We started swimteam in May- meaning swim practice M-F after school from 4:30-7:00. Yikes. It was pretty crazy but we had a bunch of friends from church on our swimteam and it was SO much fun to do it together. There were always people to hang out and share food with. The kids were good at bringing games to keep them occupied. BTW we're still holding out on any kind of hand held gaming system. I've almost caved a few times and still may but for now it's great to see them reading, playing chess or running around rather than glued to yet another screen! (Incidentally they're playing Mario as I type... the battle continues). Once school let our our practices moved to the am. We were there for 2 or 3 hours Tues-Friday.

More on swim team... Our meets are about 4 hours long and SO busy. I finally understand how all the events and heats work so I enjoyed it a lot more this year. We are in a less competetive (smaller) division, which I actually love b/c the meets are shorter and everything is a little more chill. Our team was terrific this year, winning all but one meet (and we lost by 6 debatable points). I was a wrangler for Daniel's group, the 6 and under boys (which basically entalled keeping them corralled between their events and lining them up when it's time to swim.) LOTS of my swimmers were scared to get in the water and there was a lot of hand holding but overall I really enjoyed it. Curtis was on Lucy duty. The bad news: he missed some of our boys' races, the good news: Lucy officially adores him. (She cries every morning when he leaves for work and races to the door when he comes home. SO cute!)

As for the boys: Daniel worked so hard this year. He hated swimming last year and I was so nervous that he would just refuse for this year but he did such a great job. He can do 25 meters of free style and backstroke. Of course he prefers to bob and float but it's good to know that under duress he's a swimmer! He has a ribbon in almost every color and even made it to the Meet of Champions.

Isaac struggled this year b/c he was in the 7-8 year old age group, meaning he was younger than many of the other swimmers. He had gotten a little cocky last year as the oldest of the 6 and under swimmers. :) But he worked very hard and made it to the Meet of Champs for his Butterfly and Free. He is such a hard worker and will be formidable next year I'm sure!

Jonah swam with the 9-10 year olds, which meant he was one of the oldest in his group and he had a terrific season. At the Meet of Champs he came in 2nd place in our entire division for Butterfly. He was also a part of a medley relay (4 boys working together to do Free, Back, Breast and Fly). They came in first in our division- it was such an exciting race! It was wonderful to watch his confidence grow as the season progressed.

So I definitely see more swimming in our future. I love that it is very individual but you are also part of a team. It's a sport you can do preggers or when you're 80, and with a pool on every corner here in Texas, it's just so accessible. Hey- I'm not complaining about Texas!! Yea!!!