The Leadville Trail 100

Directly after the 6:30 am shotgun start:

I had Team McGee T-shirts made for all of us (thank you, Stacey!):

My sister-in-law Linda and Elle waiting for Rob and Jon at crewing station #1:

Jon had a bag for each crewing station labeled for me to throw to him and ready to go. Here was bag #1:

Next year I am taking binoculars. I was always stressed that I would miss him...they are going so fast!

I love this shot below of the two brothers side by side:

Coming in to the crewing station at mile 60:

Grandpa McGee. I love him. He drove Rob and Jon all over the country when they were growing up and racing BMX bikes.

McGee girl cousins: Kandis and Elle

The last stretch. The sign in top corner is the finish-line banner. I was really stressed out here!

Leadville Race director Ken Chloubler congratulating Jon and telling him that he had made it in under 9 hours!

Elle ran to give her daddy a big kiss:

I sure love this guy.

Right after the results ceremony the next morning. Rob and Jon with their much deserved Under 9 Hour buckles!

This sign says it all:

They did it!!!!

Jon and his brother Rob have been training for months for the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race in Leadville, CO. It is a grueling 103 mile mountain bike course. The majoirity of the race is on forest trails in the mountains. The course begins at 9,000 feet and climbs to 13,000 feet. My Jon is not 'a claimer' so I am going to brag for him. I am soo proud of him. He and his brother have worked so hard. Training has been no easy task. Jon's work schedule has been so crazy this last year that the only time he has had to train has been in the very early morning hours. He would get up most mornings before 5 am to train and make it home to begin his work day. He trained on mountain trails around our home and also on his road bike. If he didn't get in a ride in the morning then late at night after we all went to bed he would go into the garage and train on his stationary bike. To say he was determined is an understatement. The main goal is to make the 103 miles in under 12 hours. If you do, you receive a large belt buckle. There is however another level of accomplishment. The under 9 hour mark. Jon being an overachiever only wanted to try for the this goal. This award is an even LARGER Belt Buckle. It sounds funny to be working so hard for a belt buckle. However, being there with him I quickly realized that the belt buckle is more than just a buckle...it is the symbol of working hard for and achieving a goal.

Being at all of the "crewing stations" I knew that Jon and Rob had stayed together for the whole race. As we all waited at the finish line we saw Rob coming in. It was super exciting but he was alone! Rob came in at 8 hours 46 minutes and 56 seconds (way to go, Rob!!) I quickly ran to him to see what had happened to Jon. He said Jon had gotten sick and was cramping just 10 minutes before and had to get off his bike. I was now sick. So then we all just stood and waited at the finish line with the huge clock ticking. I finally saw him come over the last hill at 8 hours 59 minutes and 15 seconds. The whole crowd stood up on their feet to cheer him in. He finally crossed the finish line at exactly 9 hours 0 minutes and 14 seconds. At first my heart sank because I thought he missed his goal by 14 seconds!!! However, the race owner quickly ran to him and informed him that each rider has an electronic monitoring bracelet on his/her ankle. The main clock starts at the sound of the shotgun but each individual riders time starts when he/she crosses over the Start Line at the beginning of the race. Since Jon started a little further back in the pack that gave him a few much needed seconds. And every second counted in his case. My Jonnie did it! He made it without a second to spare...literally. Talk about cutting it close!

He qualified for the coveted X-Large Under 9 hour Buckle.

There were 1320 riders from 20 different countries that participated in the race. Jon placed as rider number 137 to cross the finish line. Amazing.

I have lots of photos that I still need to go through and will soon post but had to show-off his and his brother Rob's much earned belt buckles.

This all sounds so crazy but for me to see the person I love the most in this world achieve something he worked so incredibly hard for was amazing.

