Summer Swim Team

One of our favorite summer activities is our neighborhood swim team. I am so glad that we got it up and running. The kids love it and it is fun for the parents. We all get to meet new people and be part of our community.



Carson moved up to the 8 and under division this summer. Macie also got to participate. They can not officially compete until they turn 5, but she got to practice and swim in a few meets.



Since Carson swam all year, he got off to a good start. He got 5 first place ribbons in his first meet. He had to swim butterfly and breast stroke a lot because he knew how to do them. They are not at all his best strokes. As the other kids got use to it, he did not get as many first place finishes. But, he kept improving his time. Every event he swam was in the fastest heat. Even though he did not get a lot of first place finishes, he would have if he had been swimming in all of the other heats!



Back stroke is his favorite. We think if he continues to swim he will be really good at it. Right now, he is a lot smaller than the kids he competes against. Many of them outweigh him by 25 pounds!



Carson finished out the year at the district swim meet. At this point we just had to sign him up and pick his events. He did the 25 free style and 25 back. He placed 6th in back stroke out of 20. We were really proud of him.



Macie liked to pretend that she could not swim. She had several of out young coaches convinced she needed help getting across the pool. Her first meet was a little rough.



She thought she was only swimming back stroke. But, when we got the meet they had found a lane for her and put her in free style. The only problem was she was swimming against the boys. She was not having anything to do with being on the boys team!



They ended up adding a heat of girls. I moved her into that heat. But, the damage was done! She was crying and saying she did not want to do it. I of course made her. She got across with a little help from a coach.



When it was time for back stroke, she did great. Of course, I was on the other end of the pool holding a nerds rope. I promised her she could have it when she finished the race!



The rest of the season she never had a problem. Our biggest concern was she was not placing 6th. She really wanted the pink ribbon. But, you have to finish last to get it! (She was not swimming in the fast heats) The very last meet she was put in a relay with all 4 year old girls. She was very excited that her team finished last and she got her pink ribbon!



I think the kids would tell you the best thing about swim team is hanging out with friends and eating a lot of junk. Really what more could a kid want?



We finished the season 4-1 or 5-0. We lost the last meet by one point. But, there was a question about one kid (who happen to be swimming against Carson). He should have been disqualified but was not when counting the points. So, they went back and looked at it and gave us the win. We now get to move up a division next summer. We will be there swimming as fast as we can!

(The pictures are just randomly placed. If I ever want to get caught up, I have to make it easy on myself!)

Tennis Camp

Last week, Carson participated in 2 camps. He went to tennis camp from 9-12 and then to a Twilight Camp with cubs scouts from 6-9 PM. He had a fun week and had a much better attitude than I thought he would. He was up until about 10:30 every night. Even though he was tired, he loved every minute.

I did not go to any of Twilight camp. We carpooled with parents who had to be there and the couple times we were there, Jeff drove. But, tennis was in our neighborhood. I was able to get a few pictures. Carson loves tennis, but he does not get to do it very much because of other things he does during the year.

Here are just a few random shots.











His camp ended up really small. He had the sweet college girl coaching him. She loved him and told me several times how polite and nice he is. I was proud of him. He really wants to do camp again next week, but it is his last week before school starts back!

Soccer part 2

We have now entered the world of two children playing sports. Macie started her first season of soccer on Saturday. I was not planning to sign her up, but they are having a league in our neighborhood. It is just one hour on Saturday morning. Jeff and Brad are coaching like they did for the boys. So, we are again spending Saturdays at the soccer field. I think Macie might end up liking it better than Carson. Here are some pictures of the cutest little player.

Walking down the sidewalk to the field. I don't know if you can see how big the ball looks over her left shoulder.
Getting a hug from coach daddy after one her own team mates stole the ball from her causing her to start sobbing.
You can not tell by all the parents of the field, but this is during the game. She is actually touching the ball. It took Carson a couple season before he got this close to the ball in a game.
The last two are of practice before the game. I just think she is adorable!

