Monday, October 9, 2017

What We Did Over the Summer - Just Keep Swimming

Our summer was fast and furious, but we are having a late warm spell so it seemed appropriate to recap some of the fun.

All three kids were on the swim team again this summer. Parker was also involved as a mentor for the Penguin Project, a theatre experience for kids with special needs. This is the second year our community has put on a Penguin Project show and the first year that Parker has been involved. I'll have a separate post about PP, but his involvement meant that his Saturday mornings were busy so he didn't compete in swim meets this year. He really likes the swimming on a daily basis for the workout and the competition isn't as important for him.
Swim meet body art.
Dema became a coach in training (CIT) this year and it took swim team to a whole new level for him. He got to know his teammates better and they have become his best friends. He started dating one of the CITs and he loved working with the younger kids. I cannot express how wonderful swim team made this summer for him.
Dema on his mark.
It wasn't his best year as far as ribbons since he is swimming in tough age group and he's smaller than most of the boys he competes against. That never once deterred Dema. He had a fabulous time finishing last or first, it didn't matter.

Conner, Dema, and Josie hanging out after a free movie at the football stadium.
The best thing about Dema's swim team friends is they are up for anything and they don't mind Josie hanging out with them (most of the time). Here one of the guys from the team came with us to watch Moana at the football stadium. Every year the city hosts a family friendly free movie and people bring blankets and food and watch on the big screen a the end of the field. It is pretty cool.
Josie on her mark.
All three of our kids (17, 13, and 9) practiced during the same time this year so it was much easier for me and it was great for them to all be together. Dema had to stay to help the younger swimmers a few times a week and sometimes Josie would stay to hang out with her swim team friends. Since Josie was practicing with the older kids, I think she pushed herself more and she really improved her strokes.

Josie's favorite pastime is picking up people.
Josie loves to work on her strength and at some point she started picking up people. It has now become her thing and all the older teammates would encourage her by being impressed. Here Josie is picking up Dema and carrying him around after the swim meet.

Wear as many suits as you can day.
At the end of the season, they have a week of different fun things for the kids. One day is team spirit day and you wear as much team clothes as you can find. Their favorite days were wear as many suits as you can day. Josie has so many bathing suits and Dema only owns two so he borrowed some of hers for added fun.

Dress like a coach day.
Dema borrowed another suit from Josie to dress as his favorite coach. They really loved all their coaches this year and learned so much while having a blast!
Josie as one of her favorite coaches, who is next to her, and two other teammates who dressed as her too.
Conference is one of the longest meets, but also lots of fun. Since conference is broken up into two sessions based on age and Jose and Dema weren't in the same age group, this meant getting up early to drive an hour and staying all day. Good thing they had a great group of kids to hang out with!
The party tent.
Both Josie and Dema won their heat in at least one event, but neither of them qualified for All Stars this year.
Swim season is too short!

Since it is in the 80's here this week, we are really missing the pool. They all close pretty soon after school starts. Even our neighbor's backyard pool is winterized and done for the season. We just have some good memories of our neighbor's pool to keep us cool.

Amara, Josie, and Indigo.
One of the highlights of Josie's summer was her besties visiting from Colorado. They stopped on the way to the east coast and then again on their way home. The girls fell into a sweet rhythm as if they still all lived in the same neighborhood. I miss them so much, but they have a beautiful life in Colorado. We just need to make some time in our schedule to go out there to visit them!
Josie, Amara, and Indi on Vicky and Greg's pool swan.

No comments: