Just Keep Swimming

We spent this past weekend at the Bend swim meet. It is an annual big event at a gorgeous park and facility. Most of the swim meet participants camp out in or near the park. This is the first year we’ve slept in tents rather than our trailer. Actually, it happens to be the first time our whole family has camped anywhere in a tent.

The first year we attended, when Lola was a year and a half, was a rough year. Last year was quite enjoyable despite the crazy storm that accosted us on our way over the pass and caused the pool to close several times over the course of the weekend. This year, well, not so fun.

A few things were easier: Lola is getting older and more independent. It was nice to have the tent and chairs near other friends and closer to the pool. The weather wasn’t hot. Leif is older and more independent. Levi and Luke don’t need quite as much parenting and micromanaging while swimming. The officials changed to a split format meet and only in the outdoor pool, so Russ wasn’t trying to swim indoors while the boys were swimming outdoors.

A few things were not so fun, but I’ll spare you the whiny details.

Lola and I spent the weekend together, just hanging out. Or, rather, waiting and waiting and waiting. It was torturous waiting for her chance to swim in the outdoor splash pool the second day. And then there was a major hysterical meltdown when it was time to get out (two minutes early because her mother was freezing cold and couldn’t stand another 120 seconds), and we endured the walk of shame all the way back to the tent.

I didn’t hang out much on deck due to limited space and I didn’t haul the camera around much, but I was able to watch each of the boys swim at least once and snap a couple pictures of Russ’s 100IM. His swim time has been almost non-existent in the past few months because of his work schedule and increased coaching duties, so he was brave to jump in and compete with all the young whippersnappers with endless energy. Ha!

In other news…

We’ve all been reading, reading, reading.

All four kids, hallelujah, spent three days at a VBS this week while I had a few moments alone, hallelujah. [Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Eastside for hosting 3 year olds as well as middle schoolers. I love you people.] It was my honest intention to get a bunch of stuff done, but I should have known better.

I spent some time Tuesday morning exercising my willingness to step outside my box and be brave (and waaaay out of my league).

An afternoon in a boat on the river with best friends was electrical-stormed-out Tuesday, so we just spent the time together eating pizza and chatting and playing and watching a movie.

We have Book Detectives this evening and a birthday party for Leif on Saturday.

One week left of summer, and then the rubber meets the road. I’m a little bit terrified. We’ve had such a lazy, oh, year (or 12), and I think this new schedule is going to be a shock to our systems (for at least two of us). We have only one week to ease into things.

Do you have any last hurrahs planned for the end of summer, or has your school year already begun?

The Water is His Sky

Swim

I am so behind on posting, but I am determined not to get any behinder. (That’s a word, right?!!) We spend the weekend at the fabulously fun Bend swim meet. It is essentially one big party. Crowded. Chaotic. (The above picture was taken after the meet when everyone had cleared out.) Most everyone was camping and hanging out all across the extensive park area. 12 and under swim in the outdoor pool. 13 and up swim inside.

Russ was a busy guy. He was swim dad (it’s a big job to make sure kids are where they need to be), swim coach, and swimmer (he competed in 3 races). I was toddler mom (that’s a big job, too). I also had Leif to keep track of. And, seriously? It is exhausting keeping track of everyone and needs met in such a huge area.

We were thinking of just bringing our tent this year until we saw the weather forecast. Thunder showers all three days. Uh, no. So we took our trailer and got caught in the crazy storm on the way over. It got ominously dark and then the lightening, torrential downpour, and hail hit as we were climbing to the top of the pass and over. We were going 15 miles an hour at one point. So not fun when towing a trailer, but I was thankful Russ was driving!!

The evening was nice. The older boys ended up putting up a tent anyway. The first morning went well. Then the thunder storm returned around 1 pm and they closed the pool right before Levi’s last race. They usually open the outdoor splash pool in the afternoon, but they kept it closed and opened the inside pool for rec swim.

Lola. I was hoping to be a “wading mom.” Luckily they do have a fairly large 2 foot deep little kid pool inside, but it was everything I could do to keep up with her. She was non-stop for over two hours. She loved the feeling of being in control of her own body in that water up to her armpits. She quickly figured out how to right herself when she went under. She went down the little slide about 60 times. (Not kidding. And not including the 3 times she jumped off of it. Ack!!) She had a huge grin from ear to ear and kept giving me a thumbs up. Ha!

Today (Sunday, day 2) was beautiful. They opened the splash pool from 11-2, and of course Lola and Leif had to be there. All of the kids had a blast. And, again, it was everything I could do to keep up with Lola. She went down the little slide over and over and over…

Until she realized that Leif was in line for this one:

And there was no saying no. I knew I’d have to be all in. I had to bribe Leif to go down the first time (he hates new things), but Lola was nothing but excited. The second we hit the water at the bottom, she said, “again.” And, “Did you see me?!!!” (Thumbs up.) And then there was no more little slide. Mom and Dad had to take turns going down with her. And Leif, having lived through the initial fright, went down the big slide many more times with a huge grin on his face.

And then we packed up and drove home. And now I will go work on a thousand loads of laundry.

Life Randomness

I was doing so well posting at the beginning of the month, and then…

Life.

That’s a good thing, though. This living life.

Eating yummy food. Exercising. Doing lessons. Watching the boys swim. Chasing Lola around. Playing cards with friends.

Speaking of Lola. Heaven help me. She has officially hit the ‘can’t let her out of my sight’ phase. I mean, she always has been there to an extent, but she has taken it to a whole new level lately.

After three crazy, curious, loud, active boys, I was hoping to get a bit of a reprieve this time around. Yeah…no.

She gets into everything in a split second. And she goes for the good stuff. Medicine. Permanent markers. The fish tank.

