Homeschool Science Club drawing pictures of insects.
Swim lessons with Mark the Shark.
Homeschool field trip to the Kualoa Ranch and fish ponds.
Ballet class with the incredible Miss Nicole.
Some backyard gardening.
Lunch date with Dad at the Discovery Center.
Toddler gym.
Homeschool gym class at the Hawaii Academy.
This race is also a favorite of mine because I love the Hale Koa (House of the Warrior) Hotel. In 2000 when Jason and I were just dating we came out here to visit from New York/Canada so he could check out the University of Hawaii where we was convinced the Army would send him to do his Masters (silly dreamer). He told me he had gotten us reservations at the “Army hotel” needless to say my expectations were not considerably high. I was expecting some kind of barracks complete with cots and wool blankets when we pull up to the Hale Koa’s open air, flower gushing lobby. I was shocked, it was so beautiful, did he have the wrong address? We had a wonderful honeymoon type vacation with lots of sunshine, surfing, plumerias and mai tais. Both of us fell in love with Hawaii. Shortly after that Jason became a Grad student at UH. 
In 2001 when Jason and I decided to get married it was going to be a quick little deal with a Justice of the Peace but before we knew it we had a cast of 13 making the trip to Hawaii. We decided to keep it simple and got married at Magic Island on a Thursday morning and headed to the Hale Koa for our ‘”reception”, attending the Hale Koa Luau featuring lounge lizard, king of cheese Danny Couch. A good time was had by all!
Since then we’ve visited the Hale Koa on a number of occasions, I think its fair to say Hannah learned to swim in their baby pool, a group of new moms used to meet up there since it’s the perfect size for little people. Ella is following in her footsteps. 
Last year Hannah at the age of 4 did her first run swim run and it was so stinking cute I almost cried. This year she did even better, making it to the middle of the pack and I think she had more fun since Mom hung back and let her mingle with her other age groupers rather than fussing over her goggles or swim cap. They line the kids up according to age and the big kids go first so the little ones can see what they are supposed to do, well that’s the idea anyways. Hannah’s been to enough races to have an idea of what she’s supposed to do and I think the best part is just for her to have an appreciation for participating. Mom and Dad are certainly not the fastest people on the course when she watches us but she sees us smiling and having fun and doing our best and that’s all we wish for her. We'll be back again next year and maybe we'll even convince Ella to have a go!
Since she could speak she has coached me on my real bike trainer “Go, Mom, go! Faster, faster”, but now, thanks to Dad, we’re hitting the open road. Hannah has had her own bike for two years but attempts at family bike rides have lasted 10 minutes and required a lot of coaxing, bribes and eventually threats. So Dad bought a bike trailer to attach to his bike while I ride my beach bike with the baby seat and Ella. Dad decided it might be a good idea for us to switch and put the trailer on my mountain bike so I could get some extra miles in when Ella naps and he works on his dissertation. We decided to do a test run of the Mom/Hannah combo over at the Marine Corp Base as they have a nice flat bike lane.
In the triathlon the bike is definitely my weakest event. I need to spend more hours in the saddle and since my husband does need to complete his PhD by August, I need to find ways to fit in extra workouts with kids in tow. I have a double jogger which makes it possible to have both kids with me while providing added resistance training in the form of 80 lbs of squabbling siblings. It even has a rain guard which one likes on in the rain and the other hates. However it kills my form. So we’ll try the bike.
As we unload at the Marine Base, Dad explains that Mom hasn’t had the extra weight of the trailer or passenger before and Hannah will need to be patient and sit still while Mom gets the hang of it. As we take off I suffer from my traditional dread of traffic vs. bike but now with the added responsibility that half of my most prized possessions is on board and I’d better not careen us into traffic or trees. As we start off I can feel us beginning to fish tail a little bit, as I glance over my shoulder I see Hannah standing on her pedals, turned around chatting to her Dad behind us. “Sit down!” I hiss. Clearly this is going to be a lot of fun for both of us.
As I start to get the hang of it the bike begins to wiggle again,
“Hannah sit down.”
“There was mud, it was going to get on my shoes I had to pick them up!”
Dad calmly reminds both of us that Mom is new at this and its going to take some time for her to get used to this. Hannah thinks this over, and I know this because Hannah does most of her thinking out loud.
“Mom doesn’t know what she’s doing. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.” This wasn’t helping my confidence level but we weren’t wiggling so I let it go, for a while, then it started to grate on my nerves. Then the demands for food started.
“Can we go to MacDonalds””
“No.”
“Please, I’m dying! Can I have ice cream?”
“Its 9:30 Sunday morning. You’re not having ice cream, besides we just had breakfast.”
“I’m thirsty. Do you have any cranberry juice?”
“No, drink your water.”
“I don’t want water. Can we go to the playground? I never get to do anything I want.”
After half an hour of the singing, swinging rider I began to realize the benefits of my coach.
“She doesn’t know what she’s doing, she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Hannah continues to sing.
“Have you fallen over yet?”
“No!”
“Then clearly I know what I’d doing!! Find a new song to sing, now!”
“The butterfly flies in the sky. Pretty, pretty butterfly.”
Our 3 mile journey certainly felt like 56 miles and then I recognized the brilliance of Dad’s plan. Hannah’s role wasn’t only to strengthen my physical endurance (which her constant swaying and dancing certainly will) but also my emotional and mental endurance. If I could manage to sharpen my focus and block out the endless demands for ice cream, playgrounds and bathroom breaks I might be able to face the challenges on the race course and also any negative thoughts that jump into my head when things don’t go my way. It helps me to work on finding a Zen state even when I’m being bombarded with challenges from the person on the planet who best knows how to push my buttons!
So on the road keep an eye out for the Mom/Hannah combo, we’re hard to miss and if you listen close you can even hear my coach, “Ride like the wind!” (thanks, Electric Company!).
