He finished with a smile!

Ok-so... I know I haven't been the best about blogging this summer. Or really this past year (let's just be honest).

We've had a truly crazy summer (we want to live up to our reputation of being the crazy Matchells) --VERY fun and very full--and we are going to cap it off by heading to Disney World this weekend!! I am THRILLED because I've never been there and can't wait to experience the "magic" in person and watch my kids as they have the time of their lives. I'm probably more of a camping-laid-back-vacation type of person myself, but I also think I'm going to LOVE the crazy Disney experience. We are going with some of our very best friends- Darren, Lori, Britney, and Logan- so the adult to kid ratio will be 2:1. Really... can it get any better than that? Just an ideal vacation all around...

But first, I wanted to touch on just a few of the super-fun things we've done in the past few months (and maybe get addicted to blogging again and realize how much I've missed this aspect of my life. Or maybe not. Just keeping it real.)

Jakin and Anna competed in a local kids triathlon. The age group was 6 and under and since they're still only 4 they were definitely the smallest. They were allowed to swim with floaties and use training wheels on the bike portion, so I thought it might be fun. And when I pitched the idea to them... they were SO excited! We "trained" for a few weeks beforehand and I would catch them "stretching" during nap time in the days preceding the race.

Here they are, posing before the race:




Then onto the swim, which was 25 yds--or the length of the pool (they separated the boys and girls. I realize they totally look ghetto with their $1.50 tubes, but that's what they've loved using all summer, and I wasn't about to go invest in awesome life jackets for this event...) I just love their big smiles and how much fun they're having!







Anna blew me away. Even with her crazy tube, she was the second girl out of the water. Which is especially astounding since she has been our child that is the least interested in swimming. But I think this little competition brought out the swimmer in her-since then she has been jumping in, putting her head under all the time, and trying to swim independently. Jakin's tube got lodged up under his arms, so he really only used his kick to get himself across. He was the last boy out of the water, but that didn't faze him a bit! He was just having an awesome time!

Jakin hopped out of the water, then transitioned onto the bike. Unfortunately, it took three helpers a considerable amount of time to get his shoes on his wet feet! Since he was really only competing against himself at this point, once again... it didn't bother him at all!




Anna got out of the pool like a rockstar--but then she slipped and fell and this was the result:


Even though she dropped out of the race before she got onto her bike-- after a great talk with Daddy, she finished strong at home later on that day. It was a good lesson for me as well--not that I ever want to force my kids to do something they don't want to do--but to enforce the mentality of being finishers in life. Ah... the never-ending lessons in parenting...

Back to Jakin: After he hopped off the bike--he made a bee-line straight for the water table. Daddy had coached him to take a drink of water then throw down the cup just like Mommy did in her races and he was REALLY excited to try. Unfortunately, the volunteers thought he was running off course, so they guided him another way. But once again, that didn't bother him at all--he was just enjoying himself and the crowd (and looking forward to getting a blue powerade at the end!!)


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They had quite the crowd out to support them. Mimi, Papa, and Lori are our faithful local fans. But they even had distant friends (who just happened to be in town for the weekend) there to cheer them on!
"Aunt Jill", Cason and baby #2 in utero



Miss Alaina and Miss Karessa (Mommy's awesome high school friends who came for an awesome weekend!!)


And of course, their biggest and ever-present fan: Mikaiah


Overall, the kids has an absolute blast and loved getting to compete in a triathlon!