I know I have said it over and over, but I am simply amazed at James's swimming. He started swim team not being able to swim very far without grabbing the rope or hopping off the pool floor. I was sure he had forgotten how to swim and even more certain that the swim season would be a long and painful one. HOWEVER, this boy has worked so incredibly hard!! I don't know if I have ever been so proud of his dedication and attitude.
We missed two meets while in Destin; however, he did get to swim in the team relay meet. I didn't take any pictures of James actually swimming because I recorded the race for Brad, but check out this stellar "dive". Progress, I swear. I purposely didn't crop the first picture to demonstrate just how many people are at a swim meet and just how chaotic these things are!
In order to mitigate the chaos and wait time, my kids spend a great deal of time snacking
And I snapped this picture while waiting for James to start. Natalie was on the sidelines holding court with the older girls.
James's final meet was preliminary/finals. He swam the freestyle in prelims and finished 15th, with the top 12 making it to finals. He is in the 5-6 age group, so most of the kids that made finals were 6 and swimming their second year on the team. Again, I am so proud of him!!
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James thought this picture of him getting out of the pool was hysterical. Kinda looks like a frog
His relay team did make finals and finished 4th! Don't tell James, but there were only five teams, and one DQ'd :) (William Goldstein is on the left)
Making sure not to DQ
I mean, is this dive not the cutest thing?! I could look at this picture of this sweet, determined boy all day long.
Almost there!! It's a loooong pool
Happy to be finished and ready to eat more snacks!
At the team party James received his participation trophy. After his age group finished I noticed he stayed in the grass while the others in his age group went back to swimming. I asked if he wanted to go swim, and he said no, that he was waiting on his other trophy (the trophies for the top point finishers). It was so heartbreaking to explain why some kids got more than one trophy. Heartbreaking for both of us! He even asked "does that mean that I didn't do good?" Seriously, cue the tears from me and him! He learned a hard lesson that day!
Team photo, if you can locate him----second row, second from the right, I believe.
Pre-meltdown
Natalie has started swimming lessons with one of the swim coaches (Audrey). While we were in Destin she somewhat figured out how to swim on her own, mainly from watching James. So while she can swim from point A to point B, she isn't the professional swimmer she thinks she is, which makes me a nervous wreck. She no longer wants to wear her peddle jumper floaties and has now taken to diving for dive sticks and such. Fearless.
We still spend most of our time on the steps......picking our nose, apparently
And this little buoyant baby also loves the pool! He much prefers the big pool to the baby pool, and his favorite thing to do is "jump" to you from the side. It's more of a counting to three and Luke falling into your arms, but is makes him squeal with delight nonetheless.
Keeping him occupied during Natalie's swim lesson. By the end he was throwing the ball in the pool and having Coach Audrey retrieve it. So much for staying out of the pool
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