70.3 and Nampa Twilight Criterium

Saturday, June 8th, was the Boise Ironman 70.3 triathlon. We've kind of made it our tradition to go down and watch it together. We usually know several of the racers and its just a fun day of watching people compete in the most brutal of circumstances and rise to success. I knew I couldn't bike up to the swim start at Lucky Peak like we normally do, so it threw some twists in plans. Marc ended up biking with his friend Dan Rhoton, from our home in Caldwell up to the swim start at Lucky Peak (37 miles I think?) They then rode down to the transition area in Downtown Boise and I met them there.

Marc was sweet enough to arrange for a babysitter. One of his young men, and our neighbor, Nathan Aydelotte came down. The kids had a blast with him, and especially enjoyed that he let them eat as much pizza as they wanted. What impressed me, was that he had the kitchen completely cleaned up, dishes washed, put away, and left how he found it. I've never had a babysitter do that, even though that's what I was trained to do and kind of expect out of my babysitters.

Anyway, we enjoyed watching the runners come into the finish line after a grueling day (1. something mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.2 mile run). My brother Jason was racing. We watched him make the first loop, then ate dinner at 5 Guys while we waited for him to come into the finish line. It was a fun night of being outside and watching people find victory within themselves.

The next Saturday, June 15th, was the Nampa Twilight Criterium. It was a bike race in its inaugural year in Nampa. We thought the kids would enjoy it, so we took them along with us this time. They had an open amateur race and there was a bride and groom celebrating their wedding day by riding a few laps in the race on a tandem bike. To each their own :)

The whole purpose of the race is to complete as many laps as possible in a certain amount of time. The professionals are especially fun to watch because they are going so fast and there's a lot more action.

There was a kids area that we stayed at for quite awhile.

They had a swing ride:

Bounce House:

And Rock Climbing Wall:

The kids had a blast. They especially loved the rock climbing wall. Both boys were able to ring the bell at the top! Pretty impressive!

We walked around the course to see different view points and check out the city a little bit. Finally, we'd had enough and headed home.