-Triathlete???-
Well I guess you can call me a Triathlete, you can still call me Ewan if you prefer :-)
On Sunday I completed the Smiths Falls Classic Triathlon. It was a blast!!!!! It was a beautiful morning and the race started at 9:30am. We spent the night at Jen's parents place who live 10mins away from the starting area. I was at the starting area by 8:20 and found a good place to rack my bike (not to close to the bike exit but not to far) and proceeded to get everything ready. I tried to watch other people to see how they set things up because I had never done it before.
We all headed down to the swim start and waited around for the your start wave (done by age). I was a bit nervous about the swim but all that went away when I got in the water (it was a little cold). I had an ok swim, I tried to stay to the outside (away from everybody) but that sort of back fired because just before the turn-around buoy I realized I had swam off course a little (ok a lot). By the turn-around I had gotten back on course. I proceeded to drift a little bit more coming up to the end of the swim (I actually ended up in some thick weeds).All in all I figure I saw an extra 100m on top of what I needed to do. I finished the swim and ran back up to the transition area.
I was a little slow in the transition area (getting ready for the bike) but once I got out on the bike I began to feel really good. I got a nice pace going and had a good 10km out. At the half way turn around, you were going into a slight head wind. I made it back in pretty good time.
My run transition went a little smoother than my bike transition (I know I have to work on those transitions). When I left the transition area for the start of the run, my stomach felt a little "funny", but I quickly forgot about it because I was focusing on the first 1km of the run, that was all UPHILL. I felt real good the whole run and was able to finish strong.
Here is me at the finish line

And here is me leaving for the start of the bike leg:

My final time was 1hr 14mins and 4secs. Good for 11th in my age group and 105th out of 331 people.
Break down of times as follows:
Swim (including transition to bike) 12:27
Bike 39:41
Run 21:57 (including transition from Bike to run)
I wasn't really concerned about my time but more about enjoying the expirience of my first triathlon. I am happy with those times (I would have like a better swim time but that can be fixed)
The whole day was so much fun, and I can't wait to do another one, I think I will be doing one on July 18th.
I had my own little cheering section, Jen, Keir and Jen's mom and Dad came out along with our friends Mark, Sara and Paige and Jen's Gran, and Jen's sister in-law and her 3 kids William, Scarlet, and Holly. Thanks to everyone for coming out.
I would recommend this race to anyone wanting to do a triathlon, it was an great location, nice people, and great atmosphere.

That is all for now
Take care
Triathlet... err I mean Ewan

-Father's Day-
On Sunday it was Father's Day, which was my first Father's Day as a Father. I am not one to get all excited about manufactured holidays but this was pretty neat. We really didn't do anything special for the day, (that's not entirely true, we went over to my parents for supper with my brother) but in retrospect: just spending the day with Keir (and it was the whole day, cause he was up at 6am) and Jen was very special. I have come to really enjoy the time on the weekends, it really does not matter what we do. So long as Keir and Jen are there on the weekend I find myself really happy.
Enough mushy stuff... On the weekend Keir was watching me eat an apple and was looking very interested in it. So I let him try and take a bite. It was not much of a bite because he only has his two bottom teeth. But he did manage to suck on the apple a bit. He seemed to really enjoy it, after the initial shock of the sourness of the apple wore off.
My first ever triathlon is coming up this weekend. I am very excited. I am trying not to do to much training this week so I can be fresh for the weekend. I will let you know how it goes.
That is all for now
Take Care
Ewan

-7 Months-
Keir is seven months old today. Happy Birthday little buddy. Over the weekend Keir developped a little bit of a cold. Well he really just had a runny nose. On sunday night Jen said that she wasn't feeling so good. By Tuesday Jen was feeling pretty crummy, so I took the day off work to take Keir off her hands so she could get some much needed rest. By later on in the afternoon Jenn was feeling better. It was a hot day on Tuesday so we took the oppotunity to get Keir's little pool out. It is an inflatable pool, we had tried the pool a couple of weeks ago but it was not warm enough yet. After a little adjustment (he could figure out why it was not like his bath tub) Keir loved the pool. Here are some pictures of the event: (click on the pic to get a larger image)
Before Pool
In the pool
Keir swimming companion
Splashing in the pool
Smiles :-)
We did fill the pool with to much water, but Keir seemed to really enjoy it none the less.

