Sam Fix for September

Sam has now acquired his first high chair, so he can share his meals with the rest of the family at the dinner table. As you can see from the photos he is really pleased about this development especially as he is now eating solid food. Sam has swimming lessons on Tuesday lunchtimes and he has become quite adept at dunking his head underwater. I had the pleasure of accompanying him last week and good fun was had by all. At playgroup, Sam has discovered his first set of wheels and seems to enjoy the need for speed.

Spruce Meadows Event

The eyes of the horse jumping world were focused on Spruce Meadows in Calgary over the past weekend. This is because the best athletes from the world's top show jumping nations competed for top prize money and international acclaim during the Spruce Meadows 'Masters'. Well, that is what I was told when I was informed that I would be attending the event from Friday through to Sunday as the Mercedes-Benz representative. Mercedes-Benz was one of the main sponsors for event and so I was asked to show my face.

Apart from attending the horse jumping events and hosting Mercedes-Benz customers, I was involved in meeting the riders and awarding some of the winners with their medals. At the Saturday dinner, I rubbed shoulders with a number of dignitaries and sporting folk, including the British Commissioner to Canada and the new Superman actor. The evening highlight was also seeing the Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers performing the theme from the Great Escape. My Sunday afternoon was spent watching the final "Masters" event, whilst being sat next to Bill Gates of Microsoft fame.

Sam Over Six Months

Sam is over six months old now and recently had his six-month checkup with the Doctor. He cruised through his injections with only a small whimper and the verdict was that he was fully healthy. He weighs in at over 19 pounds and is in the 75th per cent on the weight chart - the kid never misses a meal!

Sam has a new play area in the apartment designated by a colourful play mat with a couple of new toys to keep him entertained and developing. We needed to distract him as he discovered the Xbox on/off button with its green light.

Nancy Crosses the Tri Line

Sunday morning was an early start for Nancy as she woke at 4.45am to head off for the the start line of her triathlon. As many of you will know, Nancy has been training for the last fourteen weeks in the three disciplines of swimming, running and cycling with Team in Training, who are raising funds for a cancer charity. Nancy raised nearly $2000 for the cause and the overall group raised $40,000, so thank you to everyone that sponsored her.

After her early morning wake-up call, Nancy was ready and waiting for the starting gun on Second Beach in Stanley Park. By the time, myself and Sam had woken up, had breakfast and walked to the beach we made it just at the moment that Nancy was finishing her 750 meter ocean swim. We heard the announcer call her name and watched her transition to her bike for the second stage. There was perfect weather for such a feat of endurance with wall to wall sunshine, but the ocean was still cold. Sam and I continued to cheer the other competitors, whilst we waited for Nancy to return from her 20 KM cycle ride around Stanley Park. We cheered Nancy as she returned her bike for the last stage of a 5 KM run and then made our way to the finishing line. Admittedly, Sam had a snooze at this point but I woken him up just in time to see his Mum cross the line at just over two hours, and pick up her medal.

Great performance by Nancy as she beat her estimated time by five minutes and we are so proud of her. Sam made sure that his Mum received a big hug at the end, as you can see from the photo. So what next for Nancy's sporting prowess?