Click here to see some pictures of Carson's first game. It was just about 3 years ago to the day! He is on a year round swim team this year, so we don't have to be in 2 places at once very often. His first meet isn't until October 16th.

Swim Team

We live in an awesome neighborhood with a large pool. But, we have never had a a swim team. A number of people have tried other years to get a swim team going, but they could never get past our HOA board. Last summer, I decided I was going to make it my job to get the team going. So, I went to a few board meeting and convinced them to give us a try. Then I got pregnant with Ellie! She was due at the time the team would really be up and going. There were a handful of people who had worked over the year to get ready for the team. They and a few others took over and we had a great first season of swim team.

Carson was in the youngest division this year. He loved every minute of it. I never heard a single complaint about being at the pool at 8 AM for practice. He loved the competition and always asked as soon as the race was over what place he got. The younger kids only swim free style and back stroke. But, in 2 meets he got to swim with the 8 and unders in a relay. One time he swam breast stroke (after not practicing it at all!) and the other time he swam butterfly. He wants to continue swimming on a year round team. If I can get past my issues with it, I am sure he will love it. And, we are all looking forward to next summer when Macie can join the team. She swam all the way across the 25 yard pool once this summer already.

Here are some pictures. They are not in order and I am too lazy to fix them.

Getting ready for the first meet. It was just a mock meet with our team.

Swimming free style at one of the meets.

Getting ready for the start at RiverGreen
Warm ups at River Green with Carter and Eli in the water.
The best part of swim team was getting to be with friends!

These are Carson's friends Eli and Carter. They have all been friends since they were babies.
Carson and Jack. Jack is Carson's best school friend. We are lucky that he lives in the back of our neighborhood, so they got to be on the team together.

And what do you do while your brothers are swimmming? Eat as much as possible! Macie and Addison enjoying ring pops in one of the rare moments they were sitting. We are all looking forward to them being busy swimming next summer!

Macie's Dance Recital

Back on May 15th, Macie had her very first dance recital. She took tap and ballet this year at a cute little studio. Each week they read a story and act it out. They do a little ballet and tap. It won't make her a professional dancer, but she loves it. Here are a few photos from the event.

Macie ready for the ballet performance.

Macie and Addison on stage before the dance started.

I love this picture. It looks like Macie has 3 arms and 4 legs.

In the middle of the dance.

Macie and Addison walking down the stairs to change for the tap performance.

One more in the cute little tap outfits.

She is already excited about next year. I am glad that a lot of the little girls from this year will be back in her class next year!

Ball player

We don't have a game for the next two weeks for Spring Break. This is from Carson's first game. I think he is actually starting to look like he knows what he is doing. Now if we can just get a little meat on his bones!

We took the kids to the Braves game last night. It was fun, but my feet were very swollen when we got home. And, all the walking brought on a lot of contractions. But, they did not go anywhere.

I am enjoying football

Back before we had kids, I really enjoyed sitting and watching a football game. I had to have at least a little interest in the teams, but it did not have to be one of my teams. Over the last several years the interest has faded away. Maybe its because Jeff can get way into it so it has sent me in the other direction. Maybe its because my team has not done all the great, but other than this year they have not been horrible. Maybe its that our weekends are so crazy I just don't have time to enjoy it. But, tonight I have actually sat and watched a good portion of the SEC Championship. And, I am enjoying it. Of course, I have a great dislike for Florida and at the moment they are not doing so well. Jeff went over to watch the game with his softball team. The kids are there as well playing with the Macdonald kids. I made dinner for myself that no one else would enjoy and have watched football. I should have been wrapping presents or doing something productive, but it has been nice. Now if Alabama can keep Florida from scoring 3 times, it will be worth it!

On another note, today was Carson's first basketball game. Macie fell asleep in my arms before Carson went in to play so I don't have pictures, but he did fairly well. He actually ran fast from one end of the court to the other. He got the ball a few times, but I think he was afraid to dribble the ball. He would pass it on to another player as soon as he caught it. I could really get use to basketball since it is inside with a place to sit!