I am proud to report that my man finished the Heart of Dixie Triathlon! Over the last few years he's been spouting at the mouth that he would do it at some point and this year was the year. Of course, our luck isn't the greatest and the night before the big day his tire blew. He came inside and said, "You are not going to believe this. My tire just blew." I responded, "Yeah, right. You're doing this triathlon so don't try to weasel out of it with an excuse." To which he said, "No, really...I blew a tire and I don't know what I'm going to do." The circumstances: we were staying the night at Pop and Mimi's, it was about 10pm, the race starts at 6:30am the next morning and he didn't have a backup tire (note to self: never, ever not have a backup tire). I thought to myself, seriously...could this be happening...he has trained all summer for this thing and he might not even be able to finish it? Thankfully, the kids and I got him a tire repair kit (meant for flats on the road...not for big fixes before a big race) for Father's Day. Another blessing was our friend Danny. The Whites were staying at Pop and Mimi's with us so that Danny could do the triathlon too, so it was a major blessing that he could help Matt repair his tire. The guys figured that if the tire stayed inflated through the night, Matt might be able to make it through the race okay.
Well, none of us really slept well the night before the race...the guys were a little nervous about the oh so long race they were about to complete and hoping not to oversleep, while I was concerned about Matt blowing the tire on the highway. I figured if he made it through the bike portion, my cheap little Father's Day present would be the best gift he ever received. When we woke up, the tire was still fully inflated so off to Louisville they went.
The girls, Tamah and I got up at the crack of dawn too in order to cheer our guys on as they entered Lake Tiak O'khata. The kids made the cutest little signs, so we wanted to be sure to show our support.
Once the guys finished the swim, we hopped in the car to head to Philly in hopes to see them bike. Since traffic was slow, it took us a while to get to the bike/run transition and I was so relieved to see Matt's bike already in the bike rack which meant had made it through the bike ride successfully. Never mind that his tire was now completely flat...he had made it through with a little help from above, I'm certain!
We then made our way to Pappaw and Mommaw's house to join the rest of the cheering squad to await for Matt and Danny to run by as we sat on the sidelines eating donuts, breakfast casserole, pigs in a blanket and lots of caffeine.
After we filled our bellies and both of them had passed by, we headed to the finish line. I am so proud of Matt and thank the Good Lord for keeping him safe throughout the race...but especially on that faulty tire. I'm also glad we got to share this fun day with our good friends...Danny, Tamah and Abby.
I must admit that a part of me hoped that once he completed the 1/2 mile swim, 27.5 mile bike, and 7 mile run that his triathlon fix would be over, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Instead, he's already planning for next year!
It has become somewhat a tradition over the past few years that my Dad's side of the family go to the Saturday night rodeo at the Fair. This year I even made Caroline an outfit just for the occasion. After borrowing Abby's boots, she was all "cowgirled" up and ready to watch some cowboys in action with her favorite cousins! 
The kids all love the rodeo, so it is not hard to keep them still...well, assuming that the rodeo starts on time and is not delayed like it was this year. Not to worry, though, because Will the Thrill kept us entertained. He even impressed the other spectators around us so that they asked to take pictures of him. He obliged and smiled for the camera even though we didn't know them. 
Of course the rodeo isn't complete without some Lindsey's lemonade and a corn dog. Notice that Caroline kept a close eye on Pop as she shared her coveted lemonade with him. 
As expected, the rodeo was everything we hoped it to be...cute cowboys (especially the pickup man named Josh), the clown was funny, and the food was tasty. No wonder this is one of our favorite things to do at the Fair!
