Kids Tri! Ballantyne

In mid-July both Ella and Jack competed in a kids’ triathlon at our local YMCA.  Ella participated last year and did extremely well. For the 2013 race, Ella moved up to the 9-to-11-years-old age group and Jack, this his first triathlon, competed in the 6-to-8-years-old age group.  An added bonus this year was that good friends Baden and Ilse participated in the triathlon, too.  All four of these kids put in their best effort for the triathlon and they did incredibly.  Ella (who placed 3rd last year in girls ages 6 to 8) placed 11th this year as a 9-year-old in the girls ages 9 to 11 age group.  Jack was in the top 20 for boys in his age group—although, you’ll see in the video, his effort looks even stronger…he added a good 2 minutes or more trying to get his shoes tied during the transition between swimming and biking and this race was when he still had a clown bike, probably two sizes too small for him.  So watch out next year when he’s on his new bike and we put some Yankz elastic laces in those sneakers!  :)


{we saw several of our swim team friends, including margot, at the triathlon.}

{ready for his first triathlon.}

{jack, ella, baden, and ilse.  ready to race!}






{ella’s age group ran one lap more than jack’s age group, so i was able to capture a few photos of her run in addition to the video.}

{way to go, ella!  another triathlon under her belt.}

{one proud papa.}


{yay, jack!  we can now officially say we’re a family of triathletes.  :) }



{these kids did awesome! (ilse was still racing at this point.)}

HHI Highlights—July 4th Week (Part 4/4)

On our last full day of vacation in Hilton Head Island, we spent about 10 minutes taking a group photo—unfortunately it was waaay too windy on the beach all week to attempt one out there (maybe next year)—and, later in the day, Jonathan, Uncle Ken, and I took the kids on a kids’ fishing tour.  On the two-hour boat ride, the kids got to each throw out a cast net and then fish with a fishing pole.  Of the 24-odd kids on the boat, 3 caught something on their fishing lines and, of those 3, 2 were from our group.  Ella caught a baby shark and Zane caught a ribbon fish (which is actually more dangerous at this point than the baby shark, so it was whisked away from Zane too quickly to get a photo of it).  It was a fun excursion and definitely a highlight of the week.   




{after our boat ride, we met nonni, papa, and aunt tracy (who had biked there, hence the sweaty papa :) ) at the salty dog café for a very enjoyable beer.}

HHI Highlights—July 4th Week (Part 3/4)

And here is our 4th of July on Hilton Head Island: a bike ride to the Stoney-Baynard Ruins in Sea Pines followed by a bike ride to South Beach for some ice cream at the Salty Dog Café; lots of beach time; puzzles and games back at the house; some watermelon and pool fun; and, we ended the day with a red-white-and-blue dessert a la Uncle Ken and Ella and then some pop-its and glow sticks in the dark.  Happy 4th!

HHI Highlights—July 4th Week (Part 2/4)

beach, bike, pool, games…repeat.  good time at hilton head island.



{gregg russell under the big oak tree at harbour town.  a must for a HHI visit.}

{bike ride through the nature preserve on sea pines.}

{checking out the archaic indian shell ring.}

{and more time hanging out at home—swimming (notice my camera slowly fog up) and playing games together.}

HHI Highlights—July 4th Week (Part 1/4)

We spent the week of July 4th this summer with my parents and my sister’s family in a beach house on Hilton Head Island.  This is the first vacation, away from any of our houses, that we have all enjoyed together—the first of hopefully many Slaton family reunions.  We had an amazing week full of some fun, memorable times.  The weather tried to challenge us—it stormed nearly every single day and when it wasn’t raining it was super humid or windy (all of which made taking any pictures during our vacation a challenge…you’ll notice a lot of gray skies and some foggy images)—but it didn’t seem to phase us a bit.  We just worked around it, watching the radar closely and got in beach time, pool time, a long bike ride, and some time hanging around the house together every single day.  Hilton Head Island was the perfect spot for us—we especially loved all of the bike trails within Sea Pines, where our house was—and I can’t wait to go next year (although, I do hope for better weather).  I’ve got four posts worth of collages from our week and they are a mix of images from my sister and me and, after looking through the hundreds and hundreds from our week, one thing is apparent—we both need to be better about getting in the pictures next summer.  :)
{tracy was expecting a little girl, due in november.}
{you can see just how much the weather changed within a short period of time.}


