Chattahoochee Nature Center

Here is the Abster, post-op day #2. She is looking better as the swelling is going down. However, she has been having a bit of a rough time and hasn't been her usual smiley self... her eyes must itch and hurt as she is constantly wanting to rub them. She also is very light sensitive. And, on top of all that, she is on a hunger strike! She hasn't eaten any solids since before the surgery. But, she has become much more inquisitive and mobile since she is able to see more.

Catie must have enjoyed her vanilla ice cream with sprinkles at the Chattahoochee Nature Center because she walk up to a stranger and said, "Hi, my name is Catie and I had sprinkles on my ice cream!"

A hawk, photograph compliments of Steve.

This was the highlight of the weekend... the kids got to see a real live opossum!! Ann volunteered to help with next year's Possum Trot (a 1 mile fun run), and as a result of knowing people in high places at the Nature Center, we got to see a possum. Jackson kept the naturalist on his toes with all of his knowledge! He reminded him that "possums dig holes with their front paws and then nestle their noses into the ground to get food, like bugs."

Here's the close-up of the little fellow...

Brown Eyes seemed to be enjoying the visit with his relatives.

Here, Brown Eyes is showing the possum how to "play possum" or for you lay people, "play dead."

The kids pose for a picture with the naturalist.

Abby's surgery

Abigail had her eye surgery for congenital ptosis this morning. The procedure was called a "frontalis suspension," where the eyelid is attached to the forehead (frontalis) muscle which will give her eyes a "lift." Abby was in surgery for just over an hour, although it seemed like an eternity to Mom and Dad. The surgery was successful and Abby is doing well. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers these past few days.

Above, Abby pre-op, full of smiles, despite not being able to eat or drink since midnight. Following the surgery, she seemed quite irritated... I am sure that it was confusing for her to have an IV in her leg, bandage on her forehead, as well as not being able to close her eyes.

Here is Abby post-op... poor little thing!! We are told that the swelling will improve over the next 3 or 4 days, and full recovery expected in approximately three weeks. She seems to be enjoying her new view on the world.

Callaway Gardens

We went to Callaway Gardens over the weekend, for our 5th triathlon of the summer. This is a great race, because there are plenty of activities to keep the kids busy. Our friends, the McGees and Somersets, met us there and also competed in the race. Above, Matthew, Jackson, Conner, and Catie enjoying a dip in the luxurious Days Inn pool.

This inflatable slide was near the race finish. Conner and Matthew talked Jackson into going down.

After paying a small fortune for 30 minutes of sliding, Jackson decided that he had enough after one time down. "It was too fast" was all he would say.

Here's Ann coming in from the 30K bike. Ann had a fairly decent race, finishing second in her age group. Donovan and Wendy also had good races. You might be wondering why there aren't any race pictures of Steve. Well, the race swim course went left, and Steve continued straight right across to the other side of the lake...

This is Catie after 2 days of no naps, a 3 AM barfing episode and subsequent bath, a 5:30AM wakeup and five hours out in the sun!

Here's Catie, 2 minutes after the picture above, sound asleep. Obviously she was exhausted as she was sleeping on a downhill grade that could not have been comfortable.

One of Jackson's favorite things about the beach is making roads and a pool for his trucks and boats.

The Abster was exhausted too, and slept by the beach for over 2 hours. On another note, Abby has her eye surgery scheduled for this Thursday. For those of you who don't know, Abby has congenital ptosis (weak eyelid muscles for the non-medical folks) and is having a procedure to "lift" them. We're hoping that she stays healthy so the surgery can go as scheduled later in the week. Please keep her in your thoughts!

Family Photos

We had Abby's 6 month old pictures taken a few weeks ago... Here are some photos from the "shoot."

