Run, run, run!

Time to run. 

I overtook the girl that I was cycling next to on the run, but not the other David.

Off the bike

Here I am getting ready to jump off my bike. 

1st place in the Blue Heat.....

Guess who came first in the blue heat...? David! Ashlynn says that he came back from the bike way ahead of everybody - even though he didn't come out of the water first.

Back from the bike ride. Time to start running.....!

1st place!

Off on the bike....

Here I am setting off on the 14km bike ride. It was pretty fun. I was riding pretty close to one of the other kids from training - also called David! We even passed some people from the blue heat!

Quick change fast!

After the swim I ran over to my bike and had to quickly dry off, put on a shirt (so I wouldn't freeze on my bike), put on my shoes and socks, and my helmet. Oh and also my number belt. 

Right after the swim

Drying off my feet so I wouldn't get cramps in my feet.

On with the number belt and helmet....

Off with the cap

Here I am getting out of the water - to save time I took off my goggles and swimming cap before I even got out of the water!!

Tres Froi!!

The water was tres froi - very cold (French). In these photos you can see my little pink head bobbing up and down in the water. We swam out and around a boui back to land.

GO!!

"AND THE ORANGE HEAT IS OFF! 15 MINUTES AFTER THE BLUE HEAT. THERE THEY GO.

WHO IS THAT STRANGE PERSON WEARING THE PINK CAP?"

On your marks, get set.....

David's heat was the blue heat and mine was the orange heat. David's heat left first. 

While Daddy was in the US he bought us swimming caps, blue for David and pink for me (I was going feminine because I was the only girl in training). What we didn't know was that they gave out swimming caps at the registration of the triathlon. The one's they gave out were blue. I was the only person wearing a pink cap. 

Getting ready for the 200m swim.

Some girls were wearing bikinis! I was wearing a tri suit that Daddy had picked up in the US.

The 3 step guide on how to put on a Swimming Cap

Veronica's 3 way guide on how to put a swimming cap.

1.

Stretch you swimming cap until it goes over you head. 

2.

Then pull it so it covers most of your hair.

3.

Stuff all you hair into the cap - you're done.

Our tattooed legs

On Friday, June the 11th we met up with David and Andrew and rode to the start of the triathlon. We registered in, then got tattoos on our legs.   

247 and 198

More fun in the pool

The swimming pool year started off with David pushing all of us into the pool. We wore our wet suits, because it was still kinda cold. Most of the time we were working in teams to try and push the others out of the little red boat, mostly it was Ashlynn, Andrew and I working against David. It was really fun!!

JUMP!

Carefull - we're capsizing!

"Are we sinking yet?"

Triathalon Training

As I said in one of the other posts, I've been training for a triathlon. I was the only girl in training. 

To get a bit 'warmed' up in the water Mrs. Sally drove us down to Rotterdam so we could buy wet suits. Daddy, Ashlynn, and I all got ones. Then we met up with David and Andrew to go and practice in the lake that we'd be doing the triathlon. 

Wet suit buddies

While David and I did the 200m swim, Ashlynn and Andrew played on the beach of the lake.

David's Sand drip castle

P.S. The water was not warm - it's Holland in April we're talking about!

Old Cars Race

 

At the same place as the gazebo and the amazing gardens was a big avenue that had lots of old fashioned looking cars on it. As we were leaving the cars moved out! Luckily they weren't going the same way we were otherwise we would've gotten pretty stuck in traffic! 

Tricky Fountains

At the same place as the glass gazebo was a big house that a rich bishop lived in. His garden was amazing - so amazing that we had to get a tour around it. During the summer he would invite guests over and take them on a tour in the garden. If it was hot out he would sit them down at this table - he would always sit at the head - and then he would get one of his servants to switch a switch and water would come out of all the seats and behind them. In other words, everyone except him would get soaked - only as a joke (of course!).

Then he would get his friends to walk under this fountain. Pretty creative eh? And all without electricity!

And now, when everyone is soaked he takes them into another building which has fountains that turn on when you walk in between each room. And after that he gets you even wetter exiting.

Very funny little thing. It blinks and sticks it's tongue out!

Making the bread - worked by water of course!

Really cute. All the little people moved and there was music and everything!  - all worked by water!

Magic - or not?

The Glass Gazebo

Here in this Glass Gazebo is where the love songs were sang in the Sound of Music. We were hoping to go in on the last day of our trip, but the entrance was also glassed over. While people were imitating the song '16 going on 17' and jumping over the benches someone fell and broke one of the glass panes. After that it was a bit dangerous so they don't let anyone in anymore. Oh well. 

Apparently during the filming of '16 going on 17' the girl playing Liesl, fell while jumping, fell out the window and broke the glass. She cut her foot and in the original movie you can see a band-aid on her ankle. (According to a tour guide that we over heard) 

10 done 26 more to go...

Since sometime in April I've been doing triathlon training after school on Wednesdays. 

250m swim

14km bike

2.5km run

I was the only girl in training! With around 12 boys. While in Austria we practiced the swimming in the tiny pool at the hotel. I had to do 36 laps! Ashlynn joined me and did them with me. It was good to practice the swim, because in training we were only get to practice 2 times. 

Ashlynn and I practicing the swim in the pool.

Slidin' in the Salz Mines

In the salt mines there were 2 wooden slides. The first was shorter than the second. As we were getting ready our hearts were beating fast, but once you had done the first one, the second one was more fun. Ashlynn was going so fast!! 39km per hour!! Mommy and I went much slower. Our funny costumes had some kind of rubber on the butt to slow us down. It was really funny. Here are some photos of the slides. 

From the top of the slide

From the bottom

At the very end was the mine train. We had barley understood any of the whole tour. The tour guide would speak for 5 minutes in German then say about two sentences in English - really annoying.The mine train was really fun. It actually went pretty fast.  We sat near the front and watched as the tiny hole at the end of the tunnel got bigger and bigger. Of course it was still raining! :)