{we went on a bike ride to harbour town.  after our first bike ride of 11 people in a caravan of bikes, i thought for sure we would want to split up in the future.  but, it’s a testament to how enjoyable our week together was that none of us ever wanted to be apart.  we took many a bike ride in a long line of 11 bikes—usually with jack trailing at the end (it was readily apparent by the end of the week that he really needed a bigger bike).}

Waves Swim Team

Ella and Jack swam on our neighborhood swim team again this summer (mid-May through the end of June).  The swimming’s getting tougher now that they’re swimming against more and more year-round swimmers, but Ella and Jack both held their own as the younger kids in each of their age groups (Ella swam in the 9-10s this year while Jack swam in 7-8s).  They each won their fair share of ribbons, but honestly the best part about swim team is hanging out with neighborhood friends.  It was a fun season and we’re already looking forward to next year!

Here’s just some highlights:











{comparing race numbers.}

{doing the team cheer.}






{ella getting cheered on during her 100m individual medley race.}










I aslo worked on the slideshow for the team's season-end party--Ella and Jack are only in it in a few times, but here is the finished result:

Instagrammin’ in July

Summer, summer, summertime…  Our July is a testament to how great, and jam-packed, our summer has been.
beautiful bike ride to harbour town. #hiltonheadisland | fun in the waves. | my MIL’s famous bloody mary recipe. #ellamadethecoaster. | bike riding on the beach in HHI. | probably time for jack to get a new bike. #pedalinglikecrazy #clownbike #itiredofbiking | off to the beach! #chairwithlegs | the strong waves have claimed two pairs of goggles, a new hat, and a snorkel. | sandcastle by the girls. | gregg russell under the great oak tree. #ilovehiltonhead | she belongs among the wildflowers. #seapinesforestpreserve | checking out the wildlife. #11bikesinarow | stoney-baynard ruins. | the quote from the boy: “we biked all the way down here for this old stuff??” | the dangling carrot at the end of a long bike ride. #saltydogcafe #cookiemonstericecream | goggles of the future. | happy 4th of july! | #slatonfamilyreunion | beautiful day at the beach. | gone fishing. | saying our goodbyes. :( #cousinlove | we wore ‘em out! #weekinhiltonhead #headedhome | looks like gator had a fun 4th of july week, too. | baking on her own for the first time! #chocolatechipcookies | finally seeing my last issue in print. | a tumor and ulcerations on his nose have us headed to an oncologist soon.  he seems to have a positive outlook, so I’m trying to, too. | best friends since the preschool 2’s. | having some after-camp fun. | never would have thought they’d be so excited about shopping for backpacks in the middle of the summer. | ready for their triathlon! | another race in the bag! #littletriathletes #theykilledit #allgasnobrakes | finally making some headway on the girl’s room transformation. | rough day for this one.  three more chunks of his nose and snout cut out and a CT scan, and he’s still up for a game of fetch. | it’s taking shape. :) | in charge of the school sign this year and already putting up info about the first day of school. #summersflyingby | excited about his new set of wheels! | mini tina. | bike ride with the kids. | the very, very good news: it’s not cancer. the bad news: still no answers. #dogcantbreath #darthgator # poorpuppy #toughweek | #unsupervisedipaduse #littleweirdos | at the zoo with some of our favorite people. #riverbankszoo | little monkeys in the trees at the zoo. | great time, as always, at the zoo today. | finding some old stuff while cleaning out the closets. #derangedeasterbunny | a week into treatment of steroids, immuno-suppressant, antibiotics, and vitamin B and he’s looking, sounding, and feeling better. | this is summer. | off to sky high after a double sleepover! | finally getting that patio and fireplace we’ve been thinking about for years. | almost done!


Also, here are a few videos I posted to Instagram while we were in Hilton Head.  These videos were my first attempt at filming and posting videos through Instagram and, for reasons I won’t go into, I totally, 100% thought that Instagram videos were silent.  I freaked a little bit when I found out, weeks after posting these videos, that all the videos do post with sound—luckily, when I went back and checked, I didn’t find anything too embarrassing in the sound bits.  Yeah, I’m an idiot.  :)

 {practicing cannon balls at our house pool, haven't seen a teeter-totter in years, catching the waves, and teaching nonni 'cups'.}