Swim Season in Review

So excited that Conleigh & Alex earned swimming times to get to swim at the UT Swim Center.

Here we are headed into the building on Sunday morning.

Warm-ups began at 9:45 and the meet then began at 11:00.

If you know the order of a swim meet, you'll know that butterfly is the LAST individual event

of the meet, SO we waited a long time for the kids to swim.

 They both did great. The building can be pretty intimidating. It is huge and lots of activity happening.

Both kids said they had trouble hearing. I believe it. Girls and boys events were going on simultaneously. It was difficult to know when they were starting your race.

Alex false started but thankfully he had a 2nd chance.

Conleigh did fabulously. She has such a beautiful butterfly stroke.

 

This evening we had our end of season banquet.

Look who got the Most Improved 6 & under girl trophy.

Peter and I laugh because she has been in 6 & unders for three years. She

started on the team when she was four, and this girl could care less about the competition.

 

Here is Conleigh modeling all of her metal.  She earned 3 medals at the divisional meet. 

The two blue ribbon medals were for 1st place 25 butterfly, and 1st place free relay.

The 2nd place red ribboned medal was for the medley relay.

 

 Alex earned a 3rd place medal in the free relay. The ribbon he is holding is for earning an 

invitational time and participating in the invitational meet.

I'm so glad my kids love to swim. I loved it and I love watching them.

Cheers to a great season!

Invitational Swimming

Today was our divisional swim meet.

Before the meet, Conleigh was close to making Invitationals in butterfly.

.4 of a second away.

She wanted it badly.

Yesterday she was kind of in a zone all day. Didn't want to play with anyone...really mellow.

Today was absolutely terrific.

It was just beautiful.

She was seeded third in the event at the meet today.

That was a complete bother to her last night. She was so upset. 

I think her brain had already decided she was seeded 1st. She had won 1st last week and is definitely #1 on our team.

The girl brought it big.  She totally won the event AND qualified for 

the big meet at UT tomorrow.

She is so excited! So am I.

I was so caught up with Conleigh's performance that I missed that Alex also 

qualified for invitationals tomorrow in 25 butterfly. He takes it more in stride like, 

"yes, of course I made it."

Conleigh isn't as competitive and this is one of the first times 

Peter & I have seen her really want to win. 

Tomorrow we head to the UT Natatorium to see their name on the big screen.

Go Sharks!

Go Hardins!

A Few Words & A Few Pictures

We took Conleigh to Mt. Wesley in Kerrville yesterday.

She was very excited. I was surprised when there were only 20 kids registered.

I really hope she is having fun. I couldn't sleep last night. She was on my mind.

She has a friend from church there with her and the girls were excited to choose 

their beds and get settled.

Conleigh & Alex chose beds near the door. There are 15 girls in the cabin.

We walked around the camp before check-in. 

Alex & Campbell stayed in Austin with friends. The day was a lot longer than I anticipated, so I was happy they were not on the long ride to and from Kerrville.

On our way back, we detoured to Luckenbach.  Peter and I had never been there, and it was not out of the way at all. We both liked it. Totally laid back, with people playing guitars, a small shop, bar, and carnival food.  We had a beer and got on the road again.

Today Campbell started her drill team camp and then her friend Keira came home with us. They played and then we went to gymnastics.  Alex had soccer this morning, so I got some work knocked out.  This evening we had a glorious storm. A real thunderstorm.  I can feel the grass, trees and flowers smiling.

Our swim team banquet was this evening.  We are proud of all our kids for their hard work on Sharks this year. They got medals this year instead of trophies. I like it.

Campbell wasn't feeling too well, so she said she could only lie down and have her legs crunched up for the picture. You can see the bowl...just in case.

goodnight

Party Weekend

Aah. We made it to Sunday night. Relax.

Kids are snug in bed. It is 9:00. That is a great time right now. 

It has been 10:00 almost every night this past week.

The girls went to Girl Scout Twilight camp last week. Four evenings spent

learning about health. The theme was Olympic Gold.

Conleigh was o.k. with it but didn't love it, and Campbell is ready to sign up 

for next year already.

Check out her swap hat. It is full & fun!

When the girls got home Friday night, Grandma and Grandpa Hardin were here to visit for the weekend. They were troopers and came up early to the swim meet and stayed til even 80 (at the very end). I think they enjoyed watching the kids swim and were impressed with what strong swimmers they are.  I also think the kids swam extra hard because they knew they had an audience.

Grandma got herself a Sharks shirt. That is spirit!

