A Pale Moon Rises

So the kids have been to the venue twice now. Once on a day that I was practicing, and once on a day that I was racing. The weather was in our favor both days, though more so for the day I was racing. Add to that, we somehow came into possession of one of the parking passes for the US/Australian team. This allowed Sarah to park really close to the venue so that the kids did not have to walk all that far. I think these factors helped in creating a pleasant experience for the twins.
That first day they were at the venue, was a Biathlon sprint day. The place was decked out in all its glory. The local adaptive sports community was out as well, with a display area where one could try out some adaptive sports. So, as I watched some of the races, and the kids got tired of watching some of the races, they turned to the display area put up by the local Adaptive Sports Community. They had the visually impaired air rifles, a sit ski, and shuffle board....I mean curling from wheelchairs. Ethan thought that this was a cool playground. He got in the sit ski and actually propelled it -on his own- across the snow. He also sat in a chair and tried his hand at the curling. It was cool to see how interested he was in trying these things out. Rileigh on the other hand was; too cold, or too tired, or only 5, or whatever else she could come up with, to try any of those things. Still, I do think they both enjoyed seeing all the different people and all the cool posters and banners, as well as all the interesting sit skis. They also noticed that people did not have arms, or legs, or that someone was in a chair "like daddy". Andy's prosthetics were dubbed "robot legs". They never did come out and tell the person, or ask the person, where or what happened to their limbs. They would just all of a sudden tug on either my or Sarah's arm, and look up at us and point. So, we have a little work to do with empowering them to talk to individuals on their own.
On my race day, I saw them at the finish line. I heard them as I was passing through on my laps, so it is not as though I felt neglected, and they were there in due time to take in the race. By the time I met up with them, Rileigh was all smiles and comments, and Ethan was distraught that we were not at the "try out the adaptive sports play ground". They both are tending to pull the over dramatic emotional displays when they are not doing what they expect they should be doing. Sarah and I are having fun with that. After my cool down, I met them over at the play ground, and I attempted to get them excited about watching the awards ceremony. At this point Rileigh was done with all the noise the people were making, and Ethan was ready for some new stimulus. Add to that, the coaches, and some of my teammates wanted to meet and talk with Ethan and Rileigh, but the twins were not open to meeting people. They chose to bury their heads in my arm (or Sarah's) instead. Maybe it was the overstimulating environment, or something like that, I don't know what exactly was the issue. Ethan warmed up some when my coach gave him a piggy back ride.
I grabbed some lunch, and the kids and Sarah headed for the van (which was now parked in the "commoners" parking lot at the bottom of the hill). All social anxiety that was so strong a few moments ago dissipated. The kids ran around like no one was looking. Luckily, they have some good sense, and went straight to the van. But for a while they were out of sight, and both parents knew we would find them in a wheel well, or some such horrid thing. It seems they did a good job of being aware of vehicles, and people, and of getting to the car in a timely manner.
They were happy to be back in the safe comfortable condo, where they could run, scream, and tackle, and tumble about. It has taken constant action from Sarah and I to keep them at least resembling civility in these scenarios. Wrestling is their number one favorite activity. I suppose I have created a monster. I made the bed, now I have to lie in it.

Squamish

I am in Squamish BC, Canada at the moment. It is where the teams are staying for the competitions at the Callahan Valley, near Whistler. Whistlerr is where the the Nordic, and Alpine competitions will be for the Olympics and Paralympics. It is nice to get a glimpse of the venue that the competitions will be in before we have to compete here. Squamish could be Redmond, or maybe Mill Creek. And it is that green. OK, maybe it is more like Mt. Vernon WA, or Arlington WA, as the terrain is rather extreme. Straight up, and straight down. It is a bit green all the way up to the skiing, where the snow is barely holding on for the moment: it is really trying to be spring.

Yesterday was rain in the morning. Rain like you see in Bellingham, or the Hoh rain Forrest. And it may be that I am back on the East side, Idaho, and that I am more used to less rain. Regardless, that was some serious rain. I am not sure what it was like at the venue so much. Today, the sun was out. It was quite a contrast to the racing venues of earlier in the season. Then, there were not enough clothes to cover us. Today, I could have skied in a t-shirt. And then I would have gotten a sun burn, as I would not have even thought of sunscreen. Sunscreen was not even in my consciousness in Finland, Sweden, or Alaska.
The kids arrived here with Sarah, via the Sienna. They dropped me off at the Spokane airport, drove to North Bend, and then stayed the night in Issaquah. They had some time to do some shopping in North Bend. Who wouldn't? They drove the rest of the way on Monday. The kids, naturally, have been rather wild since they have been here. I am chalking that up to two days of inactivity. I think they are getting to see some cool stuff, and they seem to be enjoying it. It has also been nice for me to see them more. Tomorrow will be a test to see how well they do at the racing venue. Can they handle the not so action packed environment of Nordic skiing? If anything, there should be some good snow fun.