Yep! You read that correctly! Jacob did his very first triathlon today! He has been training for weeks now and was so excited for this day to come! He continually asked us if his race was tomorrow and he finally made it today! The Heart of the Valley Kids "Tri-it" Triathlon consisted of a 25 yard swim, a 1/4 mile bike ride, and finished off with a 300 yard run. Let me just tell you, I don't know if you could find a happier little boy or parents that were more proud and happy than we were today!! All that mattered was that he finished the race and had a great time, and he did both.
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Daddy was pumping up Jacob's tires getting them all ready for the race...Jacob was so excited he just wanted to sit and pretend that he was in the race already!
My happy little triathlete
Mr. Cool was showing off his race numbers that daddy had to write on his calf, and we added the arm because that's what daddy does for his races. JJ was still excited, but he had let us know a few times already, "Um, I'm excited, but I'm a little scared." We kept telling him he was going to be just fine! Just have fun! ;-)
Once he put these goggles on, he pretty much didn't take them off. He was so happy to get in his race gear like the rest of the kids.
Jacob's own personal cheering section, minus me (I was taking the picture), the May family (they showed up shortly after the picture was taken), and Paul and Caleb.
He became my little snuggle bug and kept giving me kisses and holding on as tight as possible. I think it was just nerves, but I'll take it!!
Opa was a proud great grandpa today yelling, "Atta way to go, Yenchik!"
Ty surprised Jacob and came to his race. I thought Jacob's little heart was going to burst with joy when he saw his buddy.
It took some coercing, but finally Jacob went and sat with the other racers without his mama and daddy.
Give Boo a sucker and she's a happy girl!
They were asking the kids who could swim without stopping and putting them into the lane lines accordingly. Of course, all of the kids, Jacob included, raised their hands to say they could swim the best!
They were receiving instructions to enjoy themselves, it's not about being the fastest, but as long as everyone finishes and no one gets hurt, that's all that matters. Jacob took this bit of information to heart. He had a GREAT time! ;-)
I don't think he meant to strike a pose for me, but I still thought it was pretty cute how it turned out!
The girls got to go first, and the boys were going to start 10 seconds later. So what was supposed to happen was that the boys were to get into the water as soon as the girls took off...but JJ seemed to miss that memo. He was just happy to be sticking his legs in the water with the other kids!
The boys race started and it took him a bit to get started. But that's okay! He had a great cheering section encouraging him every bit of the way!
My little buddy swimming his heart out!
...and stopping to smile at us...or occasionally he stopped to splash us...
...and back to swimming!
Almost done buddy!! He was SO cute!! When he got to the end of the pool, he stopped and looked around at all of us that were cheering him on. We had to tell him, "Keep going, kiddo! You have to get on your bike! You can do it, buddy!!"
Daddy and Paul cheering Jacob on. He was high-fiving people and having a good ol' time!
Technically, parents weren't allowed in the transition area, but with Jacob being the youngest competitor, Joe still went in with him. The sweet kid is learning to tie his shoes, but he's just not there yet!
Our buff little buddy. ;-)
And so handsome! He gets it from his daddy. ;-)
Taking off for the bike portion of the race. You can see that Joe is just as much of a cheerleader as I am.
He was so calm, cool and collected walking with his bike through the transition area.
Oy. I can't believe he's old enough to be doing this! That's what I kept thinking, so that definitely didn't help keep the tears from flowing!!
Craziest thing EVER to have my baby boy ride his bike out of my sight. Definitely saw my little Bubby Bear grow up a little bit today...although I think he has been, I may have just been in denial.
I think my heart skipped a beat when he came back into view and he rounded the corned to finish off the biking portion.
He's nearing the end of the 1/4 mile bike ride and he was actually going pretty fast...
...so fast that he crashed when he was trying to get off his bike. There was a collective, "Oh! Poor buddy! You can do it!" from all of the spectators around. I wanted to go help him up so bad, but there was no need. He just popped right back up and kept going!
The heart that he has amazes me. Falls off of his bike and gets right back up to finish what he started. I couldn't be happier with him!!
There's our little runner boy starting the 300 yard run! Oh, the look of determination on his face gets me every time!! What a little love!!
Jacob running and his buddy, Caleb, directing him where to go. I thought that was pretty sweet.
We didn't do it on purpose, but it seems like the Jacob Yenchik cheering squad positioned ourselves at every corner and every step of the way so our little buddy would know that we were there and love him.
Here he comes to the finish line! See? The same determination he started the run with, he's finishing with! His daddy is mentally tough and I know that Jacob definitely got that from him.
Almost done, Bubby! You can do it!!
Crossing this amazing finish line and still smiling! He had just as much fun participating as we did watching him.
All the kids had timing chips, just like the adults, so their race time could be monitored.
Seriously. CUTEST LITTLE BOY EVER!!!
Our happy and proud little family
My two favorite handsome, beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, determined, tough, loving boys
Taking the time to pose with his mama...he knows how to make his mama happy. Good job, JJ Bear! We are so proud of you and love you very much! No matter if you win or lose, you are LOVED. You are adored actually. God has blessed us with you and your sister and you are AWESOME. We couldn't be happier with our little family!!
First nice day and he had to wear jeans (at least we didn't have him in knee pads and elbow pads).
My little sticky princess
There he goes!!
Just as happy as can be!!
We are so proud of you, Jacob!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXO
I know, probably not the safest ideas to let her ride her tricycle with her lollipop, but she did fine.