Conleigh had a rockin' day. She got four heat ribbons out of her five events. She improved on all her times.  Campbell is ready for the season to be over. I hope we can convince her to swim again next year. Alex has a beautiful stroke. It looks like he is going slow but he really isn't. It is just smooth. He got 8th in 50 free, 11th in 25 free, and 13th in breast stroke. It was a tough team. I'm trying to remind the kids that they are swimming to improve their own times. It is working. We will be getting a lot of Time Improvement ribbons this week.   Onward to one more swim meet this season.

Waiting at the Shark tank for the Coach/Parent relay at half-time.

The grandparents volunteered to take the kids to see ~Brave~ last evening, so Peter and I took the opportunity to go to a friend's birthday party up in Wahlberg at the German biergarten. What a fun place. I can't believe we haven't ever been there. The breeze was enough to make the outside evening bearable.  We danced and had dinner and enjoyed great convo. 

Definitely something to do again with the children.

Clones.

This morning we skipped church which rarely happens. We went to Kerby Lane Cafe for breakfast. Our timing was just right. No wait for us, but the line when we left would have scared us away.
Larry & Kathryn said farewell and headed home to Houston.

We had a little down time before going to our friend Beckett's fourth birthday swim party.

The pool was the place to be. It was H.O.T. today and I think it will just get hotter this week.

Up next: VBS

Catch up

I cannot believe a week has passed since I posted.  I may have to go backwards to try to remember how we spent our time this past week.

So, today, Alex had an eye doctor appointment.  Our little six year old will soon be sporting spectacles.  He is a little far sighted, and hopefully, the glasses will help him be able to read a little longer without having to strain his eyes.  As of now, he is excited about them. We'll see how it goes when they arrive. Thankfully, he only needs to wear them to do school work.

We are busy packing this evening for our vacation to the northeast. We leave bright & early tomorrow morning to fly to Boston and then on to Maine for some fun with the Mather family. We can't wait to be there.

Over the weekend, my parents and nephew came to town to see Alex swim at the Invitational swim meet at the UT Swim Center. It was so exciting to be in the natatorium.  Alex did as expected, but the experience was great. There are some fast little six and under swimmers. 

Alex's cheering section

Lane 3!

Silly kid

The swim meet went fast which was great.  We had a relaxing Sunday afternoon. We watched the women's world cup soccer with Spencer as our leader.  He was very passionate about the game. I kept falling asleep.  Afterwards, Peter took all the kids up to the pool. We had some BBQ for dinner and called it a day.  Mom, Dad and Spencer came by for a bit on Monday morning before heading home.

Last Saturday we made a quick day trip to Houston to attend Peter's second cousin, Meli's wedding. It was a beautiful event and the reception was so much fun. The kids absolutely loved dancing the evening away.  We forgot our camera, so we have no pictures to show for it, but they had a photo booth there and we totally abused it by taking picture after picture in it. Campbell was totally getting down on the dance floor, no inhibitions.  Alex worked on perfecting his robot. He even asked the bride to dance, then he busted out into the robot and left her in the dust. It was hilarious.  Conleigh found another little girl and they danced and danced too. We got home to Austin at 11:45 that night.

Nit pickin'

Oh, the thrill of motherhood. Last Friday, when Conleigh & Alex were finishing piano camp, Campbell and I were running errands. I looked down at her and there was a bug in her hair. I looked closer and there were more. Disgusting! Lice!  Recently, we've had some friends who have experienced this joy.  The buzz about a new place in town, The TX Lice Squad has spread. Well, they made a mint on the Hardins last Friday.  All four of us had it!!  All three kids and me! Ugh.  I'm glad we went that route instead of putting chemicals on our kids heads.  They pick through every strand and then you go for a follow up and they guarantee their service.   I'd be happy if we never had to experience that again. We went straight to Dairy Queen after that.

The kids really enjoyed piano camp. Conleigh will continue lessons. It was a bit much for Alex to sit still for two straight hours each session.  Campbell went to Kinder-camp last week and seemed to enjoy it. There were 10 in her class and at least five will be at Spicewood, so that is good. Work has been steady busy. 

Off to vacation...

Monday, Monday...

We got off to a fast start this morning.  Campbell began Kinder-camp. She is willing to go back tomorrow, so I'll take it that she did okay there. The teacher isn't too personal, so I didn't get a lot of feedback.
I took Conleigh & Alex down to their first day of piano camp. They were both excited. They are in different rooms which is a good thing.  Peter picked them up at noon and he said they both loved it.  He took them out for pizza and brought them home since that was the same time Campbell's camp ended. 
This afternoon our tutor came over and spent 30 minutes with Campbell, and then 30 minutes with Alex. 
After that, we were off to soccer. Alex liked it and got some physical exercise in today.

