ironman coeur d' alene

got to cda and got tony checked in for the race. kaitlyn found the first of five moose /mouse statues and the kids played at the playground. the kids were it thrilled about dinner, but once we got there it became the highlight of the day and they asked to go back many times. they had a blast feeding the koi and turtles! next day we checked out thrift stores while tony did his briefing then checked out the town, including bear paw quilting and the army surplus store! next day we went on a boat tour of the lake and drove the bike course - pretty. a bit windy on Saturday, a harbinger of things to come. tony chose carb loading at Olive Garden for dinner and the kids once again tried the ice cold pool at the overpriced motel 6! Sunday was race day. I dropped off tony a bit before 5am. went back for a bit, then left kids sleeping with my phone and went down to watch the swim. It was crowded and I stood near the lake on cement steps, quickly discovered why they were empty - wind was whipping and waves smashing into concrete up over my head. I didn't know until later but tony was so nauseous from the waves that he threw up multiple times during the swim but still finished within13 minutes of his previous time! saw tony take off on the bike and went back to the hotel where the kids were finally getting up.  had quite a day trying to juggle keeping kiddos entertained but still get to spots to see tony come through , but we managed to see him several times. he survived without major injury injury and improved his standings (top 25% rather than top third) though his time was slightly longer (everyone's times were off because the wind wreaked such havoc on the swim and bike courses). he even made it to silver wood with us the next day for water slides and roller coasters! and the day after that we headed out of town and found a celebratory coke slurpee at 7-11!