Happy Camper Award

Peanut and Coach Noah

Peanut got the Happy Camper paper plate award.  His coach said that he was always smiling, happy and anytime they put everyone on the wall he immediately slipped back into the water and started happily swimming even though he was supposed to be listening.

Minnows and the Coaches

Peanut in the Lollipop Meet

Notice Peanut is the ONLY one not on the wall - so typical!

Night Swimming at the team banquet

Blue and Orange Award - Boys 10 and Under 2013

Little Man was awarded the Blue and Orange Award for 10 and under boys at the Swim Team Banquet.  The Head Coach said that he deserved the award for his attitude, endurance, ability and tenacity. He went on to say that Little Man started out as a minnow and moved up multiple lanes during the summer and that on his first day in his highest lane he cried through most of practice.  He went on to say that Little Man swam in every B meet despite his anxiety and by the end of the season was legal in all 4 strokes and had excellent times and form. 

Little Man did not and still does not grasp the concept of how prestigious this award is and that is in part because this is the first time he has been presented with a sporting award that he actually earned and deserved for more than participation.  It is interesting because when we were telling him how proud we were of him for getting that award and all of his hard work during the season he said "I don't get it.  Didn't everyone get one?"  It is true that in the past every sporting trophy or medal that he has received was given out equally and for participation, but this is his first lesson in earning an award.  I don't think he has fully grasped it but he knows how proud we are of him and he has displayed the award proudly in his room  It was a lesson for me too as I had many parents come up and congratulate me after the award ceremony especially those of the older swimmers. 

Little Man and his coaches Coach Steve and Coach Emily

Fox In Socks and other nightmarish things

Sweet Pea has had to adjust to a summer schedule which means later nights, shorter naps and usually morning sleep-in's.  She has rolled with the punches for the most part and can power through a day without naps and no meltdowns better than Peanut at times.  However, she seems to be plagued with bad dreams on the later bedtime nights.

Last night (somewhere in the blur of 3:00 am) she was crying in bed and crying out.  Papa Bear got up to get her and I could hear her crying and repeatedly yelling, "I want Mama, there is a fox in socks in my house.  Get it out.  I want Mama."  Papa Bear thought she was saying that she was scared of sharks and she just kept saying no and asking him to get the Fox in Socks out of her house.  I don't know why she found this scary, but I blame Dr. Seuss.  After using the bathroom and being soothed by Papa Bear, she settled down and slept until after 8:00 am. 

Around this same age, Little Man experienced some bad dreams about a Giant Chicken behind his door and we had to shoo it out of his room for a few nights.  So maybe it is the age, maybe it is the late nights or maybe it is Dr. Seuss.  Whatever it is, I am hoping that tonight she enjoys pleasant dreams and isn't plagued by green eggs and ham falling on her or apples that just won't stay up on top but it is going to be another late night so we will just have to see.

Swim Team Wrap up 2013

The swim season has come to an end and Little Man swam in every B meet and a developmental relay.  While he still experienced nervousness and anxiety at each event, he participated and by the end of the swim season was much more relaxed.  I am so proud of how he pushed through the anxiety to be the best little swimmer than he could be.  He improved his time in free style 3 times over the course of the meets and 1 time in backstroke.  His final time in 25 meter Freestyle was 26.07 and his final 25 meter backstroke was 30.57

Peanut learned some of the basics for swimming and even was able to swim freestyle for half the length of the pool by the end of the swim season.  He swam in the Lollipop meet in short and long course kickboard without a care in the world.  In fact, he slowed down in the long course because he was smiling so much that he couldn't keep the water out of his mouth.  He is the happiest little fish in the water, that's for sure.

Sweet Pea loved cheering for her brothers all season and while she is probably more than ready to join the team, she has 2 more years before she can be a Wahoo. 

