Jackson's First Birthday

So sometimes Gigi takes

 awhile to catch up with events.

Jackson had a first birthday party back in May.

Got photos of the event in June.

And now to tell the story 

this last day of July.

How fast this year went by!

So a Wild Things party

 brought all sorts of good things!

Fun and festivities!

And cake!

And Frosting!  

Lots of love shared all around.

Momma Jess and Daddy Dan.

 Great to have friends to share such fun.

Jackson Frederick-

 the king of  the Wild Things.

 Aunts and uncles

 and Grandpa and Grandma.

Cousins and friends.

Aunt Laura and Griffin.

A wonderful day to celebrate-

OUR ONE YEAR OLD.

Adirondack Style

You can't visit Lake Placid 

without checking out

 some of the local establishments.

A favorite was Antediluvian-

 Antiques and Curiosities.
Antediluvian
An amazing assortment of one of a kinds.
Plenty of Olympic artifacts here.

There was also the Adirondack Store 

and Gallery right next door.
adkstore

So what is Adirondack Style?

Well, there are the chairs---

namesake and everywhere-

in every color.

It is rugged, rustic, and lodge

with natural elements.

There are many stuffed animals.

Some cute and cuddly 

and some fierce and very REAL.
The architectural style is associated
 with the Great Camps 
within the Adirondack Mountain
 areas in New York.
Elements include whole, spilt, or peeled logs.
Massive fireplaces are built of cut native stone.
This was promoted to avoid the shipping costs
 of conventional building materials.
The style was influenced by 
Swiss chalet architecture
 introduced to America by Andrew Downing
 around 1850.

The style includes outstanding craftsmanship 
and birch and cedar furniture and accessories. 
 Log and twig works highlight a handmade style.
Through in buffalo checks, hand-made pottery,
and plant and animal influence.
It is a natural style. 

Plenty of spots to find in downtown 
Lake Placid.
A bit of time has stopped here.
And it is a delight 
to wander through the town.

]

Here and About- High Falls Gorge, NY

Adirondack Park-

The Adirondack Park 
is a part of New York's Forest Preserve 
in in Upstate New York. 
The park's boundary corresponds 
to the Adirondack Mountains. 

Unlike most preserves, about 52 percent of the land

 is privately owned inholdings heavily regulated

 by the Adirondack Park Agency. 

This area contains 102 towns and villages, 

as well as numerous farms, businesses, 

and an active timber harvesting industry. 

The year-round population is 132,000, 

with 200,000 seasonal residents. 

The inclusion of human communities 

makes the park one of the great experiments 

in conservation in the industrialized world.

The park's 6.1 million acres include more than 

10,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, 

and a wide variety of habitats including 

wetlands and old-growth forests.

The West branch of the Ausable River 

is one of New York State's

 most famous trout streams. 

The Ausable River journeys north

 to its exodus to the St. Lawrence Seaway.

 Canada Yew is the low growing evergreen shrub here. 

The shrub is a favorite browse food of deer and moose.

 The tan foam at the base of the falls is a natural

 by-product of decaying vegetation.

Rain collects these natural foaming agents from

 the organic residue of leaves, branches

 and trees on the forest floor.

These agents are barred to the river

 and react with the river water. 

The extreme agitation of the river rushing 

over the rocks of the falls 

forms the foam in the pools below.

A trail to hike.

Amazing fresh green colors.

 The sound of rushing water.

A cool day at the end of July.
Family and friends.

Just can't beat that for an

 outing in the Adirondacks.

IRONMAN Lake Placid 2017- Part Three

 Bring 'Em Home.

The Midnight Finishers.

 Part of every Ironman event 

is going back

 for the last part of the evening.
The Professionals are present.
The Finishers are present.
The Families are present.
Cheering and praying 
their loved ones home.
As a family we prayed 
at every hour of the race for Dan.
Safety. Strength. 
Endurance. 
Lack of discouragement.
No equipment break down.
Mental focus.
The Lord's protection.

Bright lights.

Bright orange MMRF 
Bam Bam sticks.

Loud rock music.
I watched the Live Feed 
as I stayed with the littles asleep.
I could see our family down
 at the fence at the finish.

Raucous cheering and Mike Reilly

 on the microphone.
YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!
as the last athletes 
came across the finish line.
A race against the clock.
16 hours in.
16 1/2 hours in.
The clock winding down 
to the 17 hour time limit to finish.
Knowing that the first finisher 
was nine hours ahead of you.
Brent McMahon - 8 hours 13 minutes
Andy Potts- 8 hours 37 minutes
 They are at the finish line
 handing out medals. 

So how did this race get started?
"Whoever finishes first, 

We'll call him the Ironman.

During an awards banquet 

for the Waikiki Swim Club,

 John Collins, a Naval Officer
 stationed in Hawaii, 

and his fellow athletes began debating 

which athletes were the fittest: swimmers,

 bikers, or runners. Later, he and his wife Judy,

 who had both participated in new competitions 

known as triathlons in San Diego, 

decided to combine three

 of the toughest existing

 endurance races on the island. 