Happy Seven Month Birthday Keir!

That is all for now
Take care
Ewan

-Great Weekend-

What an amazing weekend. On Friday night our friends Mark and Sara came over for a BBQ. Both of us have little ones and have been real busy, so we had not seen Mark and Sara (and their little one Paige) in a long time. It was great to see them and catch up with everything in each others lives. Keir loves seeing other little kids so he was excited to meet Paige.
Here are some pics from Firday Night (click on them to see larger version).
Here is Paige and Keir
Here is Paige
Here is Paige and Keir
I called this one "Times Have Changed".
It was great to see Mark and Sara and Paige again. We are going to be getting together more often, actually we are going out to there place for Canada Day on July 1st.

Saturday started of weird, usually I get up a 5:30 and have my breakfast and do my Bike/run and I am back at the house around 8. Well this Saturday, I got up at 5:30 but Keir decided to get up also. So I had my breakfast and entertained Keir until around 7 when we got really tired and went back to bed. I got to go out at 7, which was nice cause it is a little warmer than @ 6am. I decided to do 40km on the Bike and a 7.5km run (I want to do some longer distances before my race on the 27th) Everything went well, but it was a little bit busier than i was used to on the paths. I was back by 9 and after that our neighbourhood was have a big garage sale, so we went around the neighbourhood to check it out. My mum and dad came with us and ended up getting some stuff for some good prices.
In the afternoon: Jen, Keir and I biked into Ottawa with the intention of having some lunch in Ottawa. We did not know but the section of Ottawa we biked to was closed for a street festival called WestFest. It really cool the main street closed and had hundreds of people walking around.
Here are some pics from the afternoon.
The closed Street (That is my Dad's office above the "Castle" the top floor of the building in the top left corner of the picture)
Me and Keir
Lunch, Jen and Keir

On Sunday we took it easy, but went and got some more plants for the garden at the front of the house. It was good to get that done because we had been wanting to do some more with the garden for some time now. Everything looks real good.

That is all for now
Take Care
Ewan

-Happy Birthday-

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday, my mom invited several of his friends over along with my brother and Keir, Jen and I. There was a nice meal but the "Piece de Resitance" was the 2 cakes Jen made for hi.
Coconut Lime Curd Cake
An Angel Food Cake

The cakes were delicious! I had four pieces which I probably why I swam so slow at my morning swim today.

In other news, Keir got his first bike helmet. This means we will be able to tow him in his Chariot. Here are some pics of him modeling the new hemlet:


The helmet was the smallest you could buy, xxs, but we still had to put in extra padding inside so it would fit his head.

That is all for now
Take care
Ewan

-Photos-
Here are some more recent photos.(Click on image for a larger version)
Keir fell alseep sitting on the couch, this one was SO FUNNY. Keir tries to fight his sleepyness, we think he does not want to fall asleep and miss anything. This picture was the result of him losing the sleep battle!

Keir still loves his bathes, this picture is him smiling in the tub.

I mentioned last post about Baby Einstein Well this picture is called 3 Favorite things: Baby Einstein is on the TV, he is reading his new animal sounds book, and his Mom is the 3rd favorite thing!

The Last couple of times we have gone over to my parents house Keir has taken intrest in my mom's piano. He likes to bang on the keys and make lots of noise.

I had a really good run last night, the temp was not to hot, it was sunny out. I wanted to keep going longer than my 10km but decided against it.
That is all for now.
Take care
Ewan

-Still Here, Honest-
I have not dissappeared, really... I have just been a little slack in posting over the last couple of weeks. OK a lot slack. Things have been really busy in our house for the past couple of weeks.
Keir had his 6 month doctor's appointment today and everything went very well. His numbers look like this:
18.5lbs (that is in the 75 percentile for his age)
28.5 inches tall (that is in the 95 percentile for his age!!!! I guess he is going to be tall just like Dad).
We have found the greatest invention in the world for parents. It is called Baby Einstein. They are a company that produces all sorts of baby related products. They have a line of DVD/Videos. These videos are amazing, and Keir absolutely LOVES them. His current favorite DVD is Baby Galileo. When we put it in the player he is so involved in the DVD that it gives mommy and daddy a nice break. Any parents with babies out there, these things are a must.
Keir is also a lot more vocal, and he babbles a whole lot now.
My mum is over in Scotland right now, so Keir sent this pic over to his Gran. He then proceeded to try and eat the sign

I am doing my first triathlon in 25 days. It is in Smiths Falls, which just happens to be Jen's hometown.More info on the Triathlon here. I am really excited about it, although I am a little nervous about the swim portion. I know I can do the swim, the question is can I do it with 650 other people?

