Phone babble

Emeline has been talking up a storm lately. Still mostly in her own language, but she's making all kinds of interesting sounds. They sound like words, just not something I can understand. Yesterday, she was holding up her toy wii-mote to her head like a phone and running around the house talking. I got some of it on video, but she didn't talk as much once I got out the camera. You'll have to turn up the volume pretty loud to hear her, but then my voice is extra loud so watch out ;). Enjoy!

Oh, and today she's 16 months!

First Camping Trip

Last weekend Emeline had our first camping trip. Some friends from our small group organized a car camping expedition up at Lake Camanche. We'd never been up there before, it was full of beautiful rolling golden hills and oak trees. It was good to get out and do our first camping trip with Emeline, to get over the learning curve of camping with a toddler, but it was exhausting. Hot and exhausting.

Hot because it was in the 90s I think, and exhausting because Emeline is what I like to call a "runner". She's very exploratory and has no fear, so she was constantly running out of our campsite. She would run into the fire road between sites, into others campsites, into the lake, or just about anywhere she could get. At one point we had a little scare because I thought Wes was watching her, and he thought I was watching her, and sure enough she had bolted to another campsite to play with a bunch of people and their dog. My heart skipped a beat, but we found her fast. So chasing Emeline + no napping + very little sleep at night made for a tiring trip, but it was still good to get away, be outdoors, and enjoy some time with friends. We had a nice time by the campfire for the few hours that Emeline did sleep in the tent.

With all the running after Emeline, we did not get out our camera, but thankfully others did. So here are some photos!

Emeline hanging out with Dan and Jack while we set up.
The campsite.
Emeline really liked Jack's high chair, but he wasn't so sure about her in it.
There was lots of rummaging and snacks.
Playing in the shade after swimming in the lake.
The campsite had a couple nice playgrounds, one with a tunnel that the kids just loved.
All tuckered out after the playground.
Sunset by our campsite.
Guitar in the morning.

Getting back in the game, Tri for Fun!

Back in the day, before little miss Emeline came along, this member of Team Zuber, Elaine that is, enjoyed doing triathlons. Now I've never really considered myself the athletic type, but my dear friend Rebecca's hobby of triathlons inspired me to challenge myself something new, and in June 2005 I did my first Sprint Triathlon. Since then I've done 4-5 sprint triathlons, 1 Olympic distance, and I think 3 bike events (100K, 50miles, and 40+miles). It has been a fun journey of seeing what this body God created can do.

I've taken quite the break since pregnancy and the birth of Emeline, about 2 years to be exact, and having enough sleep, energy, and time for training has been quite the challenge. So I was very excited to be able to get back into the game by doing a triathlon which was part of the Tri For Fun Series, held in Pleasanton, CA. Without further ado, here is my race report!

Pre-Race
Got up at 5, since I couldn't sleep anyway. Showered, coffee and some cereal. Then Elizabeth picked me up and off we went! Wes was going to bring Emeline a little later so they could get some more sleep. It was sad to have a tri without Wes helping me load up my gear and get all set up. I had some yogurt in the car, and we checked in just in the nick of time. We set up our transition area, and then headed down to the lake, where we listened to the pre-race announcements and warmed up by jumping up and down in the lake and swimming a bit. I looked for Wes and Emeline, but I couldn't see them yet. I ended up starting earlier than I thought, so I figured they would miss the start of the race. The water was warmer than I thought, and I'd been having some good swim workouts, so I felt confident about the swim.

Swim
The swim turned out to be much more rough than I thought. There were so many people, it was hard to get swimming, so I was barely getting a breast stroke. I was right in the middle of a pretty bad cold, and my lungs felt so tired that I could not breathe well. I had lots of asthma and I even had to back stroke a bit to catch my breath. I didn't actually start "swimming" until I could almost see the shore. I was disappointing at how the swim went, but I still got out of the water a couple seconds faster than the last time I did this race.

T1
As I came out of the water, I looked for Wes and Emeline, but no sign of them. Oh, well, I thought, maybe I'll see them when I come back from the bike. The first transition went ok, I was mostly trying to catch my breath from the swim. I almost forgot to put on my bike helmet.

Bike
Once I got on the bike, and up the hill out of transition, I felt like I was still trying to catch my breath from all the asthma during the swim. I also noticed my back tire was low, and I was afraid it was leaking. If Wes had been there he would have made sure my tires were freshly pumped, but I had forgotten. After about the half way mark, I knew the tire would be fine and I got more into a groove. I still was feeling sick, and desperately needed to blow my nose. I tried to just maintain a steady pace and a high RPM so I could conserve energy for the run.

