Last week, Noah got a balloon at the grocery store. He was so proud and excited to hold onto his balloon... not only while riding in the grocery cart, but also throughout the entire rest of the day! Noah's grip remained strong even while doing one of his new favorite things -- pulling down all of the toilet paper off of its roll... Needless to say, he threw his first "toddler" tantrum when I would not allow him take the balloon to bed with him! :) 
John and I had an adventurous day yesterday... let's just say that it involved a little swimming, a little cycling and a little running. A few months ago our buddy, Paul, challenged John to complete a half ironman triathlon. In true "Gunther" fashion, John gladly welcomed the challenge. Something called "life" however, hindered a full-on training program, so we decided to enter the race as "Team Manning". John (thankfully) did the first two legs of the race - swimming 1.2 miles and biking 56 miles... while I gladly took on the half marathon. Paul completed the race solo! What a champ!! We had a great experience, and I'm sure that it won't be our last.
On a side note... Noah was the champ of the day. He endured sitting in his jogging stroller longer than he ever had. He came into the Transition Zone with me as I waited for John to finish the bike portion of the triathlon... that's where we not only passed off the timing chip, but also our son! Others that were participating in the relay kept asking me if I was going to push Noah in the stroller for 13.1 miles! HA!! :)
Congratulations to Paul and John for following through on a decision that was probably made way too late at night when they were not thinking clearly! :) ... and kudos to Luke, who was roped into swimming and biking the race, too!
