Swim and Dive 2013

Swim and Dive has come to an end again. I love this program! I put Sadie in this year and am so grateful that I did. It gave her a lot of practice and gave her the final to push to actually become a swimmer. I finally this year feel confident letting all the kids go play in a pool without being right there watching the whole time. I still check on them every so often but what a great feeling!

Sadie couldn't make it all the way down the lane and had to grab the side a few times. She never cried and was just really excited about it. I thought that took a lot of courage. She's so little and the pool's so big. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been so brave at her age.


I know it helped that she's been watching her big sisters do swim team her whole life and has always been so excited for her turn. She really couldn't wait for the first swim meet. I was pretty sure she'd get last since she was still working on the swimming part, let alone being faster than anyone else. But this is her quote as I took this picture: "I Love my ribbon!!! Even though it's last place it's the first ribbon I ever had!...It's so sparkly and shiny!" So, she was such a happy camper:)


Then her next race only had 4 swimmers (she must have been in the last heat) so she got a new color which was also fun. I'm not sure if she realized it was also last place but it was just so sweet how happy she was just to get her own ribbons.
 

 By the end of the season she swam the length a couple times without grabbing the lane line! Yay!

 Holly loved dive this year. She did it with her best friend so that definitely helped too.
 

She got her best ribbon at the first meet (6th out of about 20). Gymnastics skills really helped her out.
 

Eli took this pic unbeknownst to me (obviously) at one of Holly's meets. It's not super fun sweating outside on a hot summer day here, but I love watching the kids perform the skills they've been working on and hopefully gaining a sense of achievement themselves.
 

Lastly, the veteran swimmer, Emma. She loves swimming but I'm not sure if she's going to do it again next year. Waking up at 5:30 in the summer is not easy, and since her cousins moved, she didn't have them to bike with this year. I rode with her a couple times and watched her practice (and read) but I have to say- waking up at 5:30 in the summer is not at the top of my list either!

I love that so many kids do ride their bikes there though.
 

And she loved having Jane there with her once she got there.
 
So we'll see what happens.
Until next year!