She loves writing…on furniture. I have not a speck of house not decorated with Lola’s signature. She got the lid off the Benedryl a couple days ago. (I don’t think we ever called poison control on the boys. We have for her—a few times.) I found a pair of scissors and two trains in the boys’ fish tank. The list goes on and on.

She strips her clothes. She opens the deadbolt.

I have the bathroom door, school room door, and our bedroom door locked. There is a gate into the kitchen. The boys have to come ask me to use the bathroom. I’ve run into the bedroom door while in a hurry to put laundry away or some such errand.

And still she gets into mischief.

Combined with a son who cannot seem to do any school work independently and yet is distracted by peeling paint—we have a situation.

No, she doesn’t sit in her highchair. Yes, she climbs out of a playpen.

Anything I give her that is interesting enough to keep her attention also steals the boys’ attention (in fact it is extraordinarily difficult to keep her attention and a very simple thing to distract the boys). And I have to parent/teach them all in the same room.

This is a season. This is a season. This is a season. This is a season. This is a season. (Have I convinced myself yet?)

In other life news, the boys had a swim meet. Russ, Levi, and Luke competed. I realized that it might not be too long before we have five family members competing for the team. (I will content myself with being a swim mom. Someone has to keep track of the heat sheet.) Lola is ready for that time to be NOW. She kept saying “fwim” and moving her arms.

Here is Luke doing the 25 Back (he’s in lane 3, no swim cap):

And here is Levi doing the 50 Breast:

Luke was sick. Then Lola. Then Leif. And now I’m fighting something off. I’d just like to crawl under my electric blanket and stay there for the rest of January.

It has been so cold and gray around here. I feel like I’m living in a gothic novel. I’d like a day above 35 degrees, but least we aren’t shoveling snow.

What’s the weather like where you live?

What’s the view out your window?

How is your January going?

The Swim Life

The boys had another swim meet. I made a point of hanging out all morning, which meant that Lola had to hang out in her play pen. She wasn’t thrilled. Leif tried to make it a little more pleasant by climbing in with her and messing around with the ipad, but even that didn’t last long.

Luke did well in his two events. This is only his second meet, and he didn’t get disqualified, so I’d call that success. {grin}

Lola was able to get sympathy from another swimmer on the team who came over to play with her while I took pictures.

Levi did a good job, too.

 

A New Swimmer in the Family

Swim, Levi. Swim.

We spent a couple hours at a mini meet. Just the way I like them. Mini, I mean. So much easier than full days spent at a packed swim venue. (Not so terrible when I was a newlywed coach’s wife. Not so wonderful as a mom of 4 little people.) Russ is in charge of Levi, which is nice, as well as helping out with the team and competing himself! Luke likes to wander around unattended (sigh), but both Leif and Lola need a lot of mom attention. Today there was lots of room on the bleachers, so Luke and Leif spent some time drawing together. I had the playpen up for Lola, which meant my hands were free to hold a camera. And there weren’t 500 people in my way. Wahoo!!

Levi seems to really enjoy being on the swim team. He swims three days a week for an hour each day. It is so good for him. I think the water is good for him. The exercise is good for him. Learning swim skills is good for him. Being a part of a team is good for him. Competition is good for him (both winning and losing). Spending time with his dad is good for him. All around, it’s been a great fit.

And a picture of Russ leaving the young whipper-snappers in his dust. (Nicely done, Honey.)

Re-entering the Swim World

Today’s ‘real life’ isn’t particularly funny or soul-baring, but it is certainly real life, nonetheless.

Sixteen years ago, I met Russ at a swimming pool. He was managing. I wasn’t swimming. (But that’s another story.) Russ had spent the previous 9+ years breathing the chlorinated pool air. He was on the Albany high school and age group teams, competed through college (Willamette University in Salem), life guarded, taught swim lessons, led swim exercise classes, managed pools, and coached.

He managed/coached/taught at the Lakeview pool (for the third year) during the summer of our long distance relationship. Right after we were engaged, he took a position coaching in Reedsport on the coast, where I joined him after we were married. We soon moved back to Albany, and he found himself coaching the Lebanon age group team. Basically, we spent our first few years together at swim meets until the road of our life curved in a different direction.

I figured there would come a time when we’d be back. That day was today, at Levi’s first swim meet… In (and for) Lebanon where Russ used to coach.

Since Levi has only been swimming with the team for a few weeks, our expectations for this meet were very simple. We hoped he would start and complete each of his two events without any major catastrophes or emotional melt-downs. Mission accomplished. I think he really enjoyed the experience, as well.

Did I mention something about coming full circle? Yeah. Russ’s high school swim coach and mentor (someone who had a huge impact in Russ’s life) is now the pool manager at Lebanon (after coaching many years out of state). My absolute favorite moment of the whole morning was watching Russ and Coach Arzner watch Levi’s first race. Russ said that out of years of coaching, he has never been so nervous as when Levi started his first event.

That full circle thing again? Yeah. Russ has been swimming with the team during practices and signed up to compete in three open events at this meet. Not only that, but a high school swim buddy (and one of the groomsmen at our wedding) is now coaching his son’s team. They attended this meet. And his son swam against Russ. How’s that for full circle?

Nicely done, Honey.

Levi's 50 Free: (He hasn't had much practice on the starting blocks, so he started from the edge instead.)

I can tell you this parenting two little boys and a baby at a swim meet is a completely different thing from being the coach’s wife. Lola is entering the very wiggly stage. She is less and less content to sit in once place. (It didn't help that she was soooo tired.) Anyone recognize the "I don't want to be held" flopping body? She did enjoy 'using' the stopwatch, though.

Luke took this one (and about 3,749 more):

And the very proud swimmer:

I guess this is a sight we'll be seeing for a long time to come.