T2
As I came in for the second transition, I was feeling pretty good, and hoped again to see Wes and Emeline, but no luck. The transition went smoothly, I put on my running shoes quickly, and dumped my helmet. Chugged some more tonic water to help prevent cramps on the run. I wish I had a bandana for my hair. Still no sign of Wes or Emeline as I started the run. Then I felt bad for making them come to watch me, when as it seemed, I didn't know if I would even see them at all.

Run
I felt really good in the first part of the run. I had taken it easy on the bike, so I felt like I had good energy, considering all the cold symptoms. Again, I took it easy since I wasn't feeling too well. I walked up the hills, and ran the rest. The hills were steep but short, and I ran more of the course than I expected. I thought the run course was only 2 or 2.5 miles, so I felt great at the beginning, but by the end I felt bad that it was taking me so long. Only after the fact did I realize it was actually a full 3.1 miles. Then I didn't feel so bad about my time. My knees and ankles were getting a bit sore by the end, but none of my usual calf cramping.

Finally as I was running down the home stretch, I saw Wes and Emeline! It was so cool to have my first moment of Emeline watching me in a triathlon. I felt proud! Here's a picture of me waving at them as I ran by.
I decided to push myself and sprint to the finish. I was surprised I had the energy to do so, I guess that means I could have pushed myself harder throughout the race. Elizabeth met the at the finish line (after finishing with an awesome time!), and we grabbed some fruit and muffins and waited for Wes and Emeline. Here's a picture of the two of us, triathlon complete!
I finished with a longer time than the last time I did the Tri for Fun back in 2006, but that was expected. So all in all, I enjoyed myself and I think I did well considering I training is much harder with a little one around, and I had a nasty cold. This member of Team Zuber feels very glad to feel back in the game!

A walk at Rancho

One of the days my parents were visiting, we took a walk at Rancho. Rancho is one of my favorite places to run, walk, and experience nature. I like that we can go there with Emeline and she enjoys the farm and running around. My parents enjoyed it too. Here are some photos.

Running toward the camera.A big pig!
Looking at the plants with Grandma.

Playing peekaboo.

Artsy shot, I thought the grass was pretty.

Emeline's tenacity.

Walking with Grandpa.

Azerbaijani 4th of July BBQ

Our good friend A is headed off to Azerbaijan to teach for a couple of years, so we took the opportunity to gather our church small group friends for a send off BBQ. The date that worked out best was the 4th of July. What a perfect date to celebrate the send off from the US to an international adventure. Here are some photos.

Emeline and I finally arrive late after a long nap, yay rested for the party!

Azerbaijani Freedom Cupcakes = Gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, nut free, everything free really :) So A could enjoy a fun dessert. The icing was difficult to work with, so they didn't look that great, but they tasted nice :) In case you haven't looked at the Azerbaijan flag recently, here is that too.

Girls and Dads.

Enjoying good food and good friends.

Gracie and her loot.

Emeline has been in love with lids and putting things together. She climbed in Josh's high chair multiple times and tried to strap herself in and put on the tray.

The whole group. We love you A! We'll miss you!

Belated Birthdays

My parents stopped in for a visit on the way back from Uncle Dave's shindig. Both of their birthdays had just passed a couple weeks before, so I decided to throw them a little get together with their siblings that live nearby. We decided to do a similar menu to our Easter dinner, since that was such a big hit. So Wes barbequed some pork, we had orzo salad, green salad, delicious potatoes au gratin with artichoke hearts, and I made a lemon cake for dessert. A good time was had by all! Enjoy the photos!

Enjoying conversation.Emeline always has smiles for Aunt Diane.
Cake!Singing the traditional "Jivio" (sp?) after Happy Birthday.Mmmm!

Surprising Uncle Dave

My Great Uncle Dave, that is Emeline's Great Great Uncle Dave, has been a pastor for almost 30 years. He's threatened retirement almost as long as I can remember, but finally, God called a new pastor to his church, and on his 80th birthday, he gave his last official sermon, and is waiting to see what God will have him do next. My parents drove down from Oregon, and the three of us drove down to Fraiser Park, the little moutain town where Dave and Audrey have served for many many years, to celebrate this occasion with him. The church planned a retirement party for after church on his 80th birthday, and his kids and my grandparents also came, but out presence was a surprise. Here we are, surprising him before the service.The church elders pray for him.Some family photos.It was an honor to be there to celebrate this awesome occasion!

Bee rider

Emeline got this bee wheely bug for her birthday from Aunt Diane. She was a bit small for it at the time, and absolutely petrified of sitting on it. But she did enjoy pushing it around. In the last few weeks she's gotten over her fear of sitting/riding on things, and has even climbed up on other peoples ride-on toys without any help. Just before this video was taken, I said to her "Me traes la abeja?", which means something like "Will you bring me the bee?". I was hoping she'd bring it over and I'd help her get on and push her around. She went over to the bee, around the corner from the couch. When I looked around the corner, she had already seated herself on the bee, and then this happened.