On April 5th, immediately following Joseph's last soccer game, we headed south to Galveston for the rest of the weekend. Rich competed in the Half Ironman on Sunday morning. We arrived in Galveston around lunchtime so after a delicious lunch at The Spot (where we ran into Rich's coach and his family which was super nice to be able to meet them) we headed to the hotel to check in. We stayed right across the street from the beach and had planned on spending the afternoon at the beach but the weather wasn't quite beach material so this is as close as we got.
Ella was a fan of the hotel!
After checking out the hotel we made our way to the race site to get Rich all checked in for the following day. While he checked in, the kids and I explored for a bit.
So proud of our Ironman!
We made it back to our hotel and Joseph had been talking all day about going swimming. We tried to tell him numerous times that the water was going to be really cold and that we weren't going to go in with him but if he wanted to go we'd let him. He was so excited to get all ready but once he put two feet in he changed his mind! Rich tried to get him in deeper (since he had talked all day about swimming!) but he had no interest so it was a very quick trip to the pool!
Rich then headed to the airport to pick up Nani and the kids and I went to Jimmy Johns for subs for dinner and then back to the hotel to get ready for bed. Ella fell asleep quickly and Joseph and I waited for Nani and Daddy to get back.
A little love at dinner
And then some after dinner yoga and fun
The kids slept great, which was a great surprise, but we were all up early for race day! I dropped Rich off at Moody Gardens, where the race was, and then went back to the hotel, grabbed breakfast with the kids and Nani and then we loaded up and headed over to see the swim start at 7:50.
Rich is there in the water somewhere!
We were able to see him run out of the swim, hop on the bike and then begin the bike. The course was set up so nicely that it made it really easy for the spectators.
With his new helmet...something that he swears that he would never wear!
Looking strong at the start of the bike!
And he's off!
The bike lasted a little over 2 1/2 hours which is a long time to wait but thankfully Moody Gardens was such an awesome place for the race that we had everything we needed and made it really easy! We picked up breakfast and coffees at Starbucks and let the kids run around in the huge hotel lobby! We played many games of hide and seek and then had a quick photo shoot!
Practicing their cheering for Daddy!
LOVE this one!
Yay Daddy!
Sweet siblings!
We then headed outside and after playing at a playground for some time we came across an empty bounce house that was set up on the hotel property so decided to let the kids bounce for a bit!
We then headed over to the end of the bike and start of the run to catch Daddy again. I didn't get any pictures but we were able to see Rich three times on the run which was awesome! Joseph kept himself entertained by climbing trees and we parked ourselves by another playground so he played while Ella snoozed in the stroller for a bit. Seriously, it was such a great location for a race! We are looking forward to going back to Moody Gardens again sometime to explore all that it has to offer (IMAX movie, aquarium, rainforest, pools, etc). Rich looked great on the run and was running 7:30ish minute miles so we hurried over to the finish line to catch the finish!
He had a great race and finished 20 minutes faster than his goal time! He felt strong and looked great! Congratulations Daddy!
After the race we explored the grounds a little bit more and then ate at the Garden Cafe on the patio for lunch. It was a long but fun day-we love race days-we finally arrived home at 7:00 p.m. that night! We are so thankful that Nani was there to help and that the kids are such troopers and were able to hang outside and be on the go ALL day long
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