"Jackson Schwartz, you are an IronKid!"

The Stien Mountain Triathlon team was dispatched across the country this past Sunday. Jackson, Connor and Matthew McGee participated in the IronKids triathlon in Alpharetta, GA while Ann Hattamer finished her first full Ironman in Madison, WI! Just a reminder as to what an accomplishment a full Ironman is... it is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run!!!

Above, Jackson may look like he has his game face on before the big race, but we think he was kind of nervous...

Ann looks the picture of pain and concentration half way through the run, as John runs along side to help motivate her for the miles ahead. Ann finished in under 14 hours and we all watched her cross the finish line live on Ironman.com. What an accomplishment!!!

Look out Kona... John is competing in the Ironman world championships in three weeks (and getting married!!!). Even better, the Schwartz clan will all be in Hawaii too!

The bike is all tuned up and ready for action. Jax was talking it up with some fellow competitors on the way to setup his transition area.

Tips from the "old" pro prior to the start. Jackson was awful quiet before the race, we think he was real nervous. Ann did a nice job of easing his nerves.

Everyone chilling in the shade before the start....

Just look at the size and chaos of the transition area! Fortunately, Jackson had no trouble finding his spot during the race. The race had almost 1,200 kids participating from all over the Southeast! Some of the parents obviously take this too seriously, several of the kids had triathlon bikes with aerowheels that cost more than our bikes!

The eight year old boys are lined up and ready for the "time trial" swim start in the 50 meter pool. In typical Schwartz fashion, we did not hear the start of the race and Jax had to run to the starting line! Stiv said "it was like watching myself only he swims better than me"

There were so many parents surrounding the pool that it was extremely difficult to get a clean shot with the camera or even see your own kid! Not sure why Jackson's head is so far out of the water, it looks like he is posing for the camera.

He looks like a pro coming around the corner heading into T1!

Tic Toc Tic Toc....we thought Jax might struggle in transition trying to put on his socks with wet feet, but he was actually very efficient. Probably even more efficient than his Dad!Jackson was so fast on the bike that Stiv missed him and did not make it back to the finish line to get a action shot of him finishing the race. We had to settle for a nice posed shot.

BFFs are proud of each other's efforts and were extremely supportive of each other. They obviously are not imitating their parents because Stiv and Donovan are always out to beat each other!

Catie started Taekwondo with Master Taylor last week and loves the fact the she is wearing Jacksons old gi. It was so fun to watch her in class!

The Offical Close of Summer!

While the temperatures remain warm, Labor Day Weekend brought with it the first hint of fall. Monday morning pre-dawn temperatures were barely at 60 degrees. Steve and Donovan went for an early morning ride and actually had to use arm warmers for the first half of the ride!

Never one to wait around, Ann took the kids to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for the morning. The Shores came along and enjoyed an absolute gorgeous day.

Everyone playing nicely... Jackson, Catie and Abster are known far and wide for their cooperation and loving behavior.

"I tried kissing this frog but no prince to be found!!! "

The kids have been begging to go to the Zoo, so of course we obliged. It turned out that the baby giraffe naming ceremony was the day that we went to the zoo. And, when the world's biggest cake is made...the Schwartzes are there front row and center! The cookie cake was quite something... Jackson got all of the stats. It was 12 ft by 18 ft, weighed over 400 pounds, and had 2,400 pieces!!

Catie's favorite animals are lions and the Atlanta zoo has a outstanding lion exhibit. It is interesting how her temperament is so similar to that of a lion... As we say..."better a lion than a sheep!"

This is Mr. Frumble, walking across town without a worry to be had.....

Mr. Clean...
If you look carefully, you will notice that Catie lost her first tooth! She is also wearing a mood necklace... as you can imagine, that thing changes colors every five seconds...

Habitat for Humanity Triathlon

We now have another official member of the Stien Mountain Triathlon Team. Lesley McGee decided she was going to get back into shape after having baby Brennan last year and signed up for the Habitat for Humanity Triathlon as motivation. After only six weeks of training, she managed to get herself in shape and finished the triathlon in style. It was really quite an accomplishment. Donovan, Matthew and Connor were all very proud.

As you can see from the picture, Stiv decided to do the race at the last minute. He figured that it would be a good chance to finally beat a McGee....

