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!)

So stinkin cute!

There are days that it amuses me that Ellie is my third child. The things she learns and picks up on right now just amaze me. I guess I have forgotten how quickly babies can learn and change. All of these pictures are from Saturday. Jeff took Carson and Macie to see a movie. I took Ellie outside for a little while. The stories don't go with the pictures, but I want to share then too.

Playing in the Cozi Coupe.



Ellie has learned to shake her head NO. She does not say yes, but if she does not say no she means yes.



The other day, I put her to bed and she was screaming. I went in and picked her up. I tried to give her the cup of milk I had tried to give her earlier, but she shook her head No. I asked if she would drink it from a bottle, she said NO. I asked if she wanted to just go night night, she said NO. I asked if she just wanted to hang out with Mommy, and she gave me a big hug.



Saturday night, she was up late. On Sunday around 8:45AM, she walks up to me and says nighnigh. I could not say to to a request for a nap!



Ellie loves blueberries and strawberries. If you get them out of the refrigerator, she immediately starts screaming until she gets them. She does the same thing if Carson or Macie have a lollipop, but it is much cuter when she does it for fruit.



The next few pictures were taken when I pulled out the infant seat to take some pictures. I want to sell it on Craig's List soon, so while we had the camera outside I figured I would get some pictures. When Ellie saw if she climbed in. Let me know if you know anyone who wants to buy a Graco Sungride 35.










One final picture and story. I told Ellie we needed to change her diaper. She was playing with something while I went to get the diaper and wipes. When I can back, she was lying on her back in the middle of the floor waiting for me!

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!

Busy girl

I tried to get these pictures from Snapfish. They are too big. But, if you click on the photo, you can see the entire image. I will try to figure out how to make them smaller.

Since Carson started school, I thought Macie would be missing her brother. So, she has had lots of activity. Last week she was in a 5 day Abrakadoodle camp. She loved it. Maybe I will get some pictures of all her work. On a side note, she did a great job sitting and listening. as long as I did not try to give her artistic advise she was a perfect little angel.

Of course everything is better with a friend. Her best bud Addison was there, too. How cute are they making their train engineers?
Our dance class also started last week. I love how Macie looks like a real ballarina here. I will have to get more pictures from class. They dress up like a book each week and do tap and ballet.
We also went to the new fountains not to far from us. The girls loved it. Macie lasted a very short amount of time though. I thought she would stay forever. We even ran into some of our friends from music class when the girls were babies. It was fun to see them so much bigger.


Connor went with us, too. But, Macie was never close enough to get a picture together.