I had a birthday last week, and it sparked an absolutely crazy idea. I decided that I wanted to cram as many of the things that I like to do into one day. I wasn’t sure that the timing would work out, but it did, and it was one amazing day of Life Lived Outside activities.

Kim and I started on the water down at the Tampa River Center and rowed a double north up the Hillsborough River just about to the MLK bridge. It was a windy morning, and there was a little chop on the water, but it helped us work on our balance together. (Double crew shells are very unstable on the water. It is super easy to flip out of them.) We had a fun row, stayed dry, and watched the sun come up over downtown Tampa.

Then we headed home, picked up the girls, and powered up with some delicious crepes at The Wooden Rooster over in St. Pete. What were we powering up for, you ask? A trip to Vertical Ventures. Rock climbing is another of my favorite things to do, and the girls have really come to like it as well! It’s fun to see them push themselves to successfully climb harder and harder routes. The best thing was that being a weekday, the gym was relatively quiet, so we got to climb and climb to our heart’s content without having to wait for routes to open up.

Those two activities were sort of the plan for the day, but then I had it in the back of my head that I could make it a Birthday Triathlon by getting out on my mountain bike. Abby had rowing practice, and we needed to make dinner, so I figured there was no way to squeeze it in. But we managed to get home with just enough time for me to throw my bike on the car, grab my gear and head down to Balm Boyette Scrub Nature Preserve for a late afternoon ride on the trails. I won’t lie, my legs and arms were pretty well gassed by the end of the day, but I did complete the first ever Birthday Triathlon. I think I’m going to make it an annual event, and I guess, in the end, my goal is to be able to keep doing all of these things for as long as I can!

The only thing I didn’t leave time for that day was to get out in the garden, although I did enjoy sitting outside relaxing in the evening. But I’ve got lots of other days for that! Even with a little colder weather this week, there’s a reason we live in Florida. None of that snow and ice folks are dealing with up north. The plants and flowers are soaking in the sunshine and the lengthening days, and the colors that are bursting around the nursery prove it! We have the ability to go outside without sweating immediately, and that makes us love it, too. So come see us this week to check out all of the new spring arrivals; each day it feels like a new truckload of plants is delivered. We can barely keep up with it! And while you are in your garden, you can turn it into your own gardening triathlon: Dig, Plant, and Enjoy!