A Zoo Day with Brooke

Our neighbor gave us two free passes to the zoo, and I had a day off, so Brooke and I decided to have an outing together. I know that I should do more things with her since I can, but I feel bad doing certain things without the other girls. The zoo is one thing that I didn't think they cared too much about. We had a great time, and it was nice because I just let her run the show. She was like, "Lions, okay what's next? Elephants, yep, I see them, now what?" We were in and out of there in about two hours and saw pretty much everything. We both thought the old chimp with the blanket wrapped around him was the cutest! When we got in the car, she said, "That was a great day!"

Swim Fun!

The girls have been doing so great this year! They have dropped time almost every single meet that we have had. Both of them are working hard and having fun. They only thing they hate is the early morning meets (I'm with them there!) I am so proud of them, and I love cheering them on each of their races! Kacy has won 1st place in freestyle in every one of her races, and Adilyn has gotten top 4 in every single one of hers. Adilyn has a super fast group of girls in her age group, so their relay has killed everyone each meet. Both girls are finally diving in and pushing themselves each race. I love it!

 Kacy starting the last leg of the freestyle relay.

 Kacy almost caught up to the boy that you can see in the last lane. She loves a competition!

 Kacy in the breaststroke.

 Adilyn in the breaststroke.

 Kacy in backstroke.

Adilyn doing the butterfly.

Cory turms 40!

Cory wanted to have a swim party/BBQ for his 40th birthday party, so we did! Luckily, we had fantastic weather. I think it was one of the only days in May that it didn't rain! At least, that's what it felt like. Even though it was Memorial Day weekend, everyone was able to come by for a little bit. We had quite a group, I think there were over 25 people there total. All his friends were there, and everyone had a wonderful time! The food was good, and the company was better. I love our little tribe :)
After all the families left, some of the guys stayed around for a whiskey tasting party. Yikes! The girls were still awake and helped them smell the whiskey and pour it. The things we teach our children! Ha! I think Cory had a great time, and that's all that matters in the end. I am so glad that everyone was able to come celebrate with us.

Living Museum

Adilyn had to do a biography research for her language arts class, and she had originally chosen Jackie Kennedy. A couple days later she came home and said that she had changed her mind, and she had chosen Nancy Kerrigan instead. I was so irritated! I mean, Nancy Kerrigan? All I can think of is her screaming and crying, "Why? Why me?" when she got attacked. I mean, it was horrible, but I just remember being so annoyed by her. I asked Adilyn why she changed her person, and her answer was the Jackie Kennedy's book was way longer than Nancy Kerrigan's. Nice...I told her that Kerrigan was a little bit of a diva, but she was a great ice skater. The next day she came home, and said, "Mom, I know what you mean about Nancy Kerrigan not being very nice. The papers that my teacher gave me today said that she was 'mean and bitchy'." I was like, what??? So, she showed me that her teacher had printed out 5 pages of a wikipedia biography that she apparently didn't read before she gave to my kid for her research! I thought it was have been hilarious if Adilyn would plagiarized that part. I am sure that her teacher would have freaked out. Anyway, we talked about that word and about wikipedia, so life lesson learned. At the end of the project, they had to dress up like the person and talk about the facts as people walked around the "museum." She did a great job, and everyone loved her knee bandage. I would have loved for her to choose a more influential woman to research, but I'll forgive her!

Another Volleyball Season is Over

Wow, what a season! The last few weeks were chaos with testing, swim starting, etc. but we made it through! Adilyn missed a game due to swim team, and Kacy missed her very last game. I had such fun coaching both teams, but I am not going to do it again. It was too much to keep up with! :) The Jammers (3rd/4th grade) had a great season! We won more games than we did last season, for sure. They all learned so much and tried so hard. It was a little sad that the very last game was probably the worst game of the season, but it happens! I told them that they shouldn't let this game define their whole season, and I hope they don't. The Storm (1st/2nd) played great all season, and I think we only lost one game. I had a lot of really great first year players, and I the whole group was great to coach! I didn't get a team picture of them because, I was in it. Overall, it was a great season. I love to see how much these little ones improve each year!

I Never Miss a Hug!

Kacy is such a little hugger and affectionate one! Any time and EVERY time that she spots Cory and I hugging, she drops what she is doing and runs to us. She hugs us tight, and says, "I never miss a hug!" I hope she does this forever and always!

A Kacy selfie - these show up on my phone all the time! I think this one was taken because she was checking out her mosquito bite on her forehead.

Hurricanes!

Summer swim team has started, and we are loving it! The girls finished up the HeadStart program that they did with a lot of improvement in their times. Both of them are at the oldest age of their age groups, so they have the potential of doing well this year. Although the early morning for meets are hard, it's still a great time! Brooke likes to play at the park while the girls practice, and Cory and I get to chat with all the other parents. It's a great group of people, so it's a fun environment!
The first few meets conflict with volleyball. Because I am the coach, I have to be at every volleyball game. Because Cory is in charge of the computer at the swim meets, he has to be at every swim meet. We may want to rethink this arrangement for the future because it is going to be a little stressful to try to do it all. I am going to have to miss quite a few of the girls' races, and I am going to have to coach some games without them playing. We will make it work for this year, but it's a lot to coordinate!
We are looking forward to a fun season of swim :)