Portland by Segway

Every now and then, we do something for fun, that does not involve exercise. And when we do, we like it to involve as little physical exertion as possible while weaving in and out of people who are running and biking. So, naturally, taking a segway tour of Portland would be perfect for that!

It was Christmas in September for us! The tour was a gift from Michael's brothers last Christmas, so we have been waiting all year for this! The past few moths have been the busiest we have had in a while, so this was the perfect little escape, right in our own backyard. We love everything about this beautiful city!

It was the first rainy and cool day of the season, so we were able to get the full Portland experience!

Tualatin Stake Women's Triathlon

Since we are in the spirit of triathlon these days, here are a few pictures from a race last Saturday. It was put on by a neighboring stake, and a bunch of friends from our ward all did it! Extra props to my pregnant friends! So impressive! Yeah, my friends are cool, what can I say?! : )

Good thing I had a course map in my hand to prevent getting lost...oh, wait... : ) Life lesson learned - it's more fun to take a wrong turn when you are with a friend than to get lost by yourself : ) Thanks, Shannon!

And just because...Here is a picture of our hyper little girl : ) She usually pulls bows right off, but for some reason, she insisted on wearing this one. This is her showing it off. #bigbowsforlife #imisspiper

1st Annual Brown Family and Friends Triathlon!

We have wanted to put on a triathlon for our family and friends for a while now. It's one of those things that has been brewing in our heads for the past few months, and finally we were able to see it through! To say it was fun, would be a total understatement! It was a beautiful sunny morning playing outside with all our friends, hard to beat that! We had a ton of fun figuring out how the race logistics would go, so we went in with a plan, but we also went in with no expectations. This was our first time doing this, so we didn't want to "expect" it all to roll out a certain way, we just let it happen. And we couldn't be happier with how it all played out. We had 9 families participate and a few volunteers, so about 35 people. Having our friends there is what made it so much fun!

Here are the course maps:

Each leg of the race had a few different distances to choose from, so that each family could complete a distance that matched the age and ability of their kids. The youngest baby was only a few weeks old and the oldest kid was 7.

Body marking... of course!

And a pre-race meeting to go over the course

We started out on the sandy beach and swam out to big poles and back.

Then we ran to our transition area, which was basically a big pile of bikes and helmets on a grassy field : )

Then we biked along a paved trail for either about 1 or 2 miles, depending on choice of turn-around spot.

For the run, we ran across a big grassy field to the far trees and came back to a finish at the transition area.

Medal Ceremony! All the kids got a custom made "Brown Family and Friends Triathlon Medal" made of real gold. Just kidding about the real gold part.

I think it's safe to say that everyone there had a great time! And it was the perfect spot to stay around and play for the afternoon!

Water

Our little surfer girl

Water fountains are the best thing since sliced bread!