Swimming! and Olympians

  

Jake swam in his first swim meet last Saturday.  It was so amazing to watch him swim down the pool in his first race.  He was very excited and got a blazing time of 2:08 on his first 25.  He was entered again in Wednesday's meet and beat his time by 43 seconds, down to a 1:25.  All while wearing a snorkel mask :)  He has made great progression from not putting his face in, to swimming 2 meets.  Tomorrow will be their last of the season, but I'm sure we'll be at the pool daily.

Bella was invited to the Herndon Olympics.  Only the top 2 swimmers from each event were able to go from the 9 teams.  She was disappointed in her finishes, even though she got 2 PRs and their relay team did well.  The event was run very well and there were 2 Olympians, Ian Crocker and Lacey Nymeyer, there handing out the awards.  They had put on a swim clinic the day before and Bella had a good time at that, too.  She learned (I hope) that these top athletes put in a tremendous amount of time and effort over the course of their entire lives to reach the pinnacle of their success.  Lacey commented several times that, "There are only two things in life that we can control:  our attitude and our effort."  If you give your best effort and have a good attitude, then the rest falls in line.  I couldn't agree more (even though sometimes I need to heed that advice more)

Ian Crocker, Isabella, Lacey Nymeyer

Alaina has done well with swimming but has re-started practicing her true love:  gymnastics.  Especially since her new class is geared to girls who have an aptitude for gymnastics!  She has been doing MANY handstands, into back bridges throughout the house.  I'm sure we will soon be into back handsprings...  No gymnastics pictures of her, yet.

Nat Geo Museum & White House

Herndon Fireworks

And they watch in awe...

The White House is cool and all, but it's so much more fun to climb the trees in the shade when it's pushing 100.

Yesterday, we had fun at the pool, from swim practice to just hanging out.  Jake has really progressed and even started to dive for things on the bottom of the pool.  He is still wearing the mask, but baby steps will get him into goggles in no time.  We are so proud of his progress in just 3 days.  We enjoyed fireworks, locally, with a bunch of neighborhood friends.  It was really nice to be able to enjoy the fireworks at 9:30 and be home by 10:05.  We will have to do them at the Mall, eventually, but this year it was nice to relax and enjoy them with no stress.

Today, the kids and I ventured in to DC to see the Titanic exhibit at the National Geographic Museum.  It was a bit of a disappointment since there were no artifacts from the ship.  The last exhibit that Steve and I went to at the Newport News Museum (over 10 years ago) was FULL of actual artifacts.  Maybe it was our proximity to the port of entry since the vessels were based out of Norfolk.  Anyway, I enjoyed the samurai exhibit...Jake enjoyed the rocks lining the entire exhibit. We snacked at a little cafe in the museum and then I decided we should walk down to the White House.  I mean, it was only a few blocks away.  The kids were not happy that I wanted to walk 5 blocks in 100 degree heat to see the White House.  Complaints were heard every step of the way.  I keep hoping (in times like these) that they will look back on these days and remember all the cool things we have seen along the way.  I remember being dragged in to DC, but I look back now and realize all the great things my parents did with us.  I hope to do the same for my kids...even if they complain about it now.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Dory would have been so proud of Jake!  After weeks of coaxing, pleading, bribing, Jake to put his face in the water he decided that he would do it...with a snorkel and mask.  So yesterday he swam, by himself, for 40 minutes straight.  Today, his swim coach, Lauren, was able to get him to swim without the snorkel.  It's like he's a new man.  Straight body, nice kick, a little arm action...the kid realizes that he knows how to swim.  So we spent 3.5 hours at the pool (after the hour and a half swim team practices) so he could...SWIM!  Next up, diving in and normal goggles. (baby steps)