Yosemite

 

Our road trip to California was amazing!  We didn't even mind the 70+ hours in the car.  Yosemite and the Sequoia National Forest were everything we had dreamed.  We want to go back and stay for a week.  We also had a great time visiting Disneyland and Laguna Beach.  A huge bonus was hanging out with my brother Richie's family and my old roommate, Dani and her adorable 3 kids!  Definitely a trip to remember!

Happy Birthday America!

The month of June is just a blur of swim team and scout camp.  More on that later.  Our Independence Day was actually really nice.  I usually invite several families over for swimming, BBQ and fireworks but was just not up to it this year.  But we did still go to our annual flag raising at the church at 8am!  It was a lot of fun and all three of the boys helped with the flag ceremony.  Then we all ate a potluck breakfast and watch the young kids ride their decorated bikes in a parade.  Lots of fun- I love my church family!

That afternoon our whole family went to see "Despicable Me 2."  I actually still haven't seen the first one but everyone else has and adores it.  The second one was hilarious.  Loved.  It.  We wanted to see it at the new Katy Palladium but I think everyone else had the same idea and their online purchasing wasn't working.  So we slummed it the mall.  Seriously after going to the Palladium everything else seems lame.  Huge comfy chairs, tons of great food  you can take into the theater (including suchi and gelato!), bowling downstairs and did I mention that you reserve your seats online so you don't have to wait in line for new movies!?

Anyway, back to July 4th.  I was planning on sort of a lame dinner but then our neighbors invited us over and that was so much better.  The kids swam while the adults talked and played bean bag throwing (which I stink at btw). 

Then we decided to try and watch fireworks this year instead of doing our own.  So we drove to the top of a parking structure and it was awesome- great view and no crowds getting home.  We still miss 4th of July in Excelsior, MN with all our friends, watching fireworks on Lake Minnetonka.  But this year was pretty dang good.  Happy Birthday America

Swimmania

Whew! Made it though swim season.  This year seemed crazier than usual, probably because all four kids swam and none of their practice times were combined.  Isaac's soccer team also made it to the playoffs which extended his season by two weeks.  We also got a stomach virus six times during April and May- ridiculous!!

So why do we participate in this crazy busy sport with its 5 hour meets in the blazing texas heat? I actually need to answer this question for myself so I'll sign up again next year :)

1) swimming is a fantastic sport!  It's a lifelong sport, something you can do when old or pregnant and something we can do almost year round here in texas.  I also love that my kids are super confident swimmers- I definitely did not have their skills as a kid.  Or today for that matter

2) I love our team.  We are the pirates and we meet at a swim club.  We have a bunch of church friends on the team, which is so fun bc we are all too busy to chat at church so now we get to hang out on a regular basis.  I also absolutely adore the other team members.  So many amazing and strong families.  Families with kids that I want my kids to hang out with.

3) The kids adore our coach! And our parent volunteers are the bomb!

4) Time at the pool = time not playing video games

5) We get to dress up like pirates

6) We dance

It's definitely got its trials as does any organization that relies heavily on volunteers.  It's easy to get upset when your child is discouraged by their times or they got left out of a relay or another swimmer left early leaving a relay short... Lots of ways to get frustrated on swim team.  But it's also a great opportunity to learn patience and to serve and give.  Of course my favorite part is working with the swimmers.  I love getting to know this terrific group of kiddos!