Here's a link to the course.... Leadville Trail 100 - Race Across the Sky

Lily's Party

We had Lily's 1st birthday party last night. Jon made his famous crepes. No one can make them better. I had lots of toppings on hand: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, whipped cream, powdered sugar and our family favorite...nutella. We really did have guests too...I promise. It's just I was so busy during the party that I never took any pictures of everyone! Lily had on her birthday dress - the same dress her sisters had on for their 1st birthday parties. It was a special night for our little girl.

Happy Birthday, Lily-pie.

Gwen

Here is a picture of my Gwen that I took last week. I love it because this is a face she makes a lot. It is very, "Gwen". She is so hilarious. To say she is animated is an understatement. Living with her truly is like living with a cartoon character. She is beyond excited about everything. If I say, "Gwen, we are going to the grocery store..." She squeals with excitement and jumps up and down. If I buy her a new toothbrush or tell her she can choose a movie to play in the car...yep, she is just as excited. And when I say excited you need to picture someone winning the publishers clearing house sweepstakes. That is the kind of jump up and down excited she gets...about everything. I took the girls to an outdoor mall yesterday and told them I had brought magic pennies for them to throw into all of the fountains. They were dying with excitement. I gave Gwen her three magic pennies and let's just say she did not take those three wishes lightly. She stood on the side of the fountain - closed her eyes and chanted " I wish I may, I wish I might.....". She then closed her eyes super tight and threw her pennies in.

I don't know what she wished for but I sure hope it will come true. I love that I get to be this girl's mama. I am so excited to see where her life will take her and to watch as she grows-up. I just don't want her to grow-up too fast because this is too much fun.

Happy 1st Birthday, Lily!

Lily turned one yesterday. Her name fits her well. She is a very sweet little girl. She laughs loudly and loves to be held and snuggled. She adores her sisters and is just as happy in their arms as she is in mine. When she sees her daddy her face lights up and she leans right out of my arms and into his. Her favorite game is peek-a boo and it never gets old. She loves dancing (wiggling) to music. We turn music on in the kitchen on most mornings and the three sisters dancing is quite a sight. Lily is so patient and has a very mild temperament. She has brought so much happiness into our lives.

I love you, Lily-pie. Happy Birthday sweet girl.

My Girls

The word Love just doesn't seem big enough for how I feel about these three little girls.

Mermaids and Manipulation

Elle and her friends made Gwen a mermaid tail in the sand. Gwen loved it so much that when she came home from the beach she announced that she is going to be a mermaid for Halloween.

Elle spent a lot of her day on a boogie board. She informed me that a fun mom would boogie board with her. She is amazingly talented in the art of manipulation.

I want to be a fun mom...

It made me second guess my decision until I felt how cold the water was. I just couldn't do it.

So now it's official.

Amy McGee is NOT a "fun mom".

Summer Days

We went to the beach again yesterday. My kids played for hours in the sand with their friends and never once told me they were bored. That is heaven. How cute are these kids sitting up on that fence without a care in the world? Such a cute group of friends. They had quite a busy schedule which included standing on this fence and jumping into the sand over and over again, boogie boarding, crab collecting, waving to the train every time it passed and of course 2 runs to the snack shack for ring pops and icees. This is what summer is all about.

Beach Day

We spent the entire day at the beach yesterday. Elle's swim team met there for practice at 9am. The picture of her running in the hula attire was for a relay race they did. It was so, so cute. I packed all 3 girls up plus all of our supplies (which are a lot these days) and hoped for the best. Elle had practice from 9 to 10 and then we just stayed put on the sand. My Lily had her morning nap in my arms in a beach chair. It was heaven. Elle and Gwen played non stop with their friends in the sand and waves all day. We didn't pack up until 5pm. Yep, 8 hours on the beach. It was heaven. If it weren't for Elle's legs covered in aloe vera gel today I would have gone back this morning. I have lots more pictures from our beach day too but I hear my Lily calling me from her crib. More tomorrow...