On February 18, 1978, 

15 competitors, including Collins, 

came to the shores of Waikiki

 to take on the first-ever IRONMAN challenge."  

Ironman.com/triathlon/history 

But, it was pretty apparent that our family came 

home with another focus about finishing the race.

The looking for those 

"still coming".

Where are they?

Will they make it?
Gather them before time runs out.

Get 'em home.

The great cloud of witnesses.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so

 great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside

 every weight, and sin which clings so closely, 

and let us run with endurance

 the race that is set before us."

Hebrew 12:1

Time to finish well.

And cheer on EVERYONE 

to the finish line.

A special shout out to Tom and Debbie Ziebart-

 (Concordia River Forest Grads)

 for this wonderful event. 

Tom is Operations Manager for Ironman.

They are members of  Faith Lutheran Church - LCMS 

in Eustis, Florida.

IRONMAN Lake Placid 2017- Part Two

 Part Two of the the Ironman Story:
(photo heavy- big story)

First of all this event starts 

VERY EARLY in the morning.

The athlete and his parents 
left the house at 4:15 AM.

It was DARK then- 

the later crew saw this sunrise.

Cotton candy skies 

hovered over the bike transition area.

Dan spotted where we were 

and was able to greet his little family.

                                                                             photo credit- John Denninger
There is something iconic 
about the Ironman at the 
Lake Placid Olympic site.

Sister Sara and Levi 

joined the family photo group.

Root and Toot

 make out their secret cheer plan.

 The Professionals get in the water
 at Mirror Lake first.

Then you try to pick out your athlete out of 

1000's of black wetsuits.
Professionals wear silver hats.
Men wear green.
Women wear pink.
It is now a rolling start event.
Dan was in the early group
 of faster swimmers.

Then they swim 1.2 miles

 and get out of the water 

and run a half-circle on the beach 

to get back in the water to do that AGAIN.

And you finally just say you saw your athlete

 and start cheering and yell- GO DAN GO!

And ring a cowbell for good measure.

Then you give a whoot whoot 

for a swim time of 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Right on projected swim time.

AMAZING- because you get kicked.

 punched, and pushed in this swim.

It is an open water swim with 2,900 others.

Next you take off walking

 to Papa Bear hill to cheer on the racers.

It is suppose to be a "Bear" of a hill.

Our  "guide" said it was about a mile walk 

and then 1/2 hour later 

 said it was only 2/3 of a mile.

We sat on a rock by the road

 here for a long time.

But, they were playing loud 

classic rock music so it wasn't so bad.

 You make friends

 with the State troopers.

                                                                                  photo credit- Jessica Meier

The NEXT time you come,

 you will bring chalk to write words

 of encouragement 

to your athlete on the road.

                                                                                                                                      photo credit to Kathy Meier

And in the split second 

you look down to get your hat -

YOU MISS HIM GOING BY!-

after waiting a LONG TIME.

So you get a photo from his momma.

And then his dad loses his voice

 from shouting at the bikers-

"You Got the Bear!"

So you start walking back

 and pick out your someday house -

 all because of those red Adirondack Chairs.

You check the air temperature 

with your tongue.

Early morning temp was 55 degrees.

Afternoon was about 71 degrees.

Partly cloudy with a great breeze.

A perfect Ironman weather day.

But we spotted you this time 

around for a thumbs up.

5 hours 35 minutes to ride 112 miles.

                                    photo credit- John Denninger

Dad- Peter-

"Ironman Traker App on your Phone" Expert.

The technology today 

lets you know exactly 

where your athlete is 

and projected times for each event. 

Time for the race support team

 to go to Starbucks.

Later, we spot our runner 

and give high fives and shout outs.

He asks,

"Where's my boy?"

The next time through he heads 

over to the MMRF 

(Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation)

Cheer tent. 

Now he is fueled with a quick hug

 and squeeze from his little family.

Time to head over to the 

Finish Line Cheer Square.

A wonderful perk for his 

fund-raising efforts for MMRF.

Ironman etiquette?

You cheer on EVERY athlete.

This crew worked hard 

on a long day with 2 one year olds.

When married to an Ironman athlete-

Jessica- YOU ARE an IRONWIFE.

Jack- YOU ARE an IRONSON.

In this place- everyone knows

 about the sacrifice and time given 

to train for this event.  

Down the home stretch.

Cheered on all the way.

                                                                     photo credit- John Denninger
Greeted by the recovery team.

Finish Time

10:42:18

19th Place out of 176

M 30-34

111st  Place out of 1,575

By Gender

120th Place out of 2,199

Overall

(lost about 700 athletes 

since this race started)

 The Ironman out of the recovery tent.

DAN MEIER- 

YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

And when you finish first for MMRF team

and raise over $10,000 

for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation-

you are a ROCK STAR.

Thank you to all who donated-

what a blessing.