Home Again, Home Again...

I've been home exactly four days, we are unpacked, laundry is done, grocery shopping complete (as if that could ever happen), and we are all back to work and camp just like we never left.
Well, except for the memories...

View of Niagara Falls from our hotel!

And the photos...
(and the extra 5 pounds I seem to have picked up)

We arrived in Buffalo, picked up our luggage and a rental car, and headed straight for the border.  Once in Canada we checked into our hotel (Marriott Fallsview - I highly recommend it!), opened the curatins, and this is what we saw...
Upon realizing that the view pretty much has a permanent rainbow, Isabella declares Niagara Falls her favorite place.  Of course, she found many favorite places during our 12 day trip.

Running along the Falls

Nigara Falls is truly magnificent.  I could not stop staring, and taking photos, and pointing the view out to everyone else.  I was determined to keep up with my training while on vacation, so on the second day, I set out to run along the Falls Scenic Route.  I ran for about an hour,  but didn't log many miles, because I had to keep stopping to marvel at the view, and take more pictures.  Seriously, how could you not stop and gawk when THIS view was in the picture?
In any case, I had a lovely run and just when I was getting a little warm, the mist (the cold mist) would blow my way and cool me off.  It was great!

After a full day of touring, it was time to head back to the good old US of A to get ready for phase two of our trip... Sarah and Joe's wedding! We have been waiting for this event for years, and it truly paid off!  Every bit of the weekend was just perfect - the hotel - gorgeous! The rehearsal dinner - delicious! The chapel - adorable and perfect! The wedding reception - one of the BEST ever!  The weather - well, let's not talk about the weather... rain on your wedding day is good luck, right?

Here's some of my favorite photos from the wedding...

 

We had a great time with friends and family.  It was wonderful to see my sister, Valerie and Isabella had a great time with her cousin James.   We can't wait for his baby brother to be born! 

After Buffalo, we went to Hershey Park, where Isabella tried to set several speed records for her age class on the roller coasters.  This kid is an adrenaline junkie (just like her dad!); if she was tall enough, they got in line to ride!  I don't have any photos of Isabella on any of these coasters, because while she and Ray were riding, I was busy pacing on the ground and my hands were too shaky to focus the camera; plus they were going too fast!

After all that excitement, we were ready to slow down a bit and went to Rhode Island to visit Grandma and Grandpa Welch.  We had a lovely and relaxing time at their summer home and spent many hours on Grandpa's sailboat, Tranquility.  Isabella even got to try her hand at steering and coiling the lines!  She was most impressed with the fact that the boat had a "house" on it, and spent much of her time below deck, trying out the berths, eating snacks from the galley, and visting the head several times.  She remarked that the only thing missing was a TV! 

So, after 12 days away, I managed to log only 7 miles running, maybe half a mile swimming, and approximately 30 minutes on an excersize bike in one of the hotels.  Pathetic, huh?  I have my first real triathlon this weekend in Jupiter and I am a little (okay, a LOT) nervous.  I did manage to do a little training this week to make sure everything was still working.  So far, so good.  The race is only a sprint, so I'm not worried about the distances (700 yd swim, 13 mile bike, 3.1 mile run).  I know I can do it, so I'm not sure what I'm nervous about.  I just hope I will be able to relax enough to enjoy it.  The forecast is for sunny skies and smooth seas.  I hope there are a few clouds in the sky, though.  That South Florida sun is brutal!

I'm going to pack my race bag now.  I have a handy checklist provided by my coach and she put everything on this list!  Tomorrow night is the pre-race pasta party (gotta load up on carbs), and then I will check into my room at the lovely Jupiter Beach Resort.  Mom, Isabella, and I decided that we'd rather stay in a hotel that is a 5 minute walk from the race, than have to deal with a 45 minute drive at 5:00 in the morning.  Honestly, I didn't want to have the added pressure of dragging a very sleepy and very cranky almost six-year-old out of bed on my list of pre-race responsibilities!

I'll check in when I finish!