Mr. Triathalon (A.K.A. Ephraim)

      Last year (2022) Ephraim decided he wanted to do triathlons. He had just run his first successful Syttende Mai fun run, and was flush with success.   In order to be the uber supportive parent, I signed him up for all the kids tris I could find within an hours drive. There were three of them, on three consecutitive Saturdays in August!  Ephraim competed in Middleton, Oregon, and Janesville.  I thought me might get burnt out or turn cranky by the last one, but he was still enjoying it!  He really gave each race his best, and somehow kept a good attitude.

       Funny memories from last year include him picking up trash (all the tossed paper water cups) as he ran the route for his race in Janesville, as well as swimming the wrong way in Oregon, and biking the wrong way in Middleton and having a volunteer go find him.    There is always an unexpected element when this kids is involved!  It keeps life spicey.

     Here  are some photos from last year, since I didn't blog his incredibe hard work on here then:

                                         

     This year, I thought our family could do without spending the three final Saturdays of the summer at triathlons, so I decided to just pick one.  Ephraim also was less motivated to train daily for them like he did last year.  I think he figured he had done it before, it was no big deal.  I chose the Janesville triathlon, because it had the shortest distances, the least number of entrants, and the best viewing options for spectators.   The course there is a 40M swim, 2.5 mile bike ride, and .5 mile run. It was a good challenge that didn't crush him.   He also dropped 3 minutes from his last years time!

I'm really proud of how hard he tries. He gave it his all.  His transistion was much faster this year, as was his run (probably because he wasn't stopping to gather up trash! LOL).  It will be fun to watch where this guy's determination takes him in the future.  We will be cheering for him all the way.

Birthdays: Ephraim 10, Sean 55

   Sean's birthday follows Ephraim's by one week exactly.  July definately feels like a party around here every year.  

    This year, Ephraim wanted to have his first "lots-of-friends" party. I was so grateful that this was possible because we made a LOT of really great friends this past year.   The kids went swimming at the high school pool, then came back to our house for a waterballoon - squirt gun fight, and cake and custard.

  We were SO glad to have Asher come down for the day!  He made the cake (Ephraim had requested carrot cake with cream cheese frosting) and brought down his ice cream machine to make custard with his little brother.  He offered gifts of of his time and talents that were much appreciated.

I should've taken a picture of the cake before I started to cut it up! 

Sean came up from work to help serve the custard at just the right time!

Sylvia got Ephraim a Bluey shirt to match Sean's (which they got him for Father's Day last month). These guys keep life fun around here.

I loved his excited expression as he opened our gift (a set of seven books in a series he has been reading lately).

Sylvia is tempted to start reading his books. she got him started on the "Poppy" series by Avi.

Asher, Sean and Ephraim went to play tennis together while I got dinner ready. I'm so glad Asher made the effort to connect with his brother who is 15 years younger. I used to worry a lot about the older kids being separate from the younger ones, but it seems to be working out.

Sean's birthday was today. On our family video chat last week he mentioned what he thought his perfect birthday would look like: some outside art time, getting a new board game, and playing it (something like Scythe),  and grilling brats.

So, that's how we rolled today. He took the day off work, and was up early to go oil paint at the park above the river.  We got him Scythe for his gift, so he spent a large chunk of the day learning the rules and setting the game up. We enjoyed playing it with him in the evening.  Which led to grilling brats, and video chattting with the older kids.   A good day all around.  (And cheesecake!  Lots of cheesecake!)

 Sylvia did a creative job of wrapping, since we ran out of wrapping paper. Luckily, she has a lot of sheet music printed out that she doesn't need anymore!

    We enjoyed cheesecake with Door County Cherry pie filling on top for breakast, and an afternoon snack. That's the benefit of starting the celebration early in the day.

Grill buddies. Ephraim supposedly helps keep the grill cooled to the right temperature with squirt guns.  Not sure if that's how the professionals do it, but it seemed to work, the brats were perfectly done!

RoadTrip Number Two: Party in St. Paul, MN

          The end of July brought a much awaited for three day vacation for the family.  Beth's parents (Dan and Kathy) invited us all to come stay with them for the weekend in St. Paul, MN.   It was a lovely offer. I was glad we got to know Beth's parents better and enjoy some of their local attractions.

     First stop:  a tour of the raptor center where they rehabilitate injured raptors then realease them. The ones that can't be released become education raptors. 

Here we have Ephraim trying to show he is bigger than Beth and all the raptors in the universe. Not quite.

I like the look on this one's face. This is how I feel when people around me continually want food or clothing, and it's my job to provide it.  Cooking and laundry seem to be never ending aspects of my life, and I'm still working on "being ok" witih that. Maybe that's what this raptor is brooding on as well.

Our next stop was a really funky/weird/one-of-a-kind shop called "Axeman".  It is tough to describe this store.  People (and the internet) use the words "surplus store".... but that isn't really what it is.  I'd call it "a functioning commecial art instalation commenting on the consumerism of our culture in a vey humourous way".  I LOVED wandering up and down the aisles reading the home-made items descriptions taped on various boxes and bins.   Here a a few for your own mind expanding experience...

"No:Bikes Scooters Negative Vibes".  This was taped on the entrance, and was only an appetizer of the feast behind the doors.

I think the vampire re-bar stake poster was my favorite!

                                                    Don't try the Booger Brush! It was a joke!

You're Welcome!  It's as if you were there in the store, right? Not quite, because you didn't come out of the store with a mix of practical and weird items.   We got some useful plastic picnic cups, but also a bag of 3 foot long straws.  You have to suck muliple times to get the liqued up that far! No wonder they aren't all the rage.

We headed back to the Fryxell residence and enjoyed some good food in their lovely yard.  

Kathy did a great job planning out easy-to-assemble meals.  She is a very thoughtful hostess. I can see where Beth gets her hospitality skills from.

One thing our family really enjoyed was seeing all the greenspaces ini the area.  The parks and neighborhoods were much more lush than over in our part of Wisconsin.  We had a good time trying out a local pickleball court and playing some croquet.

       Some of the best parts though, were not planned (and therfore not photographed).  Ephraim discovered a flock of wild turkeys living in their neighborhood on a walk.   He was constantly on the lookout for them afterwards.  I enjoyed playing cards and games with Kathy, and just sitting around the table visiting.

     Sylvia and Ephraim benefitted from Dan's patience, as he explained his woodworking tools to them, and helped them with simple projects.   It made me smile, everytime Ephraim would hear Dan start up a woodworking machine in the basement, his ears would prick up like a dogs, and freeze, then get up and sprint to the stairs to see what was going on down there.  Dan was really patient with his curious little visitor.

We had a fun tournament of Kubb on their front lawn before we left for home.

   I don't remember who won or lost, but we had a good time. while we were out playing, a couple of ladies were walking by with their dog.  I asked them to take a family photo of us...

    We are a pretty good looking group.  When I look at this photo, I smile, knowling that behind Asher's head, Dan has a sandwich hidden on a plate.  We descended around him mid-lunch for my impromptu photo shoot!

    I think what I valued most about this weekend was that it was an offering of building a relationship between the families that wasn't based solo around the kids that connect us (Asher and Beth).  Our families have met at musical recitals, and graduation, but not for the sole purpose of hanging out.  This is a different pattern of in-law dynamics than either Sean or I had grown up with.  It is nice to be part of something new. I look forward to many more years of getting together with the Fryxells just because we like them.