The sprint race was on a tough course with extremely steep short hills. To top it off, it was raining for 90% of the race with thunderstorms during much of the bike portion. What a setup for Lesley's first triathlon... after this, the next one will be a breeze.

Notice the rain in picture below... at least no one over heated...

Stiv finally broke through and managed a third place in his age group! We kept trying to take different angled photos to try and make the mini-trophy look bigger! One award down and about 75 more to go to catch up to Ann's trophy count....

This picture shows the kids clowning around prior to the race. It was one of the few moments that the rain stopped. Connor and Matthew participated in the kid triathlon later in the day and both won trophies. Jackson was reading in the car during the race.... "It's too rainy outside..."

Catie making the most of the day...

This is actually how everyone felt about the day!

That evening, we went out to dinner at the Shores and upon our arrival home, found Abster sleeping in the position above. I guess everyone was wiped out from the long day.

Abster has started getting ready for "school" just like her older siblings.

This is why playdough should be banned from all residential settings... what a $#@% mess!!

First Day of School

Jackson and Catie ready to start the school year! It is hard to believe that class start in early August...it just does not seem right.


Catie is excited to start Kindergarten at Midvale and thinks she is so cool because she has Jackson's old teacher Ms. Aycock! Truth be told, we are happy too because she is far and away the best teacher.


Here they are entering the school together for the first day. Jackson was a great big brother and was very serious about showing Catie the ropes. He said "Dad, if Catie gets in trouble at school they can call me to take care of it instead of bothering you or mom."


Ready to start 3rd grade with Ms. Walker. "I got the best seat in the house!"


Catie started her first day of school like a veteran and walked in like she owned the place. She said a quick hello to her teacher and then went and found her name tag.


She was extremely happy to have been seated next to her friend Lizzie! I wonder how long this will last? They are having a blast together so far!

Lake Logan 2010

It's hard to believe that the first weekend in August arrived already and with it, our annual trip to the Lake Logan Triathlon. The event takes place in the mountains of Western North Carolina and provides a gorgeous backdrop for the race. The Atlanta Summer has been relentlessly hot and humid, with most days well into the 90's. The weather was a real treat, as race day temperatures did not get into to 80's until the race was over. It was such a relief racing in such perfect conditions. This is a special race as Todd won it the inaugural year. The winning male's award (pictured above) will "forever" bear Todd's name in his memory.

As usual, we were up early race morning packing all the gear and corralling the kids into the car in a desperate effort to get to the race venue before 6 AM. For the fourth consecutive year, we took a wrong turn on the way to the race and were late! Above, the bikes are ready to go!

Unfortunately, Abby was not quite ready yet...

This is a picture of the 40-45 year old swim wave start. Both John and Stiv started in this wave. John is off to the right out of the picture, but Stiv is right in the front row center checking his watch. What you don't see is Stiv running to the swim start after the race had already started or the series of unfortunate events that led up to the frantic start. Most notable of these events was an incident involving the porta potty. As we pulled into a parking spot far from the race start, Stiv spotted a much needed porta potty right near the parking spot. He ran in, but in his haste, accidentally dropped the car keys right into the toilet (keep in mind it was still dark out!). We won't go into all the details, but in a frantic moment, Stiv reached in, felt around the bowl and fetched the keys right out! Yes, it was as disgusting and hilarious as you are thinking!!

Here is Ann... leading the way towards the end of the mile swim.

Stiv is having some type of difficulty with his glasses prior to the bike portion of the race.

Here comes super mom heading into transition after a good ride.

After a quick change into her running shoes, Ann is off to the races!

Stiv is finishing the race stronger than anticipated.

Post race...

Donovan and John, watching the remaining finishers and discussing their performances. Is that a smile on John's face???

Ann won her age group and got a nifty Lake Logan coaster as an award.


Here's the team after another bunch of great races. John took third overall, behind a couple of professionals that showed up for the race. Ann Hattamer and Steve pulled off PR's and Donovan finished ahead of them both.

Check out the new Stien Mountain tent that John had made so Kim and Lorann would have a shady place to hang out at our races... pretty cool!

The kids enjoyed swimming in the river and jumping off the dock to stay cool.

Long after the race was over, Jackson and Catie were still hanging out by the dock on the gorgeous river.

The kids enjoyed swimming with Grandpa at the "fancy" motel pool the night before the race.

Look out below!! It's a Catie Cannonball!!!

And another goggle shot...