The Party

Elle had a pool party this year. It was very casual and very fun. We had lunch, a water-balloon toss, mermaid races through hula-hoops in the water and of course birthday cake. Elle's main request was to have a chocolate mermaid cake with pink candles. The girls loved swimming and had so much fun. The party favors we handed out were matching purple towels with pineapples on them for all of her friends and candy necklaces. Elle is so fortunate to have such a sweet and fun group of girlfriends. She had a big smile on her face the whole day. A super fun day for everyone. Happy Birthday, Elle.

Elle turns 6!

Elle turned 6 years old on the 21st. We all woke up early and headed to the donut shop for her favorite rainbow sprinkled donuts. She made sure we remembered to take our fancy 'happy birthday' plate with us. That plate is a big deal and it was so cute to see how excited she was the night before to get it out of the armoire where I keep it. She had a swim meet that afternoon so we had to have her party scheduled for the next day. She loved that idea because she was then able to celebrate for two full days. She was my first baby and I hold a special place in my heart for this sweet girl. Elle loves to be held, hugged and snuggled. She is the most affectionate of all of my girls. At different times of the day she will just walk up to me and hug me and will say, "I love you, mama ." She loves to please and loves to have as she calls it, "mommy time". She is an amazing older sister to Gwen and Lily and loves to take care of them. I often tell her that the best day of my life was _____. She then always smiles and says, "when I was born." I couldn't say it any better myself. I love you, Ellers. Happy 6th Birthday.

Sunday Morning

This was my Lily-pie this morning. Cruising the house in her jammies with ruffles on her buns and carrying her favorite toy...my keys. If I could only freeze her at this age. I love, love, love having a baby in the house - especially this one.

Elle

photo by nicole hill

Elle was able to be in a photo shoot a few months back with the talented photographer, Nicole Hill. The best part was it was with a bunch of her little friends. The photos were all taken at the beach at Emerald Bay in Laguna. Click here for the link to more of the fun photos.

Love

I love you, Lily.

" The feeling you have for your child is so indescribably deep and consuming that it must qualify as one of the few transcendent experiences in your plain old ordinary life. It arrives spontaneously. It is miraculous and supreme and irrevocable. It makes all things possible."

karen maezen miller

Homemaker

A few years back my mom somehow rounded-up all of my sisters' and my brother's hand prints. We had all done them at some point during elementary school for mother's day and Christmas gifts. She even happened to find one of her own handprints in clay from when she was a child. She has them all framed together and it is one of my favorite things she has. I decided that I wanted to make sure I had my girls' handprints in clay as well. I had Elle's and Gwen's done a few years back and they have been hanging up in our kitchen ever since. I had Lily's done a few months back and just went and picked it up the other day. I hung hers right with her sisters' on cream grosgrain ribbon. It is probably my favorite thing in our house. I love looking at them and so do the girls.

The linen covered chairs that flank my antique green chest are back together again. One of the chairs had broken and it took me quite some time to get around to getting it fixed. The carpenter dropped it off yesterday and I love having the set back. They were an amazing find a few years back from one of my favorite stores...French Blue & Co.

And last but not least our front door and new wreath. When we first bought this house our front door was a faded, splotchy aqua color. It had just as faded splotchy (ugly) aqua shutters to match. The first week we moved in I painted both the shutters and the front door a glossy black. It transformed our house and I have loved it ever since. My wreath I had made from my favorite florist. I had the branch wreath and have switched out what is tied on top of it a few times. Recently I asked her to make me a plain moss wreath to add to it. She did and it looked beautiful but since my front door has full sunlight it turned brown and dried out much faster than I had hoped. I took it back to the florist for some other ideas and she then made me this amazing faux moss wreath and tied it onto the branch wreath. Faux greenery usually equals bad (really bad) but I think in this case it worked.

I really, really love our little house. When we first bought this home almost 6 years ago it was just a house. We have re-done almost every square inch of this place. I truly feel now that it reflects us as a family. It is not just a house anymore. This is our home.

Summer...

has officially begun.