Jack's First Real Race

Today was Jack's first real mountain bike race.  He's done plenty of kid's races, free races for kids, mostly on trails, sometimes on the road.  But today we went to the Charlotte Youth Cycling Race at Fisher Farm and Jack raced with the big kids.  Last year he did the kid's under 6 race and was bored.

So this year we decided to let Jack try and race the full 2.5 mile course in the woods with the 7-8 year old kids.  I paid the entry fee and Jack signed up to race, put on his race number and got ready.

The field was small and they had lots of volunteers as course marshalls.  Even I was able to sweep the group and ride behind Jack.

Here's part of Jack's racing class.

We entered the woods in last place, but quickly Jack passed two boys.

He was able to ride most of the course, but did get off his bike to ride over some rough areas and a few climbs.  We stopped for several drink brakes and once to collect broken reflectors on the trail.  Check out his race face:

We climbed the tough hills together and he never gave up.

The last climb to the finish was tough, but Jack kept going.

He made it through to the finish.  Those two other boys never caught up, I don't think they finished, or at least were not in the results.  Jack rolled through slowly, sounding out the word F-I-N-I-S-H. 

And for the first time, Jack had his name in the results!  He was 20 minutes back from the older kid who won, but he finished and he loved it and I could not be more proud.

There is no better ride than pedaling behind my boy in the woods.

I love this kid!

Oh and there was one boo boo from the race.  His finger 'got a poke.'  Lol!

Yup he showed it to everyone.  So proud!

Self Portrait

Love it!

The Easter Bunny Came to Our House

Grandma Lo and I hid eggs outside and Jack had a blast finding them.

The silly boy opened each one to see what was inside.

It was a beautiful day and even Tilley's Easter Island Head got in on the action.

Hope the Bunny was good to you.

Lazy 5 Ranch Egg Hunt

Hey at Lazy 5 Ranch they drop eggs from a helicopter for their egg hunt!  What?  That sounds pretty cool, huh?  This must be what about a million other parents in Charlotte were saying to each other on Friday night.  It took us about a hour to get to within about a mile of the place.....and then two more hours to get there.  Awesome!  The funny thing is Jack was fine, we watched the helicopter take off several times from the airfield we were stopped at.  We hung out and had a great time...in the car....for two hours.

At some point when we could see the entrance but were afraid we might miss the last egg drop, Jack and I got out of the car, like many other people and started walking to the ranch.  Once we got there, we were told we could not walk in as we have to drive through an unfenced animal park.  Perfect.  So while we waited for Tilley to catch up with the truck, I snapped a few dozen pics of Jack.

You can see he was thrilled or delirious.

Finally Tilley caught up and we drove in.

One more helicopter made a delivery as we waited to park.

Then finally we were in....the place was so cool, so many animals.

Eventually we would our way to the egg hunt area.

Here's a little video of the egg drop.  The helicopter did two drops and then the kids went crazy...

After the egg hunt we headed to the play area which Jack loved.

When we got home out neighbors across the street were eating outside and started to make smores.  We all joined then for wine and sweets.

After staying out late, the easter bunny got busy!

Looking forward to tomorrow....

Grandma Lo's Spring Visit

Grandma Lo has flown in for a visit this weekend and one little boy is so happy to see her.

Today we went down to the park and took a walk in the woods together.

Aren't they cute!

Delayed Reaction

On March 6th, Tilley and I picked Jack up from school and went next door to Dr. Sam's office.  It was a shots only visit.  We've delayed Jack's MMR shot for years, but now that Jack's starting school in the fall it's time to catch up or figure how to abstain.  A friend of mine had mumps at a teenager and is now sterile and has tinnitis.  The story of hie experience really made me think vaccinating is the right thing to do.

So Jack got his shot, cried for a few minutes and then complained about the pain in his quad and didn't really want to walk on it.  Once we got home, he seemed fine.  We both watched him closely for the next few days and everything seemed fine.