That is all for now.
Take Care,
Ewan

-0.5-
I have not updated anything in a week, haven't really had the time recently. Things are very busy during the week with the swimming, running, and biking, with Keir and the beautiful weather we have been having here (we are trying to spend more time outside) so time to update the blog is not a lot.
Anyway, as I mentioned before, the weather last week and on the weekend was awesome. Saturday I got up early (5:30am) had my breakfast and did a "Brick" workout. What is a Brick workout you ask, well it is usually a bike ride followed immediately by a run. I did a 30km Bike ride and 10km run and was back home 7:45am. I actually had a pretty quick run; probably cause i wasn't pushing Keir (he was still sleeping).
Sunday was Keir's 6 month birthday, it was also Jen's mom's B-day as well. We all went out for a Birthday Breakfast at Cora. This place is awesome, the portions are huge and there is a load of variety in the menu. If you ever get the chance to eat at a Cora's restaurant you should.
After that it was back to our house, where Jen's mum and dad to Keir for a walk and Jen and I did some gardening out front. The front needed some work so it was nice to get it done. When they got back from the walk it was cake time. Jen made a wicked angel food cake with whip-cream and raspberries and chocolate!

It is hard to believe that my wife and I have a 6 Month old, but he has brought so much love and happiness into our lives that i have not really noticed the 6 months go by.

That is all for now
Take Care
Ewan

The Smartest Little Boy in the Universe

What a weekend; the weather was nice, it was Jen's first Mother's Day on Sunday and drum roll please.............. Keir said "Dada" on Friday night (he said it twice) and then again on Saturday and Sunday!
Words cannot describe the feeling you get when your son says his first word and on top of that it is "Dada"!
When it first happened, Jen and I didn't really believe that it had happened (if that makes any sense!). We looked at each other and we both realized at the same time what had just happened, and then I started to jump up and down, everyone was happy.
Later that night after his bath he said it again, and then once more on Saturday and again on Sunday.
On Mother's Day (Sunday) we had my mother, my father, brother over for a Mother's Day Brunch. It was really nice, I made a Potato and Spinach Frittata. I had never made a Frittata before but I think it turned out ok.
On Saturday we had Ron, Tina and Kaylee over for a BBQ. Kaylee is a couple of months younger than Keir, and his future girlfriend! We were talking about how much things have changed in a year. A year ago neither of us knew that we had little ones on the way. We also commented that this is the happiest we have ever been.
Also on Saturday, I went to check out my friend David surfing. Yes I did say surfing and no I did not fly to Hawaii or anywhere warm.
David was surfing at the Champlain Bridge rapids, I guess the water level is high enough that he can surf in the rapids. It was amazing, there was a bunch of kayakers there(it is very popular place to kayak) but he was the only one surfing. The water was cold he said it was 4-6 degrees!
Here is photographic proof:

• 
  Dave surfing1


• 
  Dave surfing 2


• 
  Dave surfing 3

That is all for now
Take Care
Ewan

-Why is it-

Why is it that the weekends are always bad weather and the week days are always the best weather of the week? It was like that here this weekend. On Wednesday and Thursday temperature was up in the 20 (that is celcius). So what was the weather like on the weekend, cold and rainy! I did manage to get a ride and run in on Saturday, but Sunday it just poured.
On Sunday we had a nice day, even though it was raining and Keir was a bit kranky(we think it's another tooth!): We went to Sasloves Meat Market in town, they specialize in Organic meat. Their prices were really good, just the same as the regular Supermarkets non-organic meat. I will try some of there products this weekend. It is nice to see this type of place in Ottawa with competitive prices and excellent product. After that we went to my parents for supper, they had invited Bill and Sue (who are great family friends) for supper also. Everyone got to see Keir even if he was a little kranky.