The Papa Picture

In April, we had our family pictures taken and one of the pictures we did was a picture of Papa Bear giving flowers to Sweet Pea.  We took the picture with the idea that Papa Bear is the first man to give her flowers and we will take a similar picture when she gets married with the last man to give her flowers (a long long long time from now since she can't date until she is 30).  We printed the pictures in a 5x10 and framed it to go on her dresser.  She loves this picture and calls it her "Papa Picture".  At least twice a week, when I put her down for her nap, she will ask to have her Papa Picture in bed with her.  So I hand it to her and she lays on her back looking at it and talking to Papa until she falls asleep with the picture tucked into her blankets with her.  It is adorably and turns Papa Bear into a huge pile of mush.  Earlier this week I had to wake her up from her nap and I snapped a picture as she was waking up so I could send it to Papa Bear to brighten his day.  I never had a chance to experience a true Father/Daughter relationship as a child and it makes me happier than I can even say to watch this wonderful relationship blossom and grow for Sweet Pea and Papa Bear!

When Confidence Exceeds Ability - Peanut Style

I will set the scene.  It was July 5th, we were at the pool (yeah, we never actually leave) in the evening for a swim team pep rally and to get together with friends.   We had pizza and drinks flowing while we watched the kids swim, get tattoos, nails painted and do swim team cheers.  Little Man is hardly ever in our sight because he is such a proficient swimmer that he knows to check in every 45 minutes at the adult swim break and other than that, he is free to have fun.  Peanut is supposed to stay in the shallow end where he can touch and swim around because he is very proficient in that area and Sweet Pea can play in the baby pool or use her floaty in the big pool/shallow end.  Peanut wears a bright (and I mean florescent orange/glows in the dark bright shirt) to help me keep eyes on him.  The phrase "eyes on Peanut" runs through my head about every 30 seconds and I constantly scan for him.  So I was in the baby pool area with Sweet Pea and scanned the big pool for Logan and he wasn't in the shallow section.  A quick scan in the deeper area found Peanut with a kick board making his way into the 4 foot deeper area where he can't stand.  I immediately started making my way over there and then I saw him slip off of his kickboard and go under.  He can swim enough to get his head back above the water but he can't stay up for long and went under again.  By this time I had made it over to where he was and leaned over to grab him up and he pushed away just at the moment that I tried to get him.  So I stripped off the clothes I was wearing over my suit and jumped in to get him.  He wasn't upset or scared at all but told me he was so very sad that he couldn't breath under water.  Then he tried to push my hands off of him and told me to let him go.  I explained if I let him go he would go under water and he responded by telling me that he would come back up so it was ok.  I don't think he gets that he can't actually swim like his big brother so while he is on swim team, we are starting him on private lessons this weekend for my own peace of mind.  I love that he isn't scared of the water but I would love it if he had a healthy dose of reality.  Instead I now spend my time at the pool trying to keep him in the shallow end or jumping in to get him from the deep end.  Oy!

July 4th

This year our July 4th plans this year were a little less planned and a little more spur of the moment which is not typically how we do things.  We started the day at the pool of course, where else would we be on a sunny day and while we were there some friends mentioned that you can see the Fairfax High School fireworks display from one of our favorite parks, which just happens to be right behind Outback Steakhouse which we just so happened to have a gift card for.  So we played at the pool for 4 hours, went home, changed and rested until dinner at Outback by 6:30 which was done by 7:30 when we met up with some friends to play at the park and soccer field for 2 hours until the fireworks started.  The only tough part of the evening was when Peanut burned his hand on a sparkler but we put it on ice and after a while he said that it didn't hurt anymore.  The little ones used noise cancelling headphones so that the fireworks were pretty instead of pretty loud.  Little Man was asking a million questions about how it works, who was lighting them off, if they could start a fire until I finally told him he could ask as many questions as he wanted if he would just wait until the fireworks were over.  Afterwards we were stuck in traffic for a very long time and didn't get everyone home and into bed until close to 11 but the brilliant part about that is that everyone slept in until after 9 the next morning.  While these weren't our original plans, it turned out better than we could have predicted.  Late night and firework fun with friends, family, good dinner and even though minor burns, everyone really enjoyed themselves.