This evening was the swim team banquet. Man, I feel old. I was so hot in there and it was so loud with all the screaming on the teenagers. Ugh.
Alex cleaned house. One of the dad's said he looked like Flavor flave (a rapper from the 80s) he had so many medals around his neck. Five in all.  That is hard on friends and sisters to see one person get so much recognition. Conleigh was sad. She got six ribbons, but the medals are hard to see. Alex really handled it all very humbly and didn't flaunt it at all.
It is so hard to see kids not be nice to each other and especially to your kid.  Sweet Conleigh went to sit down with other 7 & 8 year old girls. The girl next to her got up and moved down to the other end of the row. Then the next one did, and when Conleigh went to scoot over, the next girl put her hand out and said, this seat is taken.  I was heartbroken.  This parenting thing is harder than I ever, ever thought it would be.

Swim Team Finale

 Yesterday was our divisional swim meet. There were three teams participating. Our kids did great!!! 
Time improvements everywhere.  Conleigh placed 9th in 50 freestyle. She improved her time by a couple of seconds, and then she placed 10th in 25 butterfly.  She improved her time in that event as well. She also won a heat ribbon for 25 free and had a best time for that as well. She was pleased with herself. Her confidence has increased immensely this season.

Campbell had a great season and decided to forego the divisional meet. She & Granny had a fun day together. They stopped by the swim meet to watch Conleigh & Alex swim an event.  You can see what Campbell liked most about the meet yesterday. Snow cones!

Alex & Coach Zach having a little chat before a race.

Alex had an incredible meet.   He improved all his times and made the invitational swim meet in three individual events, so he has one more week to go.
The boy really went bananas at this meet.  He finished first in 25 freestyle, first in 25 butterfly, and 2nd in 25 backstroke. His free relay also got a gold.
At the divisional meet, they give a high point trophy to the swimmer in each age group that contributes the most points to their team.  Guess who got this award yesterday?  ALEX!

 They played Olympic music as they announced the high point winners.  Third place six & under boys was a tie. The two boys scored 10 points each for his team.  Second place scored 11 points for his team.  First place, with 25 points for the Balcones Country Club Sharks --- Alex Hardin! 
25 points.  Alex didn't really understand what he was getting the trophy for.  After it was over, he asked, "Isn't Matthew going to get a trophy too?"  Matthew is his bud below with the shark hat on.

Evan, on the right, isn't on swim team, but he came over and asked Alex if it was neat getting to go up there. So sweet.

Conleigh, Kendall and Lauren getting ready to go 'fly'.

We are very proud of all three of our kids and their swim season.  I think they are proud of themselves too which is what it is all about!

A Day in the Life - Saturday

Got to have a Maui-Wowi at the meet.

 Final Home Meet of the Season today

Shark attack!

This house is too pooped to pop. I got up at 4:30 this morning to be on the tent set up team for the last home swim meet.  It was a great job. It was over in 40 minutes.   Peter got the kids up and to the pool at 5:40.

Baby, there's a shark in the water...

 Kids did great this morning.  Conleigh won three heat ribbons. Her confidence level has really come up during this swim season.
Alex and Campbell both got heat ribbons for their free relay teams.  Alex also got 3rd in 25 free, 4th in 25 back and 1st in 25 butterfly. He tied for first with his bud Matthew.
Conleigh felt good about all her swims. She is usually in the second fastest heat on events. She usually ends up in the range of 11th to 14th place.
Campbell has a good time and dances almost each time she is on the starting blocks.

Alex in the shark tank

The meet was over and we were home about 1:15.  Conleigh is at a slumber party tonight for Katie & Grace's 8th birthday.  Campbell rode with me to deliver Conleigh.   On the way, we stopped at Costco to pick up their birthday cake. Kathy had run out of time to pick it up and it was on our way, so easy-peasy.
Alex had a total meltdown and is asleep in the recliner and Campbell is listening to my ipod.

Good night.

A Day in the Life - Sunday

Love this picture of our three Sharks!

In line with Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner, I thought I would follow suit and do a Day in the Life post each day this week.  I've been in a blog funk, so this will be good for me to have a defined topic each day. 