Trip to Cordele, GA

We completed our 4th (out of 5) triathlon over the weekend at Lake Blackshear in Cordele, GA. We met our friends the Somersets there, and rented neighboring cottages for the weekend. We were all excited about the race until we saw a sign near the swim which read, "Beware of Alligators." It seemed to work for Steve, as he suddenly turned into Michael Phelps for the swim portion. We don't have any race pictures because Josh was nice enough to watch all 5 kids (under 6 years of age) by himself!! He had his hands full... Thanks Josh!

This was a pretty big race for a sprint, with more than 300 people. We all had a great race. Who says you can't buy speed? Ann's new tri bike seemed to improve her bike as she finished 3rd overall for the women, and more importantly, 24 seconds in front of Steve. This was just Wendy's second triathlon and she had a great showing. We are trying to talk Josh into participating next year.

Jackson seems shocked at Ann's award...

After the race, Steve and Josh went golfing, and Ann and Wendy hung out at the pool with the kids. The kids had a blast swimming around. As usual, the Schwartz kids were on volume 10, and the other guests quickly cleared out and we had the pool all to ourselves.

Jackson and Naomi are playing some sort of river dolphin game in the hut tub. Following the swim, Steve calles from the 15th hole after hitting 2 straight balls into the water. He asked to be picked up because he was too exhausted to finish. He took a DNF on his quad-athlon as he did not complete the golfing portion. After a brief rest, we headed to friends of the Somerset's lakehouse. The kids had a great time... the highlight was going out on a "midnight" boat ride.

Ann has another baby!!!!

Well, not that kind of baby... But, Ann got a new Tri Bike! Here it is... the Trek TTX. Pretty flashy!

Lake Logan Triathlon

Saturday's Lake Logan Triathlon in Canton, NC was a big event for all. The race was an Olympic distance triathlon, 1.5k swim, 40k bike, and 10k run. This was a special event as Todd (Ann's brother) was the inaugural winner in 2006, and the overall winner's trophy bears Todd's name. The Todd Stien Memorial Fund sponsored cash prizes for the winning categories (overall winners, top swim time, top bike time, etc.). A group of us competed last year and this year we had even more participation! It was a phenomenal day... the weather was perfect, and it was a competitive field with almost 600 participants.

Steve looks so happy coming in from the bike leg (it took him that long to forget about his horrendous swim).

Off like a dirty shirt onto the run... Ann is looking fast!

The children were left alone for 3 hours without parental supervision, and once again, the results speak for themselves!

Six of us competed in the race. John had an awesome race, finishing 4th overall and first in the Masters Division. Steve put a lot of pressure on John to reclaim some of the prize money donated from the Todd Stien Memorial Fund, and John did win $100 for his first place finish. Ann H, in her third triathlon, continues to get faster. Once again, she has an unfair advantage with her high-end gear that she continues to unveil. Donovan had a great race and finished ahead of Steve again. Steve is convinced that Donovan is sandbagging his training sessions. On the far right is Trevor. Trevor not only had a strong race at Lake Logan, but did another triathlon the next day in Hiawassee.... CRAZY!!

Back at Stien Mountain, Jackson chills out on the bear rug to watch a bit of TV.

On Sunday, we rented a boat and went out on Lake Chatuge. We cruised around the lake for a bit, then threw in the anchor and went for a swim. The water was like bath water! We always forget how beautiful and peaceful it is out on the lake.

Steve and Catie, enjoying a swim...

Abster loved the wind in her face and being on the boat, despite the "straight jacket" flotation device.

To give Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle John and Ann H a break, we took the kids to Fun World. They have skeet ball (Ann's favorite), putt-putt, go-carts, and more. Above, the kids enjoying the inflatable slide. After playing for a bit, we cooled down with some ice cream.

Lucky for us, this is how Abby usually looks (smile on her face). Knock on wood...

Abigail turned 6 months old this week. This means that she finally gets to start eating real food. She has been showing great interest in food for the past month or two and has been grabbing for our food. She wasn't quite sure about the rice cereal at first, but did eat a pretty good helping.