool to see the love and pride that Donna and Bryan had for him, that he made it through it and did it for the sick kids.
2 comments:
Wow, that is AWESOME! I can't believe how big of an ordeal it was!
Hey, I had to change my blog address to:
the4quinnsreport.blogspot.com
My other one locked up on me and I can't access it anymore....just thought I would share in case I didn't tell you yet!
Oh, and thanks for the text message yesterday! We had a busy day that included a surprise Sweet 16 party for Andrew. He turned 32 so 16 +16=32! It was fun, but a lot of work!
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