Then on Friday afternoon, almost a week and a half later, Jack was feeling warm and said his eyes were hot.  We checked his temp with an under the tongue thermometer and he was 102 to 103.  We gave him some Tylenol and he seemed to cool down, not to normal but closer to 99.  We kept him in bed with as that night and he woke up warm and was hallucinating.  He was seeing Santa in the trees outside our bedroom window.  It was a rough night for all of us.

Jack seemed better on Saturday morning.  He was eating and playing but then when he got warm and complained about his hot eyes, he would lay on the couch under a blanket and shiver.  I took his temp after lunch and it was 104.7.  At this point, I called the doctor's office and they told us to alternate Tylenol and Motrin and go to the emergency room if his temp hits 105.  I'm was thinking the margin of error may be more than 0.3 degrees, but was trying not to panic.  Rod went to CVS to get Motrin.

We were able to get Jack's fever down to 100 or 101.  And again he was eating playing, talking, even reading.  So I felt like his brain was functioning well.  I know, crazy thoughts were going through my brain.

Saturday night was tough.  There was one point in the middle of the night that Jack's fever spiked.  We tried to give him more medicine, but he coughed and choked a little and threw it up all over our bed.  So Tilley slept on the couch and I slept in Jack's bed with him.  He shivered for what felt like an hour and mumbled crazy words, but finally fell asleep.  I think I stayed awake all night listening to him breath.

Sunday was better.  His fever didn't get higher that 103ish and we were able to keep it down with medicine.  At one point Jack asked to go out for Chinese Food for dinner and we took him, just happy he was acting normal and eating well.

By Monday since his fever still had not subsided, we called the doc again and took Jack late in the afternoon.  At that point he was just a little warm.  The doc didn't think it was the vaccine.  He thought is was a virus which seems crazy to me since the documents they gave us said expect a fever 6 to 10 days post shot, etc.  The Doc saw one dot on the back of Jack's throat, so that was his diagnosis.

Anyway, by Tuesday the fever was gone and Jack was off the Tylenol / Motrin schedule, thank goodness.  He went to school today and seems no worse for the wear.  It was a rough weekend for Tilley and I.  We worked so well together taking care of our little guy.  There is no one else I could do this with.

I will always wonder if I made the right decision to vaccinate...

Checking Out Fisher Farm Trail

Check out E.T. 

Tilley and I ditched work early today to take a drive up to Davidson to check out the Fisher Farm trails with Jack.  The Charlotte Youth Cycling Series has four races just for kids coming up next week.  Last year Jack raced in the 6 and under category being that he was three.  It was a small flagged course in the grass.  Jack liked it was was a little bored.

So today, we wanted to see if he could handle the 7-8 year old class and try the full race lap.  It was a chilly day as you can see from the hoody helmet.

Jack bombed down the start hill with no problem.

He did great on the rooty trail having to walk some little hills and such and loved the bridges and structures.

He finished the entire 2.5 mile lap, including a long and challenging climb at the end.  It took us about 35 minutes, but he did it.  We're not going to push him, but if he wants to race with the big kids this year, he's ready.

After our ride, we went out to Toast in Davisdson, a fancy restaurant by our standard. Jack loved the fresh bread and avocado appetizer.  We had an amazing dinner.  Then we all held hands and walked to an ice cream store, swinging Jack as we walked.  It was one of those idyllic moments that really make you appreciate life and these special moments.

Searching for Phineas and Ferb...

...in Danville, Virginia that is. Yup, we convinced Jack to come to Mama's bike race in Danville, VA in hope of finding Phineas and Ferb.

So while I raced,

Jack and Tilley were on the hunt.

The boys had fun. I had a great race for the most part. My first lap was fun and I was feeling great, getting faster all the time. Then at the start of the second lap, my seat broke, so I was forced to stand for the last two laps. I lost several places as girls passed me while my legs were on fire. I'll chalk this up to a really good workout and a fun family day.