Samantha Monk, YOU are an Ironman!

After leaving Jim to fly home with the girls (yes, super-Daddy), I went to Lake Placid, NY, to see Aunt Sammy do her first ironman (Hannah, this is the "very long race" I told you I was going to see).  I got to fly in the co-pilot's seat in the 10-seater airplane from Boston to Saranac Lake.  That was awesome (albeit frightening at first).  The flight was beautiful.

I got to spend some quality time with Uncle Jonny and cousins David and Jacob.  We had a long day of watching Aunt Sammy come by and then waiting for hours to see her come by again, but it was a lot of fun and very exciting.

The gang before Aunt Sammy got started.  Aunt Sammy was so excited that we all came to cheer her on.

We couldn't get a close-up of Aunt Sammy among the 2,800 swimmers, but this is what it looked like when they all left for their 2.4 mile swim.  Ellie Mae was able to see Aunt Sammy when she came off the first loop of the swim - Aunt Sammy made the letter "M" with her arms.

Here's Aunt Sammy coming up Papa Bear, a hill near the end of the 112-mile bike ride.  She was pretty tired by this point but still looking great!

Here's Aunt Sammy coming by about half-way through the run.  She had gotten over the hurdle by this point, having had a rough start to the run but feeling better.

At the end of the race, as each racer came up to the finish line, the announcer would say their name and then say, "You are an ironman!"  Here's Aunt Sammy after she heard "Samantha Monk, YOU are an ironman!"  She was so happy.

And after the ironman, Aunt Sammy, Ellie Mae and I went to the luxurious Canyon Ranch spa for some pampering.  It was so nice!  Thanks, Ellie Mae!