Some random pics

• Keir Standing???


• Messy Eater


• Messy Eater again


• Watching Star Wars with Dad

That is all for now
Take Care
Ewan

-Neither Wind nor Sleet...-
Yesterday, Tuesday, I biked into work for the first time this year. The weather prediction (that may be an oxy-moron) said it was going to be nice. Well it was not. In the morning, the ride in was a little wet because it had rained over night. So I was a little damp. I made it in 1hour and 14minutes OK for 30.5km. On the way home it was a different story. At 3 I was excited about going home, the route home (same as the route to work but reverse) was almost all downhill, so I should be able to make it home quicker than I came in this morning, theoretically!
Well it was so windy for the first half of the ride home that I felt like I was biking in quick-sand. By the time I got to the bridge (about 2/3 of the way home) it had been raining for 10minutes not strong, but enough to get wet. Rain I can handle. It was still very windy and with about 1km left to home, the skies opened up and the temperature dropped and it started to hail on top of all the rain!
I ended up getting home in 1hour 18mins, not bad considering all the elements I had to face.
Total for the day 61km in 2hour 34mins.
My legs felt fine this morning in the pool, we will see how they do on tonight’s run!
Keir is doing great, a regular chatter box (no words, lots of interesting sounds and noises) and his two chomper teeth are getting bigger and bigger each day.
That is all for now
Take care
Ewan

-Chomper1 and Chomper2-
Keir has his first two teeth! It started with his chomper1, lower right anterior (that is from Jen), coming through and now chomper2, lower left anterior, is starting to show as well.
There was a couple of rough nights where the teeth coming in were bothering Keir. It supposedly gets easier as more and more teeth come in.
If you put your finger into Keir's mouth you had better watch out because chomper1 or chomper2 will get you!
I have tried to get some photos of Keir's teeth but as you can imagine it is hard to get Keir to stay still long enough to get a good shot.
The quest for Tooth Pictures will go on!
Keir is very loud, he is making all sorts of noise. Lots of babbling, grunting, cooing, and mumbling. I swear I have heard him say several words all ready; you just have to listen really carefully ;-)
That is all for now
Take care
Ewan

-Happy Birthday-
Keir is 5 months old today!
I can't believe that he is that old already. It seems like only a couple of weeks ago we were just bringing him home.
On the other hand it also feels like Keir has been a part of us for a long time now. It is hard to remember life before Keir.
I am not complaining, just observing.
Like Jen says "I wouldn't trade Keir for anything in the world!"
Happy Birthday Keir.
You make your mom and dad smile :-)
Take care
Ewan

-Go Sens Go-
Last night was a huge game for the Ottawa Senators in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Sens have been eliminated by the Leafs three of the past four years, and there is a preety healthy rivalry between the two teams/cities. They had also been shutout the past two games of the series.
If they lost last night they would have been down 3 games to 1 in the series and been in lots of trouble. The Sens had outplayed the Leafs the first three games of the series but Ed Belfour(the leafs goalie) had played even better and shut them out in game two and three.
Last night they won the game 4-1 and outplayed the Leafs.
Keir did his part wearing his Sens jersey
The series is now tied 2-2, and the next game is Friday evening. Hopefully the Sens bring the same intensity and commitment to the next game as they have for the first four games.
Go Sens Go
Take Care
Ewan

-Sweet Potatoes-

Keir has moved on from rice cereal to "purees". He has eaten strained peas, apple sauce, strained pears, and his favorite strained sweet potato.
He really does like the sweet potatoes the most, it is the only one he does not make a face when he first tastes them. Here is a picture of Keir eating:

• Yummy-before


• Yummy-during


• Yummy-after

Jen has done lots of reading about when to start "solid" foods, and Tracy gave us a book, this past weekend, with lots of amazing recipes and many helpful hints.
Speaking of things Tracy and Wally gave us. They gave us two things that they swore by during their kids younger years.