We were all awake by 7:30 here this morning. We had mounds of clean laundry floating everywhere, so everyone got in on the folding action. Kids fold towels and dishrags. I seriously cannot even remember if or what the kids ate for breakfast this morning!

Peter & I were just lying on the bed ready to start getting everyone ready for church. Alex came in and snuggled up on top of us which led to wrestling and laughing galore. He is definitely all boy.

Sunday is church day around here. Peter rarely is willing to miss Sunday school.  I was just exhausted from the early morning rise yesterday for swimming and the continuing go-go for Campbell's birthday party, so I stayed home & slept. Thankfully, the kids didn't throw a fit and happily went on with Peter to church.  Today was the first day of Summer Sunday school, so they got to be in the gym and move around more than usual.  They only stayed for Sunday school and were home again just after 11:00am.

I kept of sleeping & the kids watched a movie with dad. After that, we had lunch of bean & cheese quesadillas.  Then we wrapped up the gift for the birthday party of the afternoon. We loaded up the golf cart and headed to our friends the Burnette's for a backyard pirate party for their three year old. The kids had good water soaked fun.  Surprisingly, it was mostly dad's representing their families, so I took that que and came home.  I finished my book that I've been reading, Winter Garden. I had begun it on vacation in Florida and am happy to have plowed through it.

I went back & picked up the family on the golf cart at the end of the party. Peter headed to the bedroom for some quiet time. I watched Disney channel with the kids and Alex and I did a little bit of reading. For dinner, we went to the fancy hamburger joint, Wendy's. We were the only ones in the dining area for awhile. We never plan to go to fast food, but it just sounded good, and everyone ate well.

The HEB next door was calling our names. The kids start vacation bible school tomorrow and each year they have a big contest as to how much canned food they can collect for the food bank. So instead of waiting until the kids come home tomorrow all excited, we went this evening and purchased a load of canned goods for them to start the week.

The kids are tired. Getting them to bed is usually a workout mentally & physically. Thankfully, everyone hit the sack pretty easily tonight. No books were even involved except that Alex & Peter worked on the Bob Books a little bit.

Happy 5th birthday Campbell. The celebration is now officially over!

That's a wrap on a Day in the Life - Sunday!

Time Flies

I can't believe that school starts this week! We have a first grader in the house. Tomorrow at 3:00 we'll find out our teacher. Can't wait.

Alex & Campbell are excited about going back to Spicewood Country School too. One of Campbell's classmates is having a get-together on Friday this week, so it will be fun to see her friends and some of Alex's too. School starts September 4 for them. Still a little juggling ahead as far as work and no babysitter for the next couple of weeks. We'll make it.

Sarah is still in the hospital. Skin grafts were done on Friday. We'll know if they took possibly tomorrow, but definitely on Wednesday. We are still hoping that she will come to Austin and stay with us for awhile to recover.

So what have we been up too since the cousins left?
I hosted my wonderful bunko friends on Wednesday night. I love that we call it bunko but we haven't played since January. Our groups new years resolution was to play bunko in '09. Oh well. I love these ladies and am so thankful for them. I served 7-layer dip with chips and a southwestern dip with all sorts of delicious veggies for appetizers. The HEB lady talked me into a big bottle of Lambrusco. Yum-O. It was like Sangria and as Peter said, "it goes down easy and the next thing you know, someone is dancing on the couch. "
For the meal, I made watermelon-strawberry soup, crab quiche and spinach-artichoke quiche. Everyone seemed to enjoy it all which makes me happy because I'm pretty sure I am not the most wonderful cook in the group. It was Kathleen's birthday, so we had a great chocolate cake with homemade (by my sis) icing. It was a hit!

Grandma came to town and saved the day by watching the kids on Thursday, so I could drive to San Antonio and do some presentations for work. Thanks Grandma.

Friday morning Conleigh & I did a little school shopping. She picked out a new backpack with Tinkerbell and her fairy friends, and we bought a couple of cute outfits to start the year. Peter left for Houston that afternoon and has been there with his mom for the weekend. The kids and I went & chose a birthday present for a party this weekend and then stopped at Conleigh's fave ice cream joint, Zeros on the way home.

Saturday we had a quiet morning & then made a road trip to South Austin to visit my manager and her new twin girls. Campbell loved seeing the babies and even held the bottle to help feed them.

After that jaunt, we headed to the pool. Conleigh then spent the night with her friend and Campbell & Alex and I watched The Tortoise and the Hare movie. A thrill a minute, I tell ya.

Wordless Wednesday