Tri For Kai- 15 year old Edition

To celebrate me turning 15 we signed up to do a triathlon! Today I raced the triathlon as MYSELF. I have always raced in the past with Mom and Dad, but they always signed up as themselves. Now I'm over 13 so I can sign up as ME and it's about ME finishing, not Mom or Dad. 

The tri was called Build the Base and it was a virtual race. So I had to "swim" 10 min,  bike 10 miles and run a 5k. For the swim we could also choose an alternate activity for 10 min. I had my family as my team to get me to the finish! So here are the highlights of our day...

First I did my alternate activity for the "swim"- I chose to walk- on my own. I used my gait trainer to support me as I walked for 10 minutes. 

After my 10 min walk Dad, Liam and I got on the bike and rode 10 miles. Luckily I have a portable electric blanket- it was a bit chilly on the trail.

We rode to Harwich and then came back to Chatham to meet Mom and Addy at Volunteer Park. Mom, Addy and I switched my racing chair for running and we headed toward the airport. We ran/walked about 1.5 miles and then turned back for the park. 

Dad and Ed met us just before the end and ran us into the finish! Liam and Addy held the finish line ribbon!

We finally got to use my Hoyt Running Chair to do an actual race! Hopefully this will be the first of many! We are looking forward to doing our annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning- even if it won't be the same as most years. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Halloween Retrospective- reprinted for 2019-20

Some of you may not realize how much Halloween has been a part of my life. Really- my whole life. There are two reasons for this; 1. My mom loves to dress up (and dress up her kids) and 2. My birthday is two days after Halloween on November 2nd. I have had a number of birthdays that involved dressing up in costume. Since we make a big deal of Halloween here, we thought it would be good to have one place for all the pictures of all my costumes. So, we will start with the most recent first. 

2020- Vampire

This is the first year we decided to do scary. Liam finally felt like he could handle it (lol)! So here I am as a vampire in a coffin.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to show it off too much because of Covid. Addy was a baseball playing werewolf, Liam was the grim reaper, and mom was a day of the dead person. 

2019- Ghostbusters

I had just gotten out of surgery in 2019, so my costume and Halloween were kind of lacking. We still had a good time though with friends coming over. We tried to make Slimer seem like he was floating over my head- but it didn’t really work. Addy wanted to be Evie from Descendants so she wasn’t matching us. Sisters! 

2018- Harry Potter

 On Halloween last year my mom already knew what we had to be this year- Harry Potter! We are HUGE HP fans and it was easy to turn my greased lightening car into the Hogwarts Express. I, of course, was Harry, my brother Liam was Ron Weasley, Addy was Hermione Grainger and my mom was Hedwig- the owl! Our April was Professor Trelawney. Dad worked up to the last minute as usual to get all of the details just right. My Grandma made the stickers for the sides of the train. 

 

2017- Grease

My sister had the great idea that we should be the characters from Grease! We watched the show this summer and LOVED IT! My brother and sister are always playing the sound track around the house. Of course, we had to make my wheelchair into Greased Lightning! My Dad worked really hard to get this thing moving! It had some trouble rolling at first, but he always comes through to make sure it looks great!

2016- Red Baron

Last year I was a pilot! My airplane barely stayed together through Halloween, but it was still really cool. It had a spinning propeller. Dad had a great design, but the materials didn't hold up!

2015- Bull Rider

In 2015 we were cowboys and girls. I was a bull rider, as you can see from the giant bull on my chair! Mom and Dad were a little worried how this one was going to turn out- but it ended  up looking pretty good!

2014- Coast Guardsman

This year I wanted to dress like my Dad, so he made me a Coast Guard boat just like he drives. I had a uniform with my name on it too. It made a cool siren sound and had lights. My sibling and I were all first responders- Coastie, Policeman, and Firefighter.

2013- Firefighter

My fire truck had some fun accessories. It had all kinds of lights and a siren also.  My brother was a witch and my sister was a princess that year. Dad says anything with lights and sirens is a winner!

2012- Pirate

This was the first year we made a wheelchair costume. Mom was really excited to put it together. It had a skull on top of the mast with light up eyes, and skull lights all around the sides. My brother and sister were pirates too!

2011- Tin Man

 

This year we were all from the Wizard of Oz. I was the tin man- this isn't a great picture. My brother was the scarecrow and my sister was the lion. Mom was Dorothy of course.

2010- Punk Rocker

This was a great costume year! My mom called us The Decades, and we dressed from different eras. I was a punk rocker- can you see my nose ring and tattoos? My mom and sister were from the 50's and my brother was from the 70's- he had an afro and leisure suit.

2009- Scarecrow

This year we did the Wizard of Oz for the first time. We didn't have my sister yet, so I was the scarecrow and Liam was the lion. Mom was Dorothy and my Auntie Lexi was a witch. I had a costume birthday party that year. We had a little train ride come to our neighborhood and my mom made cool spider cupcakes.

2008- Mouse

This was the first year we lived in Rio Vista. I was a mouse and Liam was a pea pod.

2007- Curious George

On my second Halloween I had a costume party for my birthday. I was Curious George with a banana on my head. My mom was the Man with the Yellow Hat.

2006- Lobster

On my first Halloween I was almost 1 year old. My mom dressed me as a lobster! Little did we know that we would eventually move to Cape Cod!