We started with a picnic at Josh, Damien and Jacque Irons' house before
piling into the van for the trip to San Diego.

Our host in San Diego, as it is every year, was Lee and Cherie's good buddy David Brenner.
Among his many talents, David knows how to tie a tie, and now (we think)
Robert does, too.

Jaime helps Damien out with a lint issue.

Los Tres Amigos Robert, Damien and Jaime ham it up for the camera

There wasn't much else to do at the moment. Remember those two girls who were
with us at the picnic? You'd think they were getting ready for the inauguration.

But when they finally made their grand entrance, it was worth it.

And then a little surprise for David and Robert.

And then a surprise from Robert: Turns out he really can't play the piano.
But he sure looks good faking it.

If you look just below the cake, you'll see how close we came to not having any.

On the way into the banquet, we ran into some old friends.
On the left, Rudy Garcia-Tolson's mom and sister, and on the right,
well-known swim coach Gerry Rodriguez and Elizabeth Farnan.
Elizabeth, an accomplished CPA, has been a great friend to the kids. She handles
all out tax matters and also ramrodded our 501(c)(3) application through
a notoriously difficult-to-deal-with bureaucracy. 

Rudy himself was wasn't in the picture because he was off playing "Launch the Frog Into
the Pond" with Dennis Christopher, star of the classic 1979 cycling film "Breaking Away."

Vianey tries her hand at tossing a softball into a milk can.

Stephanie carefully picked her moment to jump into another game.

Ironman's media wizard Peter Henning and his wife, Donna, casting a
covetous eye on Jaime's haul.

Robert takes a rest from hauling his around. About as tall as a fire hydrant,
he regularly sores over 20 points a game for his basketball team.
The Sea World arcade never saw him coming..

The real business of the evening gets underway. Endurance Athlete of the Year awards
were handed out in a variety of categories.

Cherie did a little networking. Here she is with Charles Brodsky, founder of the Nation's Triathlon
and director of the ACHIEVE Youth Triathlon summer camps, as Elizabeth joins in.

After a night of hard partying, a morning of hard sleeping.

Then breakfast.

"You want class? I'll show you class."

"Don't look at us: We thought he was with you!"

As always, a splendid time was had by all!

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