• this backpack


• this play-centre

The backpack is amazing, we have used it many times since we have gotten home from Hamilton. It is great for going in public places and walks. Keir likes being high up and see everything that is going on.
The play-centre is great also. Keir will sit in it for an hour or so and play away. It is nice cause it gives mom and dad a break!
Take Care
Ewan

-Stoney Creek-

This past weekend was the Easter long weekend. We took this opportunity to visit out friends Wally and Tracy and the two boys Jake and Rowan in Stoney Creek Ontario (it is a suburb of Hamilton, which is about an hour south west of Toronto).
The Ride Down...
We drove down Friday. We were not sure how Keir would do being in the car for so long, but he was really good. We stopped twice once for lunch and another two hours later just before Toronto. The trip down took just around six hours including stops. The traffic was bad going through Toronto but it usually is so it was not really a big surprise.
The Weekend...
The weekend itself was great. Nice weather and it was great to catch up with Wally and Tarcy. It was sunny all weekend and the vegetation seemed so much greener than back home. We went to the Hamilton Farmers Market. It is all indoors and very impressive. The variety and choice of produce/product available at this market is amazing. I wish there was something like it in Ottawa (I know about the Byward Market but it isn't even close). We also went for a walk on the Bruce Trail which runs around the Niagara Escarpment. It was nice to see the boys, whom we had not seen in about a year. Jake is 3.5 and Rowan is just over 2 and are a handful for Wally and Tracy.
We had a wonderful weekend visiting really good friends.
The Ride Home...
Same as the ride down but a little quicker because we left Sunday Morning and avoided any traffic in Toronto.

Here are some pictures of the trip.

• Everybody


• Before the Walk


• Bruce Trail


• Waterfall on Bruce Trail


• Jake


• Rowan


• Keir and Jake


• Keir Driving

That is all for now
Take care
Ewan

-Keir's Girlfreind-
Here is a link to some pictures of our friends Ronny and Tina little bundle Kaylee:

• Kaylee

Thats all for now
Take Care
Ewan

-We Like Rice-
Big news from the land of the Hardies: Keir is eating SOLID food. Well ok it not really solid food, he is eating rice cereal mixed with mommy's milk. It looks a little like some weird runny pudding. Keir has been watching us eat with great interest for the past couple of weeks and coupled with the fact he has been drinking from his sippy cup for a while now, we figured that he was ready to start on some food.
His reaction to his first spoonful of the rice cereal was priceless. He made this funny face like:What the heck is this!Butt by the third or forth spoonful he was very much into the whole process. He eats twice a day once in the morning and again at suppertime with mommy and dad. I got some pictures of the events but I haven't had the chance to go through them yet.
We had a bit of a rough night last Thursday; Keir didn't want to sleep and told us how he felt about it! He cried for most of the night and really didn't sleep from 10pm till 7:30am the next morning. It was like he didn't want to be in his crib; every time we took him out he would stop but as soon as he went back the crying would start up again. The next night was a little better and a whole lot less crying, he cried a bit when he first put him into his crib but stop and slept in his crib. Hopefully things are back to normal in the sleep department but you never know.

That is all for now

Take care
Ewan

Little Visitor...
Working at my desk this morning I saw this little fella:

• Vistor 1


• Vistor 2


• Vistor 3


• Vistor 4


• Vistor 5

I think I am starting to get a hand of our digital camera. When we first got our digital camera, I thought it would just be point and shoot with excellent results. But as I soon found out not every picture is guarantee to be great. You do have to put some thought it the various factors that make up a photo. Taking a good photo is very rewarding because you can look back at the photo with a great deal of satisfaction.
Keir did not sleep very well last night and was up @ 5:30am but did go back to sleep after 8 am and slept till 10am. But other than that Keir is doing really well and is a joy to watch for his mum and dad!

That is all for now
Take care
Ewan

-Let Sleeping Babies Lie-

It is 9am and Keir is still sleeping! He went to bed at 8pm last night. I think he woke up only twice. All the experts say that babies start to sleep for long periods right around this time. It is nice because Keir has a nice long sleep and we get some time to ourselves.

Here are some pictures from Sunday night. We went over to my parents for supper, Keir really enjoyed himself. We got to sit outside on their deck and enjoy the sun.

• Granny H


• Granny H again


• Grandpa H


• Supper Table

Take Care
Ewan