Cowboy Zebra

3 weeks till triathlon!
We were finally able to do an open water swim this weekend! My friend, Melanie, and I were both nervous about it. There are things in the water, it's not clear, and we would be quite aways from shore. When we stepped into the water, we were pleasantly surprised that it was actually a comfortable temperature. We've been having such a mild summer, and have had very few days over 80 degrees. Melanie's husband and their two kids rowed in our little inflatable boat in front of us with the gps so we'd know how far we went. We swam a total of a half a mile, which is what we'll have to swim for the race. After swimming, we got our bikes out of the car and went on a half hour bike ride (7 miles) and a half hour run (about 2 and 3/4 miles). This morning before church, I went on a 12 mile bike ride and a 5k run (what we'll do in the race). We feel really good about our ability to finish, especially having done the lake swim. I'm hoping to join the local womens triathlon training group next week for their group swim. The instructor told me that she gets everyone to line up shoulder to shoulder and enter the water at the same time, simulating the start of the race. I'm sure swimming with lots of people around splashing will be much different then swimming in the lake with just one other person!

My camera has been MIA since the beginning of July so I wasn't able to get the rest of the pictures while Granny and Grampa were here. Interestingly it showed up today in Nathan's gun gear bag. I'm suspicious that he put it there, even though I've asked multiple times if he knew where it was. :)

Maggie knew it was HER birthday. She watched us decorate the cake this morning, and couldn't wait to eat the "buttafy cupcake". She asked many times throughout the day. She sang along "Happy Birthday" when we sang to her and even said her name in the song. She's witnessed enough birthdays in the last few months that she knows the drill! She loved opening the presents and loved all the attention!

After Maggie opened up all her presents, Grampa brought the horse out. When Maggie saw it, she jumped up, left all the presents and ran to the horse jumping up and down with her hands in the air waiting for Grampa to put it down. She LOVES it!

Maggie is now wearing underwear! She's not 100% yet, but she's certainly getting it. She's only had a couple of accidents yesterday and today, and is doing really well telling me when she has to go. She gets SO excited when she goes potty, especially when we are out. I've had her little potty and potty seat out for a few months, and she would use to them occasionally, but preferred not to most of the time. Last week when I asked her, "Do you need to go potty?" instead of saying "I don't want to" while crossing her arms, she actually agreed, and